Precast Wall Panels Offer Structural and Architectural Solution

Added to the north side of Southwestern Junior-Senior High School, the Spartan Field House is a facility to be proud of.

The project, for which S & B Construction Group served as general contractor and Schmidt Associates served as architect, included a field house with two basketball courts, retractable netting to divide the space up, and retractable batting cages.

Mid-States Concrete Industries became involved with the project when Architect Nick Dodge, formerly of Schmidt Associates and now of RATIO Design, reached out about wanting to use Graphic Concrete on the project. In his research, he came across less than a handful of precasters who were capable of producing the wall panels needed for the project, located in Shelbyville, Indiana.

“I think it was mostly just that [Mid-States Concrete Industries was] incredibly helpful to work with, for one, and it was a public bid,” Dodge said of getting to work with Mid-States on this project.

Graphic Concrete technology allows you to impart durable patterns and images onto precast surfaces. The technology transfers patterns - custom or stock - as a surface retarder via paper membrane placed at the bottom of the form. Concrete is cast atop the membrane. After the concrete is cured and extracted from the form, the retarder is washed away with a high-pressure washer, revealing an image that results from the contrast between the fair faced and the exposed aggregate surface.

Mid-States Concrete Industries was proud to partner on this project and provide 42 precast concrete wall panels for the project, amounting to more than 17,600 square feet. The Graphic Concrete design used is a nod to the school’s mascot.

“We opted to put in these Spartan soldiers, which were kind of a 10-foot tall band that went up around the baseboards [of the field house],” Dodge said, adding the design represented excitement, pride, and maybe even a little bit of intimidation as opposing teams and schools approach the field house for the competitions that take place there. “These Spartans watch over the school.”

To Dodge’s knowledge, this represents the first Graphic Concrete project in Indiana, though he has since seen two more. These wall panels were installed in October 2020.

“We were excited to get the opportunity to do another Graphic Concrete project that was unique from the others we had completed,” said Colin Jones, the Preconstruction Lead on the project.

Jones thought Mid-States Concrete would be a good fit for this project as the customer was seeking long-lasting, unique wall panels that would require low maintenance for the school district. Precast concrete structures can be designed for 100-year service life with minimal upkeep, per the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.

The Graphic Concrete pattern is 100% concrete; it is as durable and maintenance-free as concrete itself. This saves costs during the life of the building, an important consideration for planners, architects, and developers.

While Schmidt Associates had looked at possibly utilizing steel framing, they still would have had to infill that. They considered, and ultimately chose, precast for the sheer economy and the speed with which it could be erected. The ready-to-install precast wall panels featuring Graphic Concrete need no additional cladding or field work.

“It was huge that we could load bear right on top of the walls,” Dodge said. “… As soon as the panels were in, the rest of the building came together rather quickly.”

While this project was a little bit further from Mid-States Concrete’s manufacturing facilities than most projects we undertake, the project team sorted through the logistics and made sure to provide the customer a schedule of when to expect precast on site, and stick to that schedule so the customer could plan accordingly. Installation went relatively smoothly and was completed in just a few days.

“I was pleased with how it turned out,” Dodge said. “Colin and the team were really helpful and willing to work a little bit extra on panels that needed some touch ups and let me call out a few things and make it as perfect as they could.”

PRECAST COMPONENTS
42 Wall Panels with Graphic Concrete (17,600 square feet)

PROJECT PARTNERS
GC: S & B Construction Group, LLC
Architect: Schmidt Associates

New School and Storm Shelter Constructed with Precast Wall Panels and Hollowcore

When the El Paso Gridley school district passed a referendum for the construction of a new junior high school, CORE Construction and Farnsworth Group got to work to get the project completed on time for the 2022-23 school year.

Construction of the project in Gridley, Illinois included an 80,000-square-foot new junior high school, storm shelter, and expanded space for arts and choir students. Mid-States Concrete provided 178 wall panels, one column, and 59 pieces of hollowcore plank and solid slabs to meet the precast needs of the project.

“We chose precast as a means to lower construction costs by saving on install time and labor,” said Aaron Neal, Project Architect with Farnsworth Group. “Initially, our building was all single story, but by condensing the building on the site to a two-story precast building, we were able to lower our building envelope cost, lower our structural cost, and lower our site/civil costs.”

While the hollowcore plank served as a roof for the storm shelter, the wall panels went around the entire perimeter of the school. Some wall panels were used on the interior as well.

“We had worked with CORE Construction on past school projects and it was time for another successful project with them,” said Troy Yaun, the Preconstruction Lead on the project. “I think the durability of precast sandwich panels is a great use for any project. The speed of installation was key to the success of the project.”

Nicole Shelton, Project Manager with CORE Construction, found several benefits to working with Mid-States Concrete Industries for the project’s precast needs.

“From a coordination and shop drawings process, there is a lot to it, but I think Mid-States did a really nice job coordinating that alongside CORE and working with the MEP trades to make sure we had stuff cast in and openings we needed,” she said. “In terms of installing, it’s very convenient for a construction schedule and getting a building closed in quickly. It allowed us to get enclosed and work inside during the late winter months.”

Neal credits the use of precast and quick enclosure of the building with helping the project hit its construction schedule. While the team initially planned on using steel frame with masonry veneer and some metal rainscreen accents, the traditional steel/masonry approach would have taken much longer to install.

Shelton added the project management team’s onsite visits ahead of construction were crucial to working through logistics. The team was on site constantly and easy to reach during the project, she said, helping the project run smoothly.

“I enjoyed working on this project with the architect’s team and also the team from CORE Construction to make this project successful,” Yaun said. “It’s definitely one of those projects you can drive by in the future and know you had something to do with building it.”

One of the biggest challenges of the project was that it was awarded to begin design the same week the COVID shutdowns began in 2020.

“Designing and constructing during that era of uncertainty provided a host of difficulties to navigate,” Neal said. “Making the swerve to precast ended up being a vital and wise decision to make the project viable and on budget.”

Pandemic or not, precast concrete offered several long-term benefits to this project - durability, aesthetics, quality, life cycle savings, time and cost savings, energy efficiency, and ability to withstand natural elements among the benefits.

“We were very satisfied with both Mid-States and the precast process as a whole,” Neal said. “It requires a lot of front work in design but can make things run smoothly once the project gets going.”

Check out a video of the project in progress, shared by the El Paso Gridley CUSD II >>

PRECAST COMPONENTS
4,200 square feet of Hollowcore (53 pieces)
1 Column
178 Wall Panels (54,900 square feet)
568 square feet of Solid Slabs (6 pieces)

PROJECT PARTNERS
GC: CORE Construction
Architect: Farnsworth Group

When should I order my precast?

What’s your lead time? Seems like a simple question, but there are quite a few details that go into it.

Precast concrete is known for the speed at which it can be erected, but do you know when to order your precast concrete products to ensure you have them for your just in time delivery? At Mid-States Concrete Industries, our goal is to keep our customers’ projects on-time, on-budget, and on-target. Getting Mid-States Concrete involved early on in the design process can help you do just that.

During the design phase, it is important to keep in contact with our Preconstruction team to keep updated on lead times. When discussing a potential project, the best we can provide is the current lead time at that moment. Internally, that means our team communicates daily about projects, openings in the production schedule, and what projects we anticipate we’ll be awarded in both the short-term and long-term that would impact the production schedule.

When it comes to ordering your precast, it is important that the structural design of the building is determined first. It is helpful to know which precast products will be needed on your project, so we can help narrow down lead times by specific product. Production time varies from product to product, depending on the projects we are working on at that time. While we are generally able to refer to our typical lead times on our beam, column, and hollowcore product lines, our wall panel schedule generally has longer lead times than beam, columns, or hollowcore due to the more involved manufacturing process.

Since many of our customers have used precast before, the importance of getting a spot in the schedule is something they are relatively familiar with. Mid-States Concrete will only hold production space for a customer once we have been awarded a project. Again, when Mid-States Concrete is brought on to a project early, we are able to track lead times and are able to keep our customers updated on what the production schedule looks like if they were to award us a contract at that time, versus two weeks from then (as an example).

Knowing the construction industry is fluid, to ensure you have Mid-States Concrete precast around your desired delivery dates, we encourage an open line of communication leading up to the awarding of the project. To learn how we can help with your next project, contact our Preconstruction team at sales@msprecast.com.