Better and Cleaner Unit Height Utilizing Precast Concrete and DELTABEAM

When it comes to new multi-family construction, a combination of precast concrete and the Peikko DELTABEAM® have a multitude of benefits.

One such project that benefitted from this combination is Wright & Wagner Lofts. Located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Broad Street in downtown Beloit, Wisc., Wright & Wagner is a former dairy turned luxury apartment community paying homage to the city's blue-collar industrial roots. The Wright & Wagner Lofts Riverfront Building opened to tenants in August 2023 with 83 total units. Also on the property is the Wright & Wagner Lofts Grand Building, opened in May 2021 featuring 54 loft units.

"(Precast concrete and the DELTABEAM) is a solution that provides a better and cleaner height for the units," said Jeremy Olivotti, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mid-States Concrete Industries. "It provides a fire rated assembly without having to add anything to it. The speed of installation works great on a project this size."

For the Riverfront Building, Mid-States Concrete Industries provided nearly 75,000 square feet of hollow core and solid slabs, 115 beams, 164 columns, 56 wall panels with a wood grain form liner, and 76 Peikko DELTABEAMS for five floors. Mid-States Concrete Industries also provided nearly 13,000 square feet of hollow core and solid slabs, 14 beams, 19 columns, and 85 wall panels with a wood grain form liner for the first floor of the Grand Building.

Corporate Contractors Inc. served as the general contractor on the project, and JLA Architects served as the architect on the project.

"The DELTABEAM was fantastic," said Sal Impellitteri, Senior Project Architect with JLA Architects. "Where it was in the middle of the building was really beneficial with the MEPs. Towards the edge, obviously the DELTABEAM has a cost factor... I think this was a good marriage of traditional T-beams and the DELTABEAMS."

DELTABEAM offers several of the same or similar benefits as precast concrete, including long spans, flexible open space, additional room height, easy and space-saving HVAC installations, lower heating and cooling costs, integrated fireproofing, and is suitable for all slab and column types.

Marc Ott, Vice President | Director of Quality Control with JLA Architects, was also satisfied with the precast concrete and DELTABEAM combination and called it "the perfect application for this project," adding that the combination also provided for the smooth ceilings desired in a multi-family residential building.

"We're really, really happy with it," Ott said. "It was really exciting to do something unique and work through unique things and solve problems."

While the project was under construction, Mid-States Concrete Industries created a four-part Precast Chalk Talk series with special guest Colin Butler of Peikko. Learn more about the DELTABEAM and how its integration with precast concrete can benefit your projects by clicking on the photos above.

Design Assist Positively Impacts Projects

While the residents of Wright & Wagner Lofts Riverfront Building start looking ahead to spring and their views of ABC Supply Stadium, the project team responsible for building that view started planning for it years ago.

Located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Broad Street in downtown Beloit, Wisc., Wright & Wagner is a former dairy turned luxury apartment community paying homage to the city's blue-collar industrial roots. The Wright & Wagner Lofts Riverfront property opened to tenants in August 2023 with 83 total units. On the property is also the Wright & Wagner Lofts Grand Building, opened in May 2021 featuring 54 loft units.

While Mid-States Concrete Industries provided precast concrete for both projects, the Mid-States team got on board with the Riverfront Building in its earliest stages. Planning started with a lessons learned session that included JLA Architects, the architectural firm for the project, and Corporate Contractors Inc., the general contractor on the project, among others. There was a desire for a structural system that would go up quicker and easier than the system used on the first building. The discussion led to precast concrete and the pros and cons of utilizing it up to the 6th floor.

For the Riverfront Building, Mid-States Concrete Industries provided nearly 75,000 square feet of hollow core and solid slabs, 115 beams, 164 columns, 56 wall panels with a wood grain form liner,  and 76 Peikko DELTABEAMS for five floors. Mid-States Concrete Industries also provided nearly 13,000 square feet of hollow core and solid slabs, 14 beams, 19 columns, and 85 wall panels, with a wood grain form liner, for the first floor of the Grand Building.

Mid-States Concrete is currently able to offer services to our customers - including layout, design, and value - as early as the schematic design phase, helping customers to keep their projects on-time, on-budget, and on-target. These services are provided by Tara Loomis, Senior Structural Engineer. Prior to joining Mid-States Concrete five years ago, Loomis spent 20 years in the consulting engineering field, which exposed her to a wide variety of building materials and systems. Her vast work experiences make her uniquely qualified to evaluate projects and propose the precast solution that best fits the project's needs.

When it came to the Wright & Wagner Lofts Riverfront Building, there were several things to consider - how do we transfer loads into the garage level; are we able to stack columns; how do we incorporate exposed precast into a living space; how do we ensure smooth ceilings in the units; how do we keep the project on schedule?

"CCI and JLA did a wonderful job in making the exposed precast part of the units," said Jeremy Olivotti, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "Everything looks on purpose and adds to the space. We also make sure that when we design a building like this that we are looking at constructability the whole time."

Getting Mid-States on board early, and working through early design phases together, aids in cost-efficient element sizing and helps to limit issues during final design, saving time and money.

"The preconstruction process and assistance from Mid-States was thorough and efficient with Tara Loomis and Jeremy Olivotti (Vice President of Sales and Marketing)," said Marc Ott, Vice President | Director of Quality Control, with JLA Architects. "... On a more traditional building, the precaster is not necessarily in the room. This time Mid-States Concrete was. JLA had no floor plans, nothing from the beginning, so Mid-States Concrete was there from day one. We were able to have conversations about whether this would work before we started drawing it... I've worked with precast for 20+ years - the coordination between the structural engineer, Tara, and JLA was pretty seamless."

Sal Impellitteri, Senior Project Architect with JLA Architects, agreed getting Mid-States Concrete on board early helped the design process and saved time on shop drawings.

"We had lots of questions and Tara was able to answer all those questions," Impellitteri said. "We'd just take an educated guess, but she was able to help us because we do have columns with spacing  a little longer than usual to help with the coordination. All that was very helpful. There was also a premanufactured elevator opening, so Tara was great at helping coordinate the plank around the elevator to help with avoiding columns."

Among the design assist services Mid-States offers includes a review of drawings if they are already underway. Our team can review the drawings and provide any cost-saving comments to ensure an efficient and economical precast layout. If your project is not a total precast structure, we can help with how the structure will be framed, calculate loads, and aid in precast sizing that is critical at the time of design development, truly serving as a partner to ensure the success of the project. Determining precast element sizing early saves on drawing modifications later. It also eliminates other issues that often arise when element heights change late in a project. This early work can save time and money later.

Another area our team can help with is precast details. If unsure which is the correct detail to use on a project, or which is most cost efficient, our team is here to assist with drawing development and design. Loomis can aid in things from building envelope solutions to advanced building efficiencies and performance, which allows clients to maximize investments in their buildings.

Wright & Wagner Lofts Riverfront Building Timelapse

Located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Broad Street in downtown Beloit, Wisc., Wright & Wagner is a former dairy turned luxury apartment community paying homage to the city's blue-collar industrial roots. The Wright & Wagner Lofts Riverfront Building opened to tenants in August 2023 with 83 total units. It is the second building of the Wright and Wagner Lofts properties which also includes the Grand Building, opened in May 2021 featuring 54 loft units.

Corporate Contractors Inc. served as the general contractor on the project, and JLA Architects served as the architect on the project. Mid-States Concrete Industries served as the precast partner.

The Riverfront Building includes nearly 75,000 square feet of hollow core and solid slabs, 115 beams, 164 columns, 56 wall panels with a wood grain form liner, and 76 Peikko DELTABEAMS®.  Mid-States Concrete Industries also provided nearly 13,000 square feet of hollow core and solid slabs, 14 beams, 19 columns, and 85 wall panels with a wood grain form liner for the first floor of the Grand Building.

Mid-States Concrete Industries began production of the pieces for the Riverfront Building (featured in the video above) in August 2022 and completed production in November 2022, to deliver and erect components on site from September 2022 through November 2022.

According to Brad McCaslin, Project Manager with Mid-States Concrete Industries, precast components were erected at a rate of roughly one deck per week. Aaron Combs, Project Manager with Corporate Contractors Inc., noted the use of precast allowed him to have teams working on lower floors while Mid-States Concrete Industries was setting the higher floors, which helped keep the jobsite moving.