Park Your Problems Here
Three sites, each with its own
unique parking problems, look to precast concrete
for answers.
By Kent Sipes
An automobile dealership,
a corporate headquarters and a university have
little in common, but their directors were thinking
alike as they researched a quick and inexpensive
way to end their parking woes. Each had its
own unique problems, but a precast concrete
parking garage was the winning solution in each
case. Tindall Corp., a precast concrete manufacturer
in Spartanburg, S.C., came to their aid with
three entirely different configurations. Each
resulted in time and cost savings, and each
proved to be aesthetically pleasing additions.
West Side Honda of Knoxville,
Tenn., needed more space to store and display
its cars, but the dealership was faced with
the dual challenges of limited space and a short
timeline. Cope Associates, the architects for
the project, recommended a high-rise parking
structure built with precast concrete components
as the ideal solution.
The precaster’s structural
design team quickly got to work. Ken Griffin,
project engineer with Carpenter Wright Engineers
of Knoxville, says, “Tindall Corp. supplied
preliminary information on the building load
that enabled us to complete the foundation design
before the design for the superstructure was
done.”
The structure’s design
was almost complete when a major budget change
was made – forcing Tindall and Cope to
considerably trim the project’s size.
Alan LaFon, architect with Cope Associates Inc.
in Knoxville, explains that the flexibility
of precast concrete manufacturing was key, adding,
“I can’t imagine how we would have
made such a major change in the project if we
used cast-on-site construction or a steel structure.”
The local building code authorities
were initially hesitant to use precast components,
but they were familiar with Tindall’s
design team and trusted its engineering specifications.
Once the precaster delivered the specifications,
the project was quickly approved.
The Rouse Corp. of Knoxville
was selected as the general contractor, and
the precaster had the shop drawings ready in
a few short weeks. The job called for 334 precast
concrete components, including columns, beams,
spandrels, wall panels, and double tees, all
of which were delivered to the job site and
ready to install when the contractor needed
them – no additional curing time necessary.
The 150,000-square-foot project was completed
in 25 weeks, although erection of the precast
components took only 35 days.
The parking structure melds
seamlessly with the rest of the facility, an
ideal blend of form and function. West Side
Honda has a beautiful space in which to store
and display its cars – under budget and
on time. The savings in labor hours that resulted
from using precast concrete components were
a major factor in the cost savings, according
to LaFon. He credits a great deal of the project’s
success to the early involvement of the precaster.
Early precaster involvement
was also the key to success when The Shaw Group,
a corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge, La.,
needed a multilevel parking facility. Shaw wanted
a fast-track construction schedule with the
flexibility to add floors later if necessary.
C.K. Pang of Gensler Architecture says that
precast components were well-suited for allowing
such speed and flexibility, as well as making
accurate timeline planning and cost control
much easier.
Tindall Corp. came in early
with large-scale mock-ups, allowing Gensler
to accurately predict the timeline and cost
for this complex project. “Three sides
of the site were open, but the fourth side was
very crowded,” explains Pang. “Only
the teamwork demonstrated by all parties allowed
this project to be successful.”
The 598 precast concrete
pieces were produced while MAPP Construction
Inc., the general contractor, completed the
first four levels of the office building. MAPP
used the parking deck site as a staging area
for materials used in the office building.
The precaster completed the
erection of the 225,000-square-foot parking
deck well ahead of the office building schedule.
Michael A. Polito, president of MAPP Construction,
says, “It allowed us to finish the office
building without having to worry about finishing
the parking deck at the same time.”
Van Nguyen, project architect
for Gensler Architecture, added, “The
use of precast concrete components in the parking
garage helped it to blend in with the office
building, which also used a lot of precast concrete.”
Blending in was important
to The University of New Orleans. The university
needed additional parking space, but school
officials did not want the new parking structure
to stand out. They also wanted to ensure that
the new structure wouldn’t ruin the view
of Lake Pontchartrain from two of their other
buildings. The project owners, Columbus General
Properties LLC, decided on an elongated structure
with one elevated level.
“We’ve gotten
many compliments on the design, layout and pedestrian
feel of this structure,” says Thomas Meric
of Duplantier & Meric Architects. The view
from a boat on the lake is nice, too –
you can just see the cap from the water.”
Meric adds that longer spans were possible with
precast concrete, allowing them to use fewer
columns and providing for a more open interior.
That also made campus security happy, because
their cameras inside the facility had unobstructed
views.
The elevation of the parking
structure is nearly the same as that of the
nearby office buildings, and the upper-level
access ramp is very unobtrusive. These considerations
help the garage fit in nicely with the wide-open
appearance of the entire campus.
This project used 428 pieces
of precast concrete, including 180 double tees,
24 inverted tee beams, 71 columns, 61 spandrels,
eight shear walls, 39 stair walls, 29 grade
beams and 16 solid flat slabs. It provides more
than 100,000 square feet of parking overlooking
the lake. The structure was completed in 35
days, largely due to the use of precast concrete
components. Major savings in labor hours were
also realized by using precast concrete.
“We were interested
in a design solution for the parking facility
that was attractive and cost efficient,”
says Robert Farnsworth, vice president of Columbus
General Properties. “We also had to meet
an aggressive completion deadline.” He
says he knew of some recently completed casinos
in Mississippi that used precast parking facilities.
“Those facilities had been constructed
on aggressive schedules and were generally attractive.”
Farnsworth says he likes
precast concrete as a design solution for most
parking facilities. “We were able to save
time on both the design and construction segments
and we ended up with a facility that is both
handsome and functional.”
Traditional parking garage
construction means building forms, installing
rebar, and pouring, testing and finishing the
concrete at the job site. It’s far too
easy to name the problems that typically come
up during these steps – labor problems,
material shortages, equipment breakdown, weather.
The list seems endless. A predictable timeline
for completion can seem like a happy dream when
a builder is in the middle of one or more of
these issues.
Precast concrete components
are made in a factory with strict controls on
climate, materials and procedures. After production,
component lots are randomly sampled for strength,
dimension and consistency to ensure the concrete
meets all specifications.
Precast products are manufactured
well ahead of time, and therefore delivery can
be arranged according to the contractor’s
schedule – even for “fast-track”
jobs.
Three parking garage projects,
three unique sets of problems – all of
them solved with precast concrete.
Project
Profile
Project Name:
West Side Honda
Architect:
Cope Associates Inc., Knoxville, Tenn.
Engineer:
Carpenter Wright Engineers, Knoxville, Tenn.
Contractor:
Rouse Corp., Knoxville, Tenn.
Precast Manufacturer:
Tindall Corp., Atlanta, and Tindall Corp., Spartanburg,
S.C. *
* Tindall’s
Spartanburg plant is certified under NPCA’s
Quality Assurance/Plant Certification program.
Project
Name: The Shaw Group Corporate Headquarters
Architect:
Gensler Architecture, Houston
Contractor:
MAPP Construction Inc., Baton Rouge, La.
Precast Manufacturer:
Tindall Corp., Biloxi, Miss.
Project Name:
University of
New Orleans
Architect:
Duplantier & Meric Architects, New Orleans
Engineer:
Schrenk & Peterson Engineers Inc., New Orleans
Contractor:
Broadmoor, New Orleans
Precast
Manufacturer:
Tindall Corp., Biloxi, Miss.
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