This 25-story Sacramento office tower is unique in its embrace of a transparent design theme while remaining sensitive to the surrounding historic brick and stone structures. By finding and maintaining an ideal mixture design and sandblasting technique, the designer and precaster were also able to achieve a remarkably inconspicuous between normalweight precast concrete and GFRC on the building’s exterior.

Precaster: Willis Construction Co. Inc., San Juan Bautista, Calif.
Website: www.pre-cast.org
Architect: HOK, San Francisco, Calif.
Website: www.hok.com

By utilizing the unique benefits inherent in precast concrete—high thermal mass, minimal site disturbance, and freedom in prefabrication design—this groundbreaking facility was able to become the first building of its type to utilize natural ventilation in the Midwest’s extreme humidity and temperature differentiation. This, coupled with a comprehensive system integration design methodology, aided the building in receiving a LEED gold rating.

Precaster: Mid-States Concrete Industries, South Beloit, Ill.
Website: www.msprecast.com
Architect: Burnidge Cassell Associates Elgin, Ill.
Website: www.psadewberry.com/

Beyond the function of structure and an attractive design, this concert hall and fine arts center utilized precast concrete as a significant form of acoustical dampening. This imaginative new use of precast concrete together with its distinctive design has propelled the hall to be hailed as a great success by community members and critics alike.

Precaster: Dukane Precast, Naperville
Website: www.dukaneprecast.com
Architect: Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, Chicago, Ill.
Website: www.lshdesign.com/home.asp

This California State University library sought to embrace the design language of aboriginal central valley people though its synthesis of glass, metal, and precast concrete. The patchwork nature of the exterior precast concrete panels creates visual intrigue and conceals the breaks between the panels, evoking the notion that the entire wall is a single unique tapestry.

Precaster: Clark Pacific – West Sacramento, West Sacramento, Calif.
Website: www.clarkpacific.com
Architect: AC Martin Partners, Los Angeles, Calif.
Website: www.acmartin.com

This retractable-roof multipurpose stadium calmly compliments the surrounding downtown Indianapolis manufacturing buildings through its use of color-matched, pre-insulated, brick-inlay architectural precast concrete panels. In addition, the stadium made extensive use of a new type of specially designed gravity connection to support the arched precast soffits over the main entrances.

Precaster: Gate Precast Co., Ashland City, Tenn.
Website: www.gateprecast.com
Precaster: High Concrete Group LLC, Fishers, Ind.
Website: www.highconcrete.com/
Architect: HKS Inc., Dallas, Tex.
Website: www.hksinc.com

The addition of these colonnaded walkways allowed York University to complete its network of enclosed walkways providing a safe method for moving between the various venues on campus without regard to weather. The V-shaped columns are unique not only for their shape but also for their use of a dark-grey admixture, varying surface roughness, and LED lighting integration.

Precaster: Tri-Krete Ltd., Toronto
Website: www.tri-krete.com
Architect: Zeidler Partnership Architects, Toronto
Website: www.zeidlerpartnership.com

This 1979 temple’s tilting structure and harsh environmental conditions was the motivation for the complete replacement of all exterior panels and the recycling of the old panels. An extreme logistical challenge, the new panel removal and replacement process had to be performed simultaneously on two opposing walls in an attempt to retain structural balance. Utilizing new lightweight panels, the new exterior brings the building back to its original splendor.

Precaster: Pretecsa, S.A. de C.V., Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico
Website: www.pretecsa.com
Architect: Valentiner Crane Brunjes Onyon, Salt Lake City, Utah
Website: www.vcbo.com/index.html

This innovative precast structure provides two great benefits: an early-child-care development center and a secure parking facility for all downtown employees. Because of precast concrete’s inherent design flexibility, large structural revisions were possible while the structure was deep in the construction phase. This cost-effective structure achieved a LEED gold rating, proving that low cost and sustainability need not be opposing goals.

Precaster: IPC Inc., Des Moines
Website: www.ipcprecast.com
Architect: SVPA Architects, West Des Moines, Iowa
Website: www.svpa-architects.com