2025 DCC Award Winner
Alloy Santa Fe, Largo Concrete, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
First Place: Architectural Cast-in-Place Concrete Structures, Over 5,000 sqft

Alloy Santa Fe is located at the west end of the 4th Street Bridge in LA’s Historic Arts District. Construction began in February 2022 with the placement of over 17,000 CY in mat foundations, the largest single pour totaling 8,870 CY. The development features a seven-level, 105,000 sf commercial building and a 36-level residential tower with 475 units and a 10-level office building above five levels of parking.

Decorative board-formed, exposed architectural concrete can be found throughout the development. From the main lobby soffit to the residential and office columns, to the sauna and cabanas at the roof deck pool, the finish is prominent throughout. The most striking board-formed features is the amoeba-shaped void in the roof deck referred to as the ‘Oculus.’ Each plank was prepared, sealed and used once for the highest quality finish and were repurposed as toe boards and for other safety measures to reduce waste.

Of 1,191 total columns, there are 90 unique column dimensions! Two unique columns are irregular hexagonal shaped and located along Mateo on the west side of the development. The largest measuring 5’3”, these columns also feature a vertical board formed finish terminating at a beam with the same horizontal finish.

Quality control was critical to ensure the correct elements received the proper finish. Extra care was taken when landing materials and placing rebar to ensure the finish was not compromised. Once placed and stripped, these elements were protected to prevent trade damage.

ORCA aggregate from British Columbia was used to accommodate the thermal requirements in the foundation, specified MOE in the decks, and 12,000 PSI high strength in the base vertical elements. Core walls in the tower are up to 42 inches thick and were formed with a self-climbing core form system. Overall, Largo placed over 68,000 CY on site.