American Society of Concrete Contractors

Wilshire Grand

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:28:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award
Wilshire Grand, Trademark Concrete Systems

First Place: Multiple Applications / Under 5000 SF

At 73 stories, the Wilshire Grand Center is the latest addition to the Los Angeles skyline and the tallest building in America, west of the Mississippi River. The tower houses an InterContinental Hotel, office space, and several restaurants. Trademark installed all of the decorative hardscape at this enormous project including the 12,000 SF concrete plaza at the 73rd floor bar/observation deck. Their work can be seen on six levels from 1 to 73.

Trademark installed over 56,000 SF of ECOCAST finish, 6,000 SF of mortar set concrete pavers, 1,200 LF of planter walls, multiple fire pits, pool coping, and on level 73, 68,000 SF of radiant flooring subslab.

This project contained many challenges associated with inner-city construction. Due to the project location, the heart of downtown Los Angeles, a lay down area wasn’t available. All deliveries had to be received off hours and scheduled with the general contractor – which included full traffic control by the subcontractors.

Level 73 presented the same types of challenges and more as Trademark was tasked with placing and finishing over 300 cubic yards of finished concrete with no tower crane or man lift; just Georgia buggies & wheelbarrows on a service elevator with a 5,000 pound weight capacity. All rebar, forms, concrete, and concrete buggies went to and from the roof through this lone shaft.

Prior to pouring, Trademark completed several mock ups using a blend of charcoal and black color hardeners until little to no color variation was achieved. Once approved the pour began. Over the course of 25 consecutive nights Trademark poured a maximum of 12 cubic yards each evening. Once the paving was poured, it was saw cut into a 1’ x 2’ grid pattern. 18,000 lineal feet of saw cutting later the roof was complete and each joint was grouted 1/8” low to replicate the look of tile. All string lines for saw cutting were placed 10’ overhead due to obstacles on the roof. Each subcontractor used the string lines for layout as all the furnishings at this level followed this pattern as it was imperative these joints were correct.

Waldorf Astoria

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:24:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Waldorf Astoria, Trademark Concrete Systems

First Place: Cast-in-place – Special Finishes / Over 5000 SF

Set at the famed Beverly Hills cross-streets of Wilshire & Santa Monica Blvds., Trademark installed the decorative concrete hardscape for the hotel entry. The motor court consists of two colors of concrete in combination with natural stone paving to create a dramatic first impression.

Trademark installed 10,000 SF of ECOCAST white color hardener and 600 LF of green integral color banding with 1⁄2” seeded granite and an additional 700 LF of cast-in-place planter and fountain walls, as well as 3,000 SF of additional ECOCAST pedestrian paving. The mix was a 4,000 psi blend of 50% pea gravel and 50% 1” aggregate to minimize shrinkage cracking.

The entire porte cochere was placed over a waterproofed structural deck with topping slab thicknesses ranging from 8” to 10”. The layout was imperative as it was essentially sets of 3 stacked 26” wide bands; each with a different finish. The varying thicknesses of the paving made the formwork on the project especially difficult.

USC Micheleson Center for Convergent Business

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:20:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
USC Micheleson Center for Convergent Business, Largo Concrete

First Place: Vertical Application / Over 5000 SF

The Micheleson Center is a five level, 225,000 SF research laboratory and classroom building. It features one basement level and four levels above grade to house high-tech medical equipment. Largo Concrete worked with general contractor DPR Construction to deliver this project.

The exterior of the building features 332 foot tall concrete arches at both entrances and exposed board form architectural finish on the interior face of the perimeter walls. The signature arch design is continued around the building with select windows on the third floor and all openings on the fourth floor. In addition to the 18,500 yd.³ port into the slab-on-grade walls and columns, the project includes 1750 yd.³ of shotcrete basement walls for a total of over 20,000 yd.³ of concrete.

The basement level is 23 foot tall and extends beyond the north face of the building to provide openings for light and air intake.

University of Texas at Austin

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:15:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
University of Texas at Austin, Sundek of Austin

First Place: Overlays – ¼” - 2” / Over 5000 SF

With a total overlayment area of 6,500 SF, the SA Student University Housing is a 20-story high rise located one block from University of Texas @ Austin’s West Campus.

Sundek of Austin was brought in early in the construction process to fine tune the application and work with the general contractor.

One of the greatest challenges was logistics, from coordinating efforts for a fourth floor pool deck, to working around and with the other trades and deadlines. Sundek Classic Texture was the coating of choice for the pool deck, a geometrical hand-taped pattern was carefully laid out by Sundek’s production team. An alternating color scheme of bone white and indian wheat finish coat was added to achieve the designer’s vision. The end result was a one-of-a-kind pool deck that will provide years of service and beauty.

Unity Plaza

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:10:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Unity Plaza, T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc.

First Place: Concrete Artistry / Over 5000 SF

Unity Plaza serves as a hub connecting businesses, residents, City College and muni routes in the Bay area. The plaza features benches, pedestrian lighting, a domed climbing structure and photography displays.

T.B. Penick collaborated with City of SF landscape architect and artist Kelling Ording to install her paving design Ebb and Flow, an homage to the plaza’s microclimate of constant fog, sun and wind. Unique colors and textures were achieved using Lithocrete paving materials that allowed the artist’s two dimensional vision to become a reality on a large scale.

The entire plaza was poured at 8” thick using white cement. For the Chevron design, Penick used top seeded, blue aggregates before applying a broom finish. They added decorative saw cuts and sandblasted to expose the seeded aggregate. In the ”sun” design, black aggregate was seeded before applying a broom finish and then saw cut before being sandblasted. The “wave” design features decorative saw cuts in a wave pattern superimposed over quarried stone finish stained with an opaque black water stain. The project consisted of 1,300 lineal feet of decorative saw cuts and an additional 2,900 lineal feet of structural saw cuts and required approximately a week and a half of sandblasting.

Challenges included the difficulty of working with white cement, and accurately laying out the numerous sandblast stencils, which required three days and the tremendous effort of containment and cleanup of sandblast debris.

Queensbay Sculpture Garden

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:04:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Queensbay Sculpture Garden, Bomanite Malaysia

First Place: Cast-in-place – Special Finishes / Under 5000 SF

With nearly 3,500 SF of exposed aggregate, the Queensbay Sculpture Garden and architectural concrete walkway were designed to highlight the entrance of a new development along the seafront at the southeastern part of Penang Island Malaysia. Quality and color were critical in establishing the overall tone of the project. The architects were looking for a product that could handle the tropical climate, but versatile enough to provide the desired height and design aesthetics.

The focal point of the project was an exposed aggregate concrete planter and bench made with black color and black aggregate. Radiating from the planter were alternating exposed concrete bands comprised of light and dark color and aggregate. The planter and radiating bands are surrounded by textured concrete sidewalk resembling travertine stone. The seahorses were sculpted especially for this project and installed after the concrete work was completed.

Private Residence

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:00:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Private Residence, Hyde Concrete

First Place: Countertops

After multiple reviews of the plans with the client, architect, and builder, the design includes a very large island with double waterfall legs. Overall dimensions are 12ft x 50 inches, and it comes in at 850 lbs.

One side was cantilevered over the cabinets by 12 inches (to allow for seating), so the bottom of the counter and inside legs were finished just as the tops.

A very large (3ft), farm style sink was under mounted near the center of the island. The ceramic sink was so heavy (72 lbs.) the contractor had to create a support inside the cabinet to avoid any long-term structural issues, especially considering the client wanted a 1” profile around the sink instead of the other 2.5” edge profiles.

Because the client insisted this be cast as one piece, it would only fit through one exterior door. This door was 18ft above final grade and 47ft from the road. A travel lift with a telescoping boom was rented to place the piece onto to the 10’2” tall covered porch. It was then rolled it through a nana door and to its final place in the kitchen.

The piece was post tensioned for additional strength and custom fabricated aluminum C channel supports prevented cracking during transport.

Oasiz Hotel

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:43:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Oasiz Hotel, Bomanite Southeast Asia

First Place: Cast-in-place – Stamped / Over 5000 SF

With over 21,500 SF of stamped concrete, the Oasiz Hotel is a new, upper end resort hotel in the city of Bhutan on the island of Mendano Philippines. The owners wanted high-end, colorful paving throughout the entire property. Bomanite of Southeast Asia utilized Bomanite color hardener and imprinting tools to create the elegant look seen throughout the resort. Stamped concrete can be found in the driveways, walkways, parking lots and pool decks of this Philippines’ vacation getaway.

Nvidia

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:39:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Nvidia, Bay Area Concretes

First Place: Polished Overlays / Over 5000 SF

Although this project was originally designed for polished concrete, it was clear the finish would result in too many inconsistencies. Bay Area Concretes recommended Aggretex to produce a consistent finished product. The result was a look of standard polished concrete, but with more balance and consistency.

The Aggretex floor spans over 220,000 SF. Reflecting a continuous triangular pattern, nearly 16 miles of stainless steel strips were inlaid between the gray and white terrazzo finishes. Challenges included terrazzo cove base in the kitchen and poured-in-place Terrazzo stairs finished with slip resistant strips.

Lock 8 Skate & BMX Park

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:36:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Lock 8 Skate & BMX Park, Patterned Concrete Ontario

First Place: Architectural Cast-in-Place Concrete Structures / Over 5000 SF

Built by Patterned Concrete Ontario, Toronto, Lock 8 Skate and BMX Park is one of the most unique and colorful skate parks our judges had seen. Located beside the Lock 8 Canal, the design of the park was inspired by the ships that pass through.

There are over 11,000 SF of concrete elements on this project; 6,500 SF of concrete park ramps as high as 8 feet, back falling ramps or overts, colored ramps, and nearly 5,400 SF of shotcrete elements spanning prow to stern.

Heavy Duty Truck Repair Shop

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:33:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Heavy Duty Truck Repair Shop, Royale Concrete

First Place: Polished / Over 5000 SF

A large truck repair shop approached Royale Concrete to polish and lane stripe the floor in a new 23,500 SF building. It was a challenge for the contractor to finish a new floor in a way that could hold up to the heavy demands under which it would be placed, while ensuring it looks good for years to come.

The repair shop owner wanted a space that reflected their high-quality work and attention to detail. Royale’s plan included retaining the tightly troweled surface and refining that to a polish, instead of the more aggressive method of cutting the top and opening the floor up. Cutting the floor would have made it more porous, leaving it exposed to the contaminants associated with a repair facility. This was only an option because the floor was newly poured and did not require any restoration.

Cutting compound aids were used in the initial grinding and refinement, then it was taken to a 800 grit polish. The Royale team used Metzger/McGuire’s joint filler for 4,000 lineal feet of joints. Once polished the floor was striped with an epoxy.

First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:30:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, Decorative Concrete Resurfacing

First Place: Stained / Under 5000 SF

What was once an outdated thick, heavy linoleum floor is now an updated church sanctuary. The church has their entire Leadership Board of 100 people originally involved in the decision. Once colors were approved, the board asked for touchups and slight color adjustments. It did involve a few extra days to restain but the church missed only one Sunday.

In addition to applying stain, the congregation envisioned a prayer walk feature. The prayer walk is a labyrinth which had to have a different color than the main floor, in a pattern that included detailed lines as pathways to walk in prayer and meditation. The design required taping two very exact measurements. The entire church was amazed by the transformation.

Faux Bluestone in Overton

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:26:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Faux Bluestone in Overton, Salzano Custom Concrete

First Place: Cast-in-place – Stamped / Under 5000 SF

This customer complained about high maintenance with their existing brick pavers and wanted options for a new pool deck. After research and a consultation with Salzano, they decided on specialty, multi- colored stamped concrete with grouting detail in an Old English Slate pattern and a zero shine sealer. Adding to the difficulty of the project was that the customer decided to keep the original natural bluestone pool coping.

The installation included an upper patio, stone seat wall, steps to the pool, and a new pool deck. With limited access, steep slopes and a long distance from road to work site, Salzano used additional wheelbarrow and buggy labor to transport the concrete to the pool deck area.

Entrada de Santa Barbara

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:24:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Entrada de Santa Barbara, Trademark Concrete Systems

First Place: Stained / Over 5000 SF

Originally built as the Hotel Californian in 1925, the general contractor was tasked with restoring the existing hotel to its original condition, constructing ground up luxury hotel additions including a new parking structure.

The project included 7500 SF Funcolored Ecocast paving with intricate saw cutting, and 5,500 SF that was stained with three, different solid color stains. Trademark placed, finished and stained all walkways and drive aprons, and maintained the existing crosswalk at the main hotel entry at the owner’s direction.

Protection of adjacent surfaces was critical on this project as the owner was adamant about having crisp, clean, saw cut joints with no stain within the joints themselves. Protecting the adjacent surfaces was only possible with ram board protection paper, expansion foam and literally thousands of feet of tape.

Caston Development Offices

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:20:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Caston Development Offices, Concrete Expressions

First Place: Polished / Under 5000 SF

This project was located in a six-story building that originally was a hospital. The building, for the most part, had been renovated into offices and an upscale restaurant.

Concrete Expressions was tasked with fixing a floor that had been through several years of changes and covered in cracks, voids, debris and old adhesives. They ground the surface to remove coatings, adhesives, and grime, then began the process of repairing the many structural defects.

Once compete they ground the surface to profile, and applied epoxy and sand to prepare for a polished overlay. Several pallets of overlay material were brought to the fifth floor and bag by bag the product was installed. Once complete and cured the surface was polished, stain applied, logos installed, densified, and guard applied to prepare the area for the final look.

Brock Residence

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 20:13:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Brock Residence, Sundeck of San Antonio

First Place: Overlays – ¼” - 2” / Under 5000 SF

The Brocks came to Sundeck of San Antonio looking to create a fun man cave garage project. Sundek offered an option of Sun Splash texture with a custom design. The owner had actually created the design to scale with the color combinations they wanted, and samples were made to proceed.

The surface was prepped with mechanical grinding and a good pressure washing. The crew hand taped the custom pattern, then applied the custom colors. The idea was to create a double lane road with yellow striping through the large garage doors on each side. A checkered flag area on each end was used to highlight a vintage car collection. The project was finished with a high grade clear seal and a broadcast of additional grit for safety.

Ventura Harbor Village

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 19:50:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
Ventura Harbor Village, T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc.

First Place: Multiple Applications Under 5000 SF
First Place: Project Video

Ventura Harbor Village is a vibrant seaside attraction located by the beaches of the Channel Islands. It is a popular tourist attraction with seaside boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, entertainment venues and more.

T.B. Penick was involved with the third phase of the Harbor Village beautification project which included transforming the large entry into a modern, visitor-friendly area with seating, bistro tables, planters, and artwork, including a map of the Channel Islands inlaid into the paving. Other improvements include a grand staircase flanked with decorative pilasters and walls, new entry signage, and a firepit.

Penick worked closely with the landscape architect to turn her concepts into a successful installation utilizing T.B. Penick Innovative Concrete Systems. The Lithocrete Sedimentary system was used to create the monument wall at the entrance and the pilasters and seat walls that surround the plaza circle.

At the plaza’s center, bronze inlays of the Channel map were set into the blue glass and coquina shell seeded Lithocrete, surrounded by stainless steel terrazzo strips. The area adjacent to the map features blue glass and puka shell seeded Lithocrete that transitions into a quarried stone finish. Salt finish was used throughout the project with kelp patterns sandblasted into the surface and stained. A quarried stone finish was used at the staircase with tile set into the face of the stairs.

Project challenges include working around an active site, which meant constant foot traffic during the 28 day cure time. The bronze inlays weighed over 700 pounds and had to be maneuvered with the help of forklifts into the existing slots at proper elevation before concrete was placed around them.

80 M Street

rzuellig — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 17:55:00 GMT

2018 DCC Award Winner
80 M Street, Hyde Concrete
First Place: Polished / Under 5000 SF

Located a few blocks from the National’s Park and the Washington Navy Yard, 80 M Street is a LEED Gold 285,000 SF building. When the owner decided to renovate the lobby he was looking for a durable, industrial, modern finish that could accommodate heavy foot traffic. Polished concrete was chosen as the most aesthetically pleasing solution.

To add dimension to the design, the architect wanted a street grid stained into the polished floor finish. The scope of work included the lobby, reception, lounge, conference room, café, and elevator lobbies in the entrance to the fitness center and cafeteria. The end result was a durable and beautiful, environmentally friendly polished and stained floor.

The primary challenge one was the combination of old and new. To blend the two, Hyde saw cut cold joints and filled them with a custom color caulk to match the new slab. 24 hour access had to be maintained for employees and visitors through the lobby during the construction process. All work was completed at night or on weekends and never when the Washington Nationals were playing due to the parking garage accessed through the lobby.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

SuperUser Account — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 15:47:00 GMT

T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc.

2018

The gardens in Storza Woods comprise a richly detailed strolling path set in a four-acre mature woodland. A combination of elevated walkways and structural slabs on helical piles were installed to minimize soil disturbance around the many magnificent hardwood trees.

The mosaic patterns were based on plant morphology. LithoMosaic(tm) is an innovative approach to mosaics and is the only known system on the market that installs mosaics in a full thickness monolithic pour, allowing artists and architects to design vast mosaics no longer limited by scale.

Its durability allows it to be installed in any climate unlike traditional mosaics that are vulnerable to freeze-thaw cycles allowing it also to be used in either flatwork or vertical applications to create stunning masterpieces with unrivaled longevity.