items office buildings VOLUME 16/NUMBER 2/FEBRUARY 1970 :~. ~ Published monthly by the PRESTRESSED CONCRETE INSTITUTE Editor: Robert C.

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1 items VOLUME 16/NUMBER 2/FEBRUARY : :. 1. *.> Published monthly by the PRESTRESSED CONCRETE INSTITUTE Editor: Robert C. Eaman,. office buildings - ; \,-).

2 Precast concrete makes it easier to design build an office building In the past decade, the shortage of office space has become an inc-reasingly acute problem due to the expansion of business. Toda.y, in cities like New York and. Chicago, there is practically no vacant office space. This is in spite of the record sums being invested in building this type of structure. Every week in metropolitan papers one reads about some new high rise planned for a downtown location. In the smaller communifies there is also a large demand for offices, and many smaller one-to-four story office structures are being built in these localities. Wherever these buildings are built in whatever size, there is a building material that will meet the diverse needs of such a structure better than any other: precast and prestressed concrete. Whether the needs are as diverse as large floor-to-ceiling heights, columnless interiors, or a beautiful architectural exterior, precast and p restressed concrete does the job! - IHH 11 The Centennial Building Edmonton, Alberta, Canada THE COVER shows the Home ffice Building for the H. l. Lee Co., Inc., Mission Woods, Kansas. Sixty architectural precast prestressed concrete columns dominate the exterior design, while inside 6-ft. wide prestressed double tees form roof and floors. Architect: Linscott, Haylett & Associates; Structural Engineer: Un Seiden & Associates; General Contractor: Bob E!dridge Construction Co; Prestressed Concrete: Wilson Concrete Co. Precast concrete cladding on the exterior of The Centennial Building, Edmonton, has enabled the architects to attain a high quality of design in keeping with the building s immediate environment the civic center of the city. Precast concrete window wall panels with a gray exposed aggregate finish enabled the design of the 19-story office building to be highly successful in becoming a part of the civic center area as intended, say the architects. In addition, the 5-ft. wide units helped the building meet fire code requirements, and speeded construction throughout the winter. Architects: Sinclair, Skakun, Naito; Structural Engineers: Read, Jones, Christoffersen Ltd.; General Contractor: Hashman Construction Ltd.; Precast Concrete: Con-Force Ltd.

3 Plans for vertical and horizontal expansion of the office building and housing of long distance dialing equipment for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. in Pasadena, Texas, caused the architects to choose architectural precast concrete wall panels for the structure. The building must be expandable vertically for an additional eight floors and horizontally in two directions for an ultimate floor area of 554,400 sq. ft. (presently it is 78,500). On previous projects this company has spent vast sums in an effort to match exterior wall surfaces, and not always successfully, says one of the architects, Jack Porterfield. But by using Colorado quartz and white cement for the exterior finish, future panels can be easily cast to match existing panels. When the plans for expansion are put into effect, telephone service to the community must not be interrupted. Therefore, the panels are cast with connection provisions for ease in attachment to future vertical additions, or to be removed and reused for horizontal expansion. In addition to providing for expansion, the precast panels were selected by the owner and architects because of increased flexibility, adaptability, low maintenance cost, speed of erection, and esthetics, says Porterfield. The 575 typical window units were cast in a double U section 8-ft. wide, 30-ft. 10-in. high, and from 5-in, thick to 1-ft. thick. Architects: Dough tie & Porterfield; Associate Architect: R. L. Knapp, Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.; Structural Engineers: Vogt and douse; General Contractor: Tellepson Construction Co.; Precast Concrete: Trinity Concrete Products Co., Rackle Div. Houston No. 4 Toll and East District Office Building Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. Pasadena, Texas

4 H I IIII LII - _ = -- F wu JEi n t-. _ Greenfield Village Plaza Dearborn, Michigan A 12-story office tower, three-story retail unit, and a five-level parking structure form the Greenfield Village Plaza in Dearborn, Mich. The office building and retail unit are clad in architectural precast concrete window-wall panels, precast arches, and other precast units. Architectural precast concrete was chosen by the architects because it lent itself to the design of the building better and because the unit designs could be repeated throughout. Also factors in choosing precast concrete were the fewer units required and faster erection because of the large size of the precast elements. A total of 611 precast window units were used in the office tower, each weighing 5,100 lbs. The glass in the window units is set directly into the precast concrete by use of neoprene gaskets. The panels are 5-ft. wide, 12-ft. high, and are finished in a smooth, buff-colored surface. The lower elevations of the office tower and the retail building feature precast concrete arches. Precast columns and parapet pieces are also featured on the retail unit, and other miscellaneous pieces bring the total of precast units used in the plaza to Architects-Engineers: Harley Ellington Associates, Inc. General Contractor: A. Z. Shmina & Sons Co.; Precast Concrete: Precast/Schokbeton, Inc.

5 The 11-story home office for the Beneficial Insurance Group of Companies in Los Angeles was designed in contemporary renaissance using architectural precast concrete elements on the exterior of the building. Departing from the popular glass-and-steel high rise, the architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, used precast concrete because it allows the widest latitude of self-expression towards creating a building design. SOM wanted to achieve dignity, solidarity, and integrity in the structure s appearance. A total of 750 load-bearing T-shaped precast concrete sections make up the columns and spandrel elements of the exterior walls of the building. These T-sections combine with bronze-tinted glass to comprise the facade of the building above massive precast concrete-covered columns. The T-sections are 13-ft. 81/2-in. high, 9-ft. 111/2-in. wide, and 2-ft. 9-in, thick. They are finished with a heavy sandb lasting to expose the Sierra white granite aggregate. Beneficial Plaza Los Angeles, California Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Structural Engineer: Brandow & johnson; General Contractor: Dinwiddie Construction Co.; Precast Concrete: Rockwin Corp : ii uiiiiiiii iiiii. sw.ii1lii I I III ii i I :.A::.: iii i I I ii a 11Jllhii I I IlIIIiilllI I [ p

6 fasci and spandrel pieces, and precast trim The C. G. Whyburn Building is a precast concrete office structure for the El Paso Water Utilities-Public Services Board. It consists of 124 precast structural and architectural concrete columns, a cantilevered roof, precast t i D[ I I IllS I. \ Despite the special casting and use of color, precast concrete was still economical due to the repetition of members throughout the structure. In addition, local limestone aggregates were used and exposed through sandblasting. The exterior fenestration is emphasized by C G vvny urn uii ing El Paso Texas SAIL.. and planter boxes around the exterior. Inside, there is a precast water fountain. The differing uses to which precast concrete is put in this building illustrate the flexibility it has to meet the special demands of both structural and architectural needs. All precast concrete for the building was specially cast using color-tinted cement matrices which even extended to the concrete block fence around the back of the building.. deep, 24-ft. 8-in, high 12-in. spacedwide, on 4-ft. precastand concrete columns 22-in. centers. These columns act structurally as well as providing the design character and serving as sun shades through their close interval spacing. Architect: Duffy B. Stanley; Structural Engineer: A. B. Peinada and Sons; General Contractor: Robert E. McKee General Contractor, Inc.; Precast Concrete: Atlas Structural Concrete, Inc. 4 II -

7 r,.. III Bell Data Center Don Mills, Ontario, Canada Architectural precast concrete dresses up the exterior and lobby of the Bell Data Center, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada. More than 190 squared C -shaped precast units in combination with the same number of similarly-shaped units without either the upper or lower arm, depending on location, are used in the exterior walls of the building. The arms of these units project outward 3 ft. All have their brown Laurentian granite aggregate exposed through sandblasting. Below these cladding units and above a cast-in-place podium are cantilever and spandrel beam covers and soff it panels precast and sandblasted for texture. In the lobby, 38 precast, ribbed panels bushhammered and bathed in acid for texture are featured in 5-ft. widths and 10-ft. 6-in. heights. Complementing the panels are six precast concrete seat units and a three-section precast desk, all acid-etched for texture. Seventeen precast concrete steps lead up to the main entrance. Precast concrete was chosen as a cladding material and for its other applications in the building for a number of reasons. For instance, the quality control for such complex geometric forms is better, especially where exposed aggregate is desired. The architects also cited precast concrete as being less expensive where sunshading to the extent used in the building is featured. They also said precast concrete endowed better visual scale to the mass of the building. Architects: Webb Zerafa Menkes; Structural Engineer: M. 5. Yolles Associates Ltd.; General Contractor: Olympia & York Ltd.; Precast Concrete: Beer Precast Ltd. II

8 District Office Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Longview, Washington Speed and economy of construction were major factors in the selection Of precast and prestressed concrete for the District Office of Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. Controlled behavior of deflection and cracking in the cantilevers and other exposed structural elements was another important advantage of prestressed concrete for this job. The architects also were able to successfully solve a rather complicated corner condition by pretensioning and post-tensioning techniques. All major concrete structural elements above the cast-in-place floor slab are precast. Precast columns support a prestressed beam system. The roof slab is of prestressed double tees. III The exterior walls are 5-ft. wide sectionsof either glass or exposed aggregate wall panels. Constantly changing play of light and shade on the sculptured prestressed spandrel beams and contrasting textures of smooth and exposed aggregate concrete highlight the building s design day and night. Architects: Street & Lundgren; Structural Engineer: ABAM Engineers, Inc.; General Contractor: Fogde & jensen; Post-tensioning and Precast Prestressed Concrete: Concrete Technology Corp. 4 1 PRESTRESSED CONCRETE INSTITUTE /7 PCI EcTURALSTRUCURAL 205 W. WACKER DRIVE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS PItemS/FEBRUARYI 1970