Tilt Up Trends Up

Use of This Method in the Southeast Continues to Expand

By Richard W. Bracker

The use of tilt-up concrete construction continues to grow in popularity among contractors and designers in the Southeast.

The construction method was first used predominantly in the industrial market, and now is utilized by more than 15% of all industrial buildings, according to the Tilt-Up Concrete Association in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

In recent years in the Southeast, tilt-up has gained favor with religious buildings as well. An example is the new Oratory building on the campus of Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Fla. The high-profile project won one of two top Excellence awards at TCA’s most recent Tilt-Up Achievement Awards, presented at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas.

The objective on the Ave Maria project was to not only provide an anchor between the college and the town, but also to lend an Italian architectural flair.

Woodland Construction Co. of Jupiter, Fla., was the concrete contractor for the 104-ft.-tall oratory, which wrapped up construction in late 2007.

The tilt-up drawings for the $5.4 million project were handled by Manuel R. Linares, president of Concrete Constructioneers in Tampa. Linares says his firm used 3D BIM-intensive software and a senior drafter with over 35 years of experience.

Concrete Constructioneers produced panel and rebar shop drawings and lift, connection and panel rebar designs. This project is more like architectural precast, Linares says. Some of the building’s unique features included: Only 33 panels, but none with the same geometry; every panel had some type of curved return (some over 5 ft.); the panels had to be erected completely plum in order to slide into a steel frame.

Linares adds that tilt-up was the fastest way to construct and erect a 22-sq-ft panel with a 17-ft-diameter hole in the middle, 75 ft up in the air. He says that use of cast-in-place concrete would have taken longer.

The complicated 1,100-seat structure features cast recesses and integral returns. It required two years of planning, including preliminary panel designs and constructability studies, prior to construction.

Linares says each panel was designed with a 5-ft-radius return wall. And, all of the panels had to be welded to a steel frame that soared more than 100 ft above the finished floor.
Once the panels were placed, an imported Italian stone block finish was applied to the exterior to match the Italian aesthetic of the surrounding buildings.

The tallest panel is 42 ft, 3 in; the largest measures 462 sq ft; and the heaviest weighs 110,956 lbs.

Kearney Project

R.R. Simmons Construction Corp. of Tampa is an integrated design/builder that constructed its first tilt-up structure in 1970. Randy Simmons, company chairman, estimates that about 50% of its projects are tilt-up, and the remainder precast concrete.

One of the company’s more unique recent projects was its $25 million headquarters facility for Kearney Development Co., a site/development contractor based in Tampa. Although several building systems were evaluated, tilt-up became the choice for the Kearney project because of its inherent durability and ability to handle high-wind conditions.

The structural conditions would have been materially more difficult with a lesser system, Simmons says.

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In addition to a 50,000-sq-ft office building, the project included a two-story, 15,000-sq-ft building that houses the company helicopter as well as other specialized equipment. Special rolling steel doors were fabricated to resist the 130-mph wind load. Its hangar space with large overhead door was integrated into this building. The total facility also had to be constructed to withstand Class 3 wind conditions.

The overall project, completed in March 2007, exceeds the required code-wind rating by 16%, Simmons says.

The main corporate office connects by an enclosed bridge element to the primary shop and dispatch area.

Details, Details

For Seretta Construction’s recent American LaFrance office and warehouse facility project in Summerville, S.C., the goal was to provide a building with the architectural style of a century-old Pennsylvania firehouse. That was the intent of the project owner, which manufactures emergency vehicles.

The company wanted to retain its exterior design look of 1832, the year in which it was founded, says Andrew S. McPherson, president of Seretta Construction in Apopka, Fla. The project won one of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association’s recent achievement awards.

Completed in August, the project uses cast-in-place brick of multiple colors and varying courses. Also, the building had extensive reveal patterns, arches and numerous other geometric patterns cast into the tilt walls.

McPherson says Seretta crews had to hand cut each brick at the formed arches and the panel edges and returns.

Adding to the difficulties, the project’s schedule was aggressive due to being driven by a tenant’s lease date. No other system could have delivered the project as quickly, he says.

Further, the use of tilt-up allowed for just one contractor to not only erect the walls but also to provide the exterior finishes.

“I don’t recall a more difficult project for us,” McPherson says. “No other building system can compete with its cost-savings, speed, potential of architectural features, durability and strength.” Fire rating also is an advantage with this system, as is the reduced potential for water intrusion due to the reduction of joints.

Seretta works primarily in the private sector doing industrial, distribution, retail, cold storage, food processing, warehousing and multistory office buildings.

Architect’s Perspective

One architectural firm that’s high on tilt-up concrete construction is Randall Paulson Architects of Roswell, Ga.

“We have found that tilt-up is the most cost-effective concrete wall panel system,” says Kiley Green, the firm’s industrial studio leader. The firm’s design of the Cardinal Health regional office and distribution facility in Buford, Ga., used tilt-up.

Encompassing 372,359 sq ft, the Cardinal Health facility entailed stringent requirements for security, environmental quality and efficient inventory, packaging and distribution capabilities, Green says.

Tilt-up’s relatively low cost and flexibility is important, Green adds.

By using different tilt-up forms in making a tilt panel, it’s possible to replicate different materials such as brick and wood, he says.

Randall Paulson uses tilt-up for industrial, office and distribution projects and for some retail designs.

The project, finished in December 2006, earned Randall Paulson a 1st-Place Award for Industrial Design from the American Concrete Institute.

Pushing the Envelope

Tilt-Con Corp. of Altamonte Springs, Fla., a contractor that specializes mostly in tilt-up work, has received nearly 50 awards. The firm also self-performs foundations and provides slab-on-grade design-build services and in-house job-planning services.

Mark W. Theisen Sr., president, says one of the firm’s most recent unique jobs was its 1800 Military Trail project in Boca Raton, Fla., which includes a parking garage and four-story office building.

The project was unique because the parking garage was entirely site cast, Theisen says. Tilt-Con also produced the prestressed beams, as well as the other garage components.

Completed in November, the parking garage is 150,000 sq ft and the building 174,000 sq ft. Features include tilt-up panels and site-cast, prestressed beams and a cast-in-place parking deck.

The site was limited in size and had a stringent schedule. Without the use of tilt-up construction, site access and schedule would not have been met, Theisen says.

He adds that tilt-up’s increasing versatility is a key reason for its popularity because contractors can cast in any shape and offer features such as rotunda entries, segmental radiuses, recesses and various exterior finishes such as thin brick.

Retail

Another unique use of tilt-up can be found at the new two-story retail structure that houses both the Home Depot Design Center and the Target store on a 12-acre site in Charlotte N.C. The 130,000-sq-ft retail structure and 900-space parking deck were built by Choate Construction of Atlanta.

Brent Long, Choate’s construction group vice president, says an early design specified precast as the skin of the retail building, but a change to tilt-wall saved $140,000.

Phase one of the Metropolitan at Midtown project was completed in October. It received an award for Excellence in Construction from the Associated Builders and Contractors of the Carolinas.

The Choate staff was organized with separate field managers for the retail structure and parking deck.

The project involved the erection of 88 panels, about 56 ft tall, upon a 700-lin-ft retaining wall, 24 in. thick and 23 ft tall.

Choate had to accommodate the needs and specifications of the individual consultants within Home Depot and Target; as well as with Cooper Carry of Atlanta, the architect of record; and the developer, Pappas Properties, says Elias Mullane, Choate’s project manager.

Different architectural elements were used to create the retail facility, including a mix of architectural sunshades, canopies, ornamental metals, landscaping, concrete and brick.