City Kia

Owner: New Motors, Orlando
Location: Orlando
Concrete Contractor: Seretta Construction Co., Apopka, Fla.
General Contractor: Autobuilders General Contracting Services, West Palm Beach
Architect: Group 942 Architecture, Kissimmee, Fla.

Seretta Construction, an Apopka-based concrete contractor, was responsible for the foundation, slab-on-grade, concrete tilt-wall panels, mezzanines and sidewalks for this 33,000-sq.-ft. automobile dealership in Orlando.

The project's concrete tilt-wall panels included 5,000 lin. ft. of reveal to create decorative patterns that were later accentuated with colored accents after the building was painted.

The new City Kia facility also features a curved-angle showroom exterior with a 270-ft. radius wall, which consists of 11 panels set on a 25-ft. radius. The showroom required multiple large windows and oversized entry doors.

Each of the 11 panels measured 24 ft. wide and had mitered edges on both sides.

One construction hurdle involved the casting of the tilt-up panels. Whereas concrete panels can usually be cast within the perimeter of the building's slab, this project would not allow that because of colored concrete floor sections and multiple floor penetrations for drains, other plumbing requirements and cast-in-floor maintenance vehicle lifts in the service bays.

To overcome this, Seretta Construction set up a 41,000-sq.-ft. casting slab outside the building to form and pour the panels.

Seretta's biggest challenge was the erection of a 70-ft.-wide tilt-wall panel weighing 38 tons, which the Tilt-up Concrete Association has recognized as one of the widest panels ever constructed.