I may be working on a design/build school project and I am looking to broaden my knowledge of this construction technique. Can anyone point me to some nicely designed tilt-up projects? How about recommending a good book or two on the subject?
The school is on a First Nations reserve, so it might be appropriate to try soften the appearance of the panels in some way. I am curious about embedding organic materials in the face of the panel. These would rot out over time, leaving (I hope) and interesting texture and perhaps even colour (via staining).
if it's design/build why don't you contact a contractor? Or the process is similar to a pre-cast panel, just built on-site for cheaper. You may want to visit a pre-cast wall panel manufacturer and ask them what, if any kind of crazy things they've stuck into a wall panel. Typically, they aren't very adventurous.
The only "decent" tilt up project I know of is Ronan's Jewish school, but even that's not great/wild. (Er...I think that was tilt-up, perhaps pre-cast. Either way, they're similar in many ways)
If you want to soften the look you can opt to go with a rougher texture on the panel. The organic in-lay idea sounds interesting but the voids worry me in a freeze/thaw cycle. Since tilt-up is more common in the south I presume this isn't a major concern for you.
Precast mfg's like to hype their stamped designs. I'm sure all their websites show off the "fake" brick or stone looks. That's not really for me. I've done projects with tilt-up as a masonry back-up and did standard brick cavity wall out front. Was cheaper than CMU back-up.
If the tilt-up is going to be the final exterior look I would suggest changing the finish texture and trying to pass it off as a stucco building. Casting reveals is common place in tilt-up but really only gives you the racing stripe look.
This is in Canada so freeze/thaw is an issue, but I am thinking that any organic materials would be embedded in a "sacrificial" layer of 0.75" to 2". This layer could crack and crumble without affecting panel integrity. This should not incur any extra cost as the panel thickness from the panel face to the bottom of reveals is typically not included in structural calculations.
Of course the labour to embed whatever would, be extra...but if I omit reveals, it could be a wash.
I am no longer going to attempt and post images; however, see this link for the new Children's Museum of Los Angeles by agps architecture currently under construction. I really like the design of the project not in a "it looks great . . . for tilt-up" but that it looks great for concrete construction in general.
Tilt-Up
I may be working on a design/build school project and I am looking to broaden my knowledge of this construction technique. Can anyone point me to some nicely designed tilt-up projects? How about recommending a good book or two on the subject?
The school is on a First Nations reserve, so it might be appropriate to try soften the appearance of the panels in some way. I am curious about embedding organic materials in the face of the panel. These would rot out over time, leaving (I hope) and interesting texture and perhaps even colour (via staining).
if it's design/build why don't you contact a contractor? Or the process is similar to a pre-cast panel, just built on-site for cheaper. You may want to visit a pre-cast wall panel manufacturer and ask them what, if any kind of crazy things they've stuck into a wall panel. Typically, they aren't very adventurous.
The only "decent" tilt up project I know of is Ronan's Jewish school, but even that's not great/wild. (Er...I think that was tilt-up, perhaps pre-cast. Either way, they're similar in many ways)
Holl's St. Ignatius is a tilt up, and not at all bad. Also check out Schindler's house, which was DIY tilt up technology in the 20s.
Schindler's Lovell Beach House
Lovell Beach house is cast in place concrete. Also, precast and tilt up are completely different.
If you want to soften the look you can opt to go with a rougher texture on the panel. The organic in-lay idea sounds interesting but the voids worry me in a freeze/thaw cycle. Since tilt-up is more common in the south I presume this isn't a major concern for you.
Precast mfg's like to hype their stamped designs. I'm sure all their websites show off the "fake" brick or stone looks. That's not really for me. I've done projects with tilt-up as a masonry back-up and did standard brick cavity wall out front. Was cheaper than CMU back-up.
If the tilt-up is going to be the final exterior look I would suggest changing the finish texture and trying to pass it off as a stucco building. Casting reveals is common place in tilt-up but really only gives you the racing stripe look.
This is in Canada so freeze/thaw is an issue, but I am thinking that any organic materials would be embedded in a "sacrificial" layer of 0.75" to 2". This layer could crack and crumble without affecting panel integrity. This should not incur any extra cost as the panel thickness from the panel face to the bottom of reveals is typically not included in structural calculations.
Of course the labour to embed whatever would, be extra...but if I omit reveals, it could be a wash.
Ronan's Jewish school is unremarkable. (At least as far as the tilt up goes.) Interesting window placement though.
substitute some fly-ash for limestone...you get a darker gray color out of the concrete and its a little better for the enviornment
the schindler house/MAK center
I am no longer going to attempt and post images; however, see this link for the new Children's Museum of Los Angeles by agps architecture currently under construction. I really like the design of the project not in a "it looks great . . . for tilt-up" but that it looks great for concrete construction in general.
http://www.mossbldg.com/images/2006.10%20CMLA%20004.jpg
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