Concrete is All Around Us

An interesting report from the Portland Cement Association (PCA) illustrates the various uses for portland cement as it is one of the key ingredients in concrete.  They suggest that while concrete is very important to the way we live, and in fact surrounds us, it is often overlooked.  They explain that concrete “makes our homes and offices durable and more resilient in natural disasters, it makes our roads and bridges strong and last longer, and thanks to its permanence and energy efficiency, it helps sustain our environment.” 

The LA Federal Courthouse Wins Another Award

We are proud to announce that a project The Conco Companies provided concrete services for has won another award.  The LA Federal Courthouse in downtown LA was recently recognized as a “Gold Winner” in the category for Best Sustainable Project by the LA Business Journal‘s Commercial Real Estate Awards.   Last year the Courthouse also won the “2016 Outstanding Achievement and Excellence in Concrete Construction” award presented by the Southern California ACI chapter.  In addition the project was selected to compete at the national level at the 2017 ACI National Convention.

Tilt-up Construction Offers Several Benefits

Tilt-up construction, also known as tilt-slab or tilt-wall, is a construction technique in which concrete wall panels are cast-on-site and tilted into place.  It was first used in America around 1905, and patented in 1908 by Robert Akin during the concrete construction of the Schindler House in West Hollywood, CA.   

Using Concrete and Glass to Create a Masterpiece of a Home

A recently constructed 20,000 sq. ft. home located on Miami’s Coconut Grove bay is an excellent example of integrating a man-made structure into the natural surroundings.  Designed by the filmmaker Alejandro Landes, the massive concrete and glass-walled villa is his first architectural project.  Throughout the beautiful home, Landes used a selection of tropical materials such as salvaged teak wood, rattan, bamboo, handmade linen and more.   

How Tall and Super Tall Skyscrapers are Measured

Over the last several years The Conco Companies have had the opportunity to be involved in the construction of the two tallest skyscrapers west of the Mississippi, the Wilshire Grand in Los Angeles and the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco.  This experience got us to wondering who was responsible for measuring and recording the world’s newly constructed skyscrapers as they continue to push the envelope in terms of their towering height.    

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is the world’s leading resource for professionals focused on the inception, design, construction, and operation of tall buildings and future cities. The CTBUH is also responsible for developing the international standards used to measure tall buildings’ heights and is the recognized official organization for bestowing the title of the ‘The World’s Tallest Building.’ 

The height of tall buildings is measured by three criteria that includes: the height to the architectural top; the highest occupied floor; and the height to the tip.  The height to the architectural top is defined as the height measured from the level of the “lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment.” 

The highest occupied floor is officially defined by the CTBUH as the measurement from the lowest significant pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor in the building.  The third criteria again starts at the “lowest level” as defined earlier to the highest point of the building “irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage, and other functional-technical equipment).” 

In addition to tall skyscrapers the CTBUH also recognizes a fairly new category of “supertall” and “megatall” buildings.  They define a supertall building as being over 300 meters or 984 feet high.  Buildings over 600 meters or 1,968 feet tall are considered to be megatall.  Their statistics show that as of June 2015, there were 91 supertall and 2 megatall buildings that were fully completed and occupied across the globe.  In addition there are several more extremely high skyscrapers currently under construction.   

At The Conco Companies, we are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  Our experience includes providing services for commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.  We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

Source:ctbuh.org/TallBuildings/HeightStatistics/Criteria/tabid/446/language/en-US/Default.aspx 

Partnering with Some of the Biggest Names in the Industry

Another of the highly respected construction companies that The Conco Companies have been honored to work with is Turner Construction.   According to their website, they have a reputation for “undertaking large, complex projects, fostering innovation, embracing emerging technologies, and making a difference for their clients, employees and community.”  Turner is a North-American based company with 5,200 employees and has a record of completing $10 billion of construction on 1,500 projects each year.  

One notable project we worked with Turner on was the San Francisco 49ers new stadium.  The 1.85 million square foot Levi's Stadium was completed in 2014 and features 165 luxury suites, 9,000 club seats, an open pedestrian plaza, community space, a 49ers team store, and a 49ers Hall of Fame.  The stadium is also used for a number of other events including professional and college football, soccer, motocross, concerts, and civic events.   

During the construction of the stadium, Conco constructed slabs in excess of 2,000,000 square feet and used more than 65,000 cubic yards of concrete.  As the project was on an ambitious timeline, we worked in four separate areas simultaneously to complete the foundation and used the same techniques for the many deck pours.   

Another exciting project of Turner Construction, and one that we are honored to be a part of, is the Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles.  Expected to be complete in early March, the 73-story building will offer 20 floors of Class A office (400,000 square feet) and 42 floors of four-star hospitality with 900 guestrooms.  The 400,000 square feet of podium includes ballrooms, meeting rooms, retail and below grade parking for 1,250 cars.  The Wilshire Grand is the tallest building west of the Mississippi and presented a series of challenges that Conco and Turner have successfully met.   

The Conco Companies are a leading supplier of concrete services throughout the Western U.S.  We got our start in the Bay Area in 1959 by offering clients the best value on a wide range of concrete services and products and are now one of the foremost concrete contractors in the region. Our concrete services include commercial, educational, industrial and public works projects as well as parking structures.

 

Conco is Honored to Work with the Best!

As a subcontractor on several large construction projects throughout the West Coast, The Conco Companies have been privileged to work with some of the best contractors in the industry.  One of those companies is the Clark Construction Group.   

As one of the most experienced and respected building and civil construction firms in the United States, the Clark Construction Group has a reputation for transforming the ideas and visions of their clients into award-winning projects.  Their goals include building with the intention of exceeding clients’ expectations for safety, quality, functionality, and aesthetics, and deliver finished products that stand the test of time.  Clark has a large portfolio of projects that includes all sizes and levels of difficulty spanning from complicated interior renovations to some of the most complex civil operations in the country.  

One of the projects we are proud to be working with Clark on is the Salesforce Tower under construction in downtown San Francisco.  The  61-story, Class-A office tower will be one of the tallest buildings in the western United States at 1,070 feet and will surpass New York City’s Chrysler Building as the seventh tallest building in the country. 

Another memorable project that Conco assisted Clark with a few years ago was the Los Angeles Hall of Justice restoration project.  It included a design-build contract for structural, architectural, and aesthetic upgrades to the 1920s-era building.  As L.A.'s former county jail, the Hall of Justice was closed after it was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The newly renovated space now includes the L.A. Sherriff's Department and members of the L.A. County District Attorney's staff. 

Conco also is working with Clark on the new VA Mental Health and Research (MH&R) building currently under construction in Seattle, WA.  For the $152 million project, we are providing all of the concrete pumping, formwork and place and finish services for the 219,000 SF project as well as supplying the reinforcement.  In addition we are providing shotcrete services for nonstructural site walls. 

At The Conco Companies, we are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  Our experience includes providing services for commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.  We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

Can Concrete Be More Environmentally Friendly?

Concrete is one of the most used substances in the world. As the world becomes more and more conscious about how our daily actions impact the environment around us, questions about concrete’s environmental sustainability undoubtedly come up. While concrete may not have the lightest carbon footprint, it does have several other characteristics which still make it a fantastic building material choice.  

Concrete is green (is degradable in its early natural state), durable (lasts over 50 years), energy efficient (has a high thermal mass), and is recyclable (old concrete can be broken down and reused for other projects). Those characteristics are part of why green LEED certified buildings use concrete as their material of choice. The only downside to concrete is that its production facilitates the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Portland cement, an ingredient in concrete and the most widely used cement in the world, is created by heating limestone and other materials until they reach temperatures of 1450 degrees Celsius. This is process requires an immense amount of energy. 

For those looking to reduce their carbon footprint, there are a few novel forms of concrete which claim to be more environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly cement is either created by using alternative ingredients or by designing an innovative production methodology that uses significantly less energy than traditional cement. These are a few of the most notable: 

• Fly-ash concrete: a by-product of coal-burning power plants.
• Ashcrete: used from recycled fly-ash.
• Blast furnace slag: another product of fly-ash production that can be used in concrete.
• Carbon concrete: a plastic material that is shaped by heat.  

The Conco Companies are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  While we tackle projects both big and small, our experience includes providing the entire cast-in-place concrete for the Wilshire Grand, the tallest building west of the Mississippi, along with other notable projects.  We serve California, Oregon, Washington State, Colorado and Nevada.

Another Remarkable Building Project Opens in Washington D.C.

Along with the several iconic construction projects that The Conco Companies have been involved with in California during the last couple of years, the rest of the country has also seen some pretty incredible projects completed.  One example is the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington D.C. that just had its opening dedication ceremony on September 24^th.   

The design for the building was awarded to lead designer David Adjaye and lead architect Philip Freelon and their architectural firm of Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup.  The firm was selected after winning an international competition that took place in April 2009 with a design that “synthesized a variety of distinctive elements from Africa and the Americas into the building’s design and structure.”   Construction on the five-acre site began in February of 2012.

The Clark Construction Group, Smoot Construction, and H.J. Russell & Company were joint general contractors on the project.  The first African American-owned architectural firm in the U.S., McKissack & McKissack, worked on behalf of the Smithsonian and provided the project with management services. 

The 350,000 square feet museum has a total of ten floors with five above ground and five below and is the deepest building on the National Mall.  Site work included digging an 80-foot deep foundation for the building.  The first concrete was ready to be poured in November of 2012, and during work on the lower levels, a crane was used to install a segregated railroad passenger car as well as a prison tower.  Both pieces would have been too large to bring as more of the building was completed. 

The NMAAHC was topped out in October 2014 and the steel superstructure and above-ground concrete was completed in January 2015.  An architectural highlight of the museum includes 3,600 bronze-colored panels that wrap around the entire building in homage to the lattice ironwork crafted by many enslaved African Americans throughout the South.   

  

Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring expertise, experience and quality to each project.  We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for public works projects, commercial, parking structures, educational, and other construction development. We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

Sources: nmaahc.si.edu/explore/building

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_African_American_History_and_Culture

An Architectural Feat in Abu Dhabi to Finally Open

With an original opening date of 2012, later moved up to 2015 (and missed), we are now being told that as August 2016, the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum is now 95% complete.  Located on the Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE it has been announced that the museum will be finished in late December or early 2017 with an opening date sometime in 2017. 

 

In terms of ambitious architectural design there is good reason why the Louvre Abu Dhabi has taken so long to complete.  Designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, recipient of the highest architectural honor, the Pritzker Prize, the 260,000 sq. ft. structure is expected to have a final cost between €83 million and €108 million (U.S. $120 million).  

To complete Nouvel’s “Rain of Light” vision, the dome’s approximately 1,855-foot circumference is constructed as a giant jigsaw puzzle that took over 30 million man hours and 424 days to complete.  And that does not count the underside of the dome’s cladding.  One of the 7,850 stars that form the eight layers of the Rain of Light installation is over 160 square feet and weighs almost 915 pounds. 

The walls of the structure required 4,680 panels of ultra-high performance, fiber-reinforced concrete that used a matrix of glass fibers instead of steel to increase its compressive and tensile strength.  Since the museum will be constantly exposed to sea water as it sits right on the edge of the Arabian Gulf, this type of concrete offered minimal shrinkage and impermeability.  Another feature includes the roof that “sits on top of four towers that have been carefully concealed inside the museum buildings, creating the illusion that the whole 7,000-tonne structure is hovering in mid-air.”

The museum, which is accessed by boat, will eventually be joined by two more museums, the Zayed National Museum and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, as part of the new Saadiyat Island Cultural District.  Along with the Louvre’s 23 permanent galleries, it also has space for temporary exhibits as well as a research center.  In addition to the cost of the museum, the country of Abu Dhabi also paid $525 million to be a part of the Louvre name along with an additional $747 million to receive art loans, special exhibitions and management advice.  

 

The Conco Companies are one of the foremost suppliers of concrete services for the Western U.S. We got our start in 1959 in the Bay Area by offering clients the best value on a broad range of concrete services and products.  Since that time, we have taken a leading role as top concrete contractors in the region. We have four regional offices serving California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado and Washington.

Sources: archdaily.com/793182/in-progress-louvre-abu-dhabi-jean-nouvel

thenational.ae/uae/tourism/louvre-abu-dhabi

Classical Greek Architecture

As leading commercial concrete contractors, The Conco Companies have been honored to be involved in many distinguished construction projects over the last several decades.  As many of these projects represent exciting accomplishments in our today’s world, it got us thinking about architectural wonders from ancient times.  Our post is an acknowledgement of the enduring influence of Greek architecture. 

The terms we use to describe the five orders of classical architecture, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite, were given to us by the Romans.  The Ancient History Encyclopedia defines an order as, “a combination of a certain style of column with or without a base and an entablature (what the column supports: the architrave, frieze, and cornice).”   

The Greek’s architectural style embraced “simplicity, proportion, perspective and harmony” and inspired the building style of the Roman Empire.  Together this laid the foundation for the classical architectural orders that dominated the Renaissance period right up to today.   

Along with the Parthenon, which we wrote about in an earlier post, other significant ancient Greek temples that exemplified Doric and Ionic order include the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, completed c. 460 BC; and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which was one of the wonders of the ancient world completed c. 430 BC.  The Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, built between 444-440 BC, is an example of the Greeks’ desire to not only build structures that were beautiful on the inside as well as close-up but also to construct temples that would be admired from a distance. 

On the Architecture of the Capitol website, they list a few examples of modern day buildings in Washington, DC that reflect the classic Greek orders.  These include the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court Building and the exterior of the Longworth House Office Building.  The old Senate Chamber located in the U.S. Capitol “is a two-story room modeled after the amphitheaters of antiquity.”  The eight Ionic columns that support the Chamber’s gallery on the east wall are inspired by the columns of the Erechtheion in Athens.

The Conco Companies are a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western U.S. and got our start in the Bay Area in 1959 by offering clients the best value on a wide range of concrete services and products.  Since that time, we have taken a leading role as one of the top concrete contractors in the region. Our offices serve California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

Sources: ancient.eu/Greek_Architecture/, aoc.gov/capitol-hill/architecture-columns/ionic-columns