Spectacular Concrete Buildings from Across the Globe – Sunset Chapel

The Conco Companies have been busy working on several structures in the Western U.S. that are slated to become iconic landmarks for their region such as the Wilshire Grand Center in L.A. and the Salesforce Tower in S.F.  Today, concrete is one of the key ingredients in many contemporary architectural projects worldwide.  Referred to as “liquid stone” at the outset, the material is malleable, durable and allows for countless incredible engineering feats to be undertaken.  

One extremely interesting project that was built a couple of years ago is the Sunset Chapel overlooking the Acapulco Bay in Mexico.  Designed by brothers Esteban and Sebastián Suárez of the BNKR Arquitectura firm, the architects were tasked with making the chapel a suitable setting for weddings as well as a place to mourn the dead.  The owners also wanted the sun to set “exactly behind the altar cross” (of course, this is only possible twice a year at the equinoxes). And last but not least, a section with the first phase of crypts had to be included outside and around the Sunset chapel.”

In order to seamlessly blend in with the surrounding area, the chapel was designed to look like another of the gigantic boulders that fills the mountainside on which the building sits.  To lessen any environmental impact to the area and eliminate the need to remove trees and boulders as well as take advantage of the majestic views, the chapel was raised at least five meters and the footprint of the building is almost half the floor area as that of the upper level.  Although not that large at only 120 square meters in size, the chapel creates a beautiful, imposing structure. 

The Conco Companies are a leading supplier of concrete services for the Western United States. We have built a reputation on superior concrete formwork, reinforcing, place and finish, shotcrete and other ancillary services that benefit from our vast experience.  We have four regional offices to serve Southern and Northern California, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

Source:arcspace.com/features/bnkr-arquitectura/sunset-chapel/

Modern Concrete Wonders – Argentina’s Bicentennial Civic Center

As a part of our series of spectacular, contemporary concrete structures from across the globe, the Bicentennial Civic Center in Córdoba, Argentina certainly qualifies as a striking example.  The project was designed by Lucio Morini + GGMPU Arquitectos and the architect in charge was Guillermo Pozzobón.  Commissioned by the Government of the Province Cordoba, the approximately 24,781 square meter civic center incorporates a series of delicate concrete cutouts that provides the structure with a unique look.   

The entire project consists of three buildings of which two were completed in 2012.  The complex houses all of the Public admission employees for the province of Cordoba including members of congress, and the convention center is used to host events for the city and surrounding region of Cordoba.  The more striking of the two buildings is the prism-like structure that is based on a square cuboid 45 meters high with one side 26 meters across.  At 16 meters, the structure has a 20 degree rotation.  The architectural firm described it as,   “The structure generates a complex morphology based on triangles creating a prism that plays with shadows and light. The openings were generated from a series of geometric rhomboid-based combinations designed to instill a tri-dimensionality to the flat character of the facades.”

The other building on the site is a horizontal slab that reflects the similar rhomboidal shapes as used in the taller structure although they are done on a different scale.  A green area at the top of the building is enclosed with metal mesh to allow vines to grow freely and to create a way to help regulate temperatures inside by blocking the sun in the summer and allowing sunshine in during the winter.  Furthermore, the roof is completely covered in grass and flowers.  

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: arch2o.com/bicentennial-civic-center-lucio-morini-ggmpu-arquitectos/

Photography by Claudio Manzoni, Leonardo Finotti

Customers Benefit by Conco’s Ownership of a Trucking Company

One of the benefits of using The Conco Companies is we bring a guarantee to each of our projects that you will get the highest quality, professional services from start to finish.  Whether it is Conco’s experienced pumping division that has made us the leading experts in providing cost-effective, quality solutions on even the most challenging projects, or our place and finish crews that are among the most experienced in the Western U.S., we deliver.  In addition another example of Conco’s many strengths is that we own and operate the professional Reliable Trucking Company to ensure our customers receive the safest, most dependable construction hauling available. 

The Reliable Trucking Company operates a fleet of modern, up-to-the-date equipment that currently provides services throughout California and Southern Oregon.   All of our trucks are outfitted with diesel particulate filters (DPF’s) and fully meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations.  In our on-going efforts to control costs and to increase efficiency, we also operate a bulk trans-loading terminal in Stockton, CA where we are able to receive rail shipments from BNSF and the Union Pacific railroads. 

Furthermore, Reliable employs some of the safest and most professional drivers in the industry.  All drivers hold a CDL and have gone through extensive in-house training.  Our vehicles include late model pneumatic tankers, bottom dumps, semi-end dumps, ten wheelers, transfers and flat beds.  This gives us the ability to haul cement, aggregates and other construction materials.  Also we are able to pass along savings and improve services by having established compatible relationships with both suppliers and dump sites. 

Currently, Reliable Trucking is looking for Bulk Pneumatic Drivers and Bottom Dump Drivers for several of their California locations.  Please see our website for all of the details regarding these and other job postings. 

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.

Conco’s Services - Give Your Project the Best Start

As with most things, experience counts and The Conco Companies bring to each and every project plenty of it.  As industry leaders for almost 60 years, we have made it our business to consistently provide our customers with the highest quality commercial concrete services regardless of the size of the project.  Our scope of services not only includes formwork, reinforcement, pumping, and finishing but also professional design services.  Furthermore, one of the advantages of being a leader in the field is that we are able to attract the top professionals to join our team. 

Conco’s engineers and estimators work meticulously to provide reinforced concrete design solutions to alleviate or prevent problems and delays down the road.  Our specialists are trained in the most advanced industry technologies including Building Informational Modeling (BIM), on-screen take-off, and construction management software.   We utilize all of this information as well as relying on our extensive experience to recommend to clients the best materials and processes to use to help meet sustainability and LEED goals. 

With today’s demands for green, sustainable structures, it is imperative to factor in such criteria early in the planning and design stages and our services support those types of decisions.  Architects, owners and contractors must have the most up-to-date information available right from the beginning of a project to ensure the greatest cost-efficiency along with the ability to influence design. 

We encourage you to take a look at our website to see some of the remarkable projects that Conco has been proud to play a role in.  Over the last several years in California alone we have worked on or are still currently involved in projects that include the Nokia Theater L.A. Live, San Francisco 49er’s Levi Stadium, U.S. Federal Courthouse in L.A., Wilshire Grand Center in L.A. and the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco.  

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.

The Salesforce Tower Utilizes a “Performance-based Seismic Design”

Just as the Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles is being constructed in an earthquake zone so is the Salesforce Tower in downtown San Francisco.  And like the Wilshire Grand, the Salesforce Tower will be constructed to withstand the strongest earthquakes known to the area.  

The architectural captivating Salesforce Tower will be more than 200 feet taller than the city’s current highest skyscraper, the Transamerica Pyramid, which opened in 1972.   Designed by the world renowned architect, César Pelli, the Tower will be constructed using highly technical “performance-based seismic design.”  Even though the Tower sits on an area that used to be a landfill, architect Pelli is quoted as saying, “Towers are inherently safer in earthquakes than low buildings.”  He added, “If you know an earthquake is coming run to the tallest building you can find.”

Approved in 2008, the city’s performance-based seismic design is stricter than the state of California’s code.  It gives engineers and architects an opportunity to use computer simulations and technical modeling to evaluate a building’s capacity to withstand an earthquake.  The SFGate reports that the “main structural advantage is that this allows towers to be built without horizontal beams - known as moment frames - on the outer edge of each floor. Instead, seismic strength is concentrated within the vertical core of the structure.”

Structural engineered by the Seattle firm, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, the Salesforce Tower will contain no moment frame to thicken the exteriors of the 61-story building. Magnusson Klemencic state that the “structural solution was developed using a ‘performance-based seismic design’ approach, a cutting-edge methodology pioneered by MKA to improve performance of high-rise buildings in areas with high earthquake activity.”  The Tower was put through a series of 22 computer simulation tremblors that were modeled on real earthquakes that had occurred in the Bay Area.   It passed them all including the simulation of the 1906 earthquake that was estimated to be in the 7.6 range.  

The Conco Companies are a leading supplier of concrete services for 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.  Since that time, we have taken a leading role as one of the top concrete contractors in the region. We have four regional offices serving California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.

Sources: ft.com/cms/s/2/a24c4df4-0818-11e4-9afc-00144feab7de.html

sfgate.com/bayarea/place/article/How-safe-are-rising-S-F-towers-in-wake-of-Napa-5714511.php