Precast Solutions - January/February 2008 - (Page 18)

ELEMENT LOFTS Project Use: Residential Lofts Project Location: Marina del Rey, California THIRD PLACE TIE ABOVE GROUND Trendy urban dwellers have long been attracted to the idea of living in loft apartments or condos created out of old warehouse buildings. This breed of homeowner appreciates the exposed structural elements as design features as well as the openness of large rooms unobstructed by walls and suffuse in natural light from large windows. With this in mind, Los Angeles developer John Laing Homes decided to recreate that warehouse-style, loft-living experience in a brand-new building in Marina del Rey, Calif., with the construction of Element Lofts. What makes Element Lofts so unique is not that it resembles a re-created warehouse fit for luxury urban living, but that it’s one of the first multifamily structures in California to use precast concrete moment framing. While Element’s signature visible feature is its precast double-T construction – a common feature of parking garages – here that structure creates an exposed concrete form that is at once a beautiful design feature and part of the secret of making this building strong and capable of supporting long spans of unsupported space. Another special advantage of the precast concrete construction is the fact that it significantly minimizes sound transmission the way conventional wood framing and sheetrock would. Concrete actually helps reflect sound between units, meaning that residents won’t hear sounds from neighbors above and below. The soundproofing has been enhanced even further with the addition of Enkasonic sound-control matting between floors, which breaks up noise transmission even further. COMPANY PROFILE: Hanson Structural Precast Pacific 13131 Los Angeles St. Irwindale, CA 91706 (626) 962-8751 www.hansonpipeandprecast.com 18 PRECAST SOLUTIONS | JAN/FEB 2008 http://www.hansonpipeandprecast.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Precast Solutions - January/February 2008

Precast Solutions - January/February 2008 Contents Precast Concrete Short-Span Bridges Precast Micro-Reinforced Concrete A Winning Edge The Creative Edge TMI: Too Much Infiltration! Architectural Details Cast in Stone

Precast Solutions - January/February 2008

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