Precast Solutions - January/February 2008 - (Page 26)

ABOVE GROUND ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS CAST IN STONE BY DEBORAH R. HUSO Orlando, Fla., has long been a city devoted to the PROJECT PROFILE Project: Veranda Park residential, retail and parking complex in Orlando, Fla. Project Owner: Veranda Partners LLC, Orlando General Contractor: PCL Construction Services Inc., Orlando Architects/Engineers: Walter P. Moore, Orlando Cast Stone Manufacturer: Fortune Stone Inc., Miami Designer: HKS Architects Inc., Orlando concept of New Urbanism, where mixed-use retail, office and residential structures make for walkable communities that draw on traditional architectural concepts and neighborhood designs. As the demand for such communities grows among consumers, precast concrete has become a cost-effective solution for mixed-use structure construction. And so has precast stone. A new mixed-use community under development in Orlando, known as Veranda Park, promises to be the city’s largest town center. When completed, it will consist of 10 multistory buildings totaling 1.6 million square feet covering 30 acres and will feature sidewalk cafes, restaurants, retail shops, condominiums, parking garages, office space and artisan piazzas. In a nod to the Old World neighborhood styles it emulates, Veranda Park is being built in Tuscan style with colorful facades that look like real stone. Building 4000, which was just completed in 2007, makes use of both precast concrete and precast stone to establish a look that is at once historic and authentic. Veranda Park has been a long and complicated project. When the complex is finished, it will include some 20,000 housing units and 10,000 upscale apartments. PCL Construction, the project’s general contractor, began work on the complex two and a half years ago and decided to construct Building 4000 of precast concrete. The structure consists of 560,000 square feet and six levels – the first consisting of retail space, the second and third levels devoted to parking garage, and condominiums occupying the top three floors. To construct the massive structure’s frame from steel would have been too costly. “Two years ago, steel prices were going through the roof,” points out Mike Godek, PCL’s project manager. Plus it would have taken longer to build. So the builders used a precast structure of beams and girders with elevated concrete slabs. Building 4000 is certainly complex. Not only is its square footage massive, but it also consists of two interior courtyards and a variety of decorative architectural features on its facades. Most of the facade is comprised of conventional precast concrete wall panels treated with a lime-based paint that gives the structure an antique Tuscan look. But the building’s decorative features are all precast stone produced by Fortune Stone Inc. of Miami. That includes a 26 PRECAST SOLUTIONS | JAN/FEB 2008

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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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