Precast Solutions - September/October 2008 - (Page 4) dreamstime.com altered A STELLAR CAST PRECAST PROJECT PROFILE Project: Galaxy 14 Cinema, Rochester, Minn. Project Owner: Wehrenberg Theatres Inc. Executive Architect: Rataj-Krueger Architects Inc., Sunset Hills, Mo. Precast Manufacturer: Fabcon, Minneapolis, Minn. Builder: Opus Northwest LLC, Minneapolis, Minn. BY DEBORAH R. HUSO PHOTOS COURTESY OF RATAJ-KRUEGER ARCHITECTS INC. CONCRETE STRUCTURAL PANELS NOT ONLY OFFER SPEED OF CONSTRUCTION IN A HARSH CLIMATE, BUT ALSO PROVIDE HIGH ENOUGH STC RATINGS FOR THEATERGOERS IN MINNESOTA. cost of building commercial structures with precast concrete, it’s not as common for builders to construct more complex retail buildings with precast. Kurt Krueger, principal with Rataj-Krueger Architects Inc. (RKAI) in Sunset Hills, Mo., believes that may be changing. RKAI recently completed design work on two theaters for the 100-year-old, family-owned Wehrenberg Theatres Inc., one in Bloomington, Ill. and a second in Rochester, Minn. The 69,000-square-foot Galaxy 14 Cinema in Rochester under traditional building circumstances would have been a bigger challenge given Minnesota’s harsh weather conditions and long winter season. RKAI, for the first time in its history, suggested the use of precast concrete in the construction of these two movie theaters, eliminating the weather concerns of building and substantially reducing overall costs. Matthew Vander Pol, who managed the Rochester project for general W hile big box retailers like Wal-Mart and contractor Opus Northwest, said weather was the No. 1 factor in using precast in Minnesota. The end result was completion of the Rochester theater in just under 12 months with much of that construction occurring over winter, allowing the theater to open last November. Home Depot have long been taking advantage of the speed, ease and lower MOVIE THEATERS OF THE PAST RKAI has been designing movie theaters for more than two decades. Initially, most builders constructed multiplex theaters using traditional masonry methods, but as qualified tradesmen grew scarce, designers and builders had to consider other options. That’s when steel frame movie theaters with metal studs became popular. Interior walls typically consisted of multiple metal studs with five to seven layers of gypsum board. This is still the way most theaters are built, and Krueger pointed out that when compared with the cost of traditional masonry, it was an economical option. Krueger said his firm started looking for alternatives to this common method due to rising steel costs, increasing 4 PRECAST SOLUTIONS | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 http://www.dreamstime.com
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