Tag: architectural

Project News

Alloy Santa Fe Tops Out

Largo is ready to top out at the Alloy Santa Fe development in Los Angeles this September. Located on the west end of the 4th Street Bridge, Alloy is the first high-rise structure in LA’s Historic Arts District on the west side of the LA River. Read more

Project News

UCSD Theater District Building 5 Tops Out

Largo topped out on Building 5 at the Theater District Living and Learning Neighborhood this month. At 17 total levels, Building 5 is one of two stand-alone high-rises at the $550m mega development planned to house 2,000 students. Three more mid-rise structures rise from the podium deck of a four level parking structure holding 1,200 stalls. All superstructure elements were constructed using type 1L concrete and remain exposed as the prominent architectural feature of the building.

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Project News

Blue Sky Phase 2 Tops Out

The second phase of the mid-rise commercial development at the Warner Bros’ studio recently topped out in Burbank, CA. Designed by the world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, the ten level structure sits atop a four level below grade parking podium.

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Project News

Frost Center Tops Out at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Largo recently topped out at the Frost Center for Research and Innovation at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The project 102,000gsf building five levels above grade and will house the  Colleges of Science and Mathematics, Agriculture Food & Environmental Sciences and Liberal Arts. The building will house configurable classrooms and cutting-edge laboratory space dedicated to enhancing the university’s educational philosophy of “learn-by-doing.” The facility also includes a computer lab, three conference rooms and 43 faculty offices. The complex is designed to achieve LEED Gold® certification and incorporates measures to maximize passive cooling and heating, utilize natural ventilation in the faculty offices, consume 30% less potable water, and exceed current Title 24 standards by 20%.

The new building is located north of the Baker Science building between Poly View Dr. and Perimeter Rd. The façade features extensive masonry work taking cues from the adjacent science and liberal arts buildings. Interior vertical concrete was constructed using both shotcrete and cast-in-place methods wherein 2,000 cubic yards of self-consolidating concrete was used for all exposed columns and shear walls. From the first floor of the atrium brick, concrete and wood finishes are work together as the central design theme.

Working with general contractor Gilbane, ZGF Architects, LLP, and John A. Martin & Associates structural engineers, the building is scheduled to be open for the Fall 2021 semester.

Project News

APEX Tops Out in San Diego

Perched along Towne Centre Drive in San Diego, CA, the new APEX commercial office building has impressive views of Sorrento Valley to the east. Largo topped out with general contractor Rudolf & Sletten on the 345,000gsf structure which has been leased to Apple. Designed by Perkins & Will architects and Coffman Structural Engineers the building has two levels of below grade parking with five levels of above grade including the roof.

Designers attempted to integrate modern architecture with the surrounding biodiversity to enhance the user well-being. Exposed concrete walls blend with extensive glass and steel accents on the exterior façade. The concrete roof deck is also exposed and cantilevers toward the canyon sheltering the outdoor terrace on level four. There is a total of 37,000sf of exterior architectural concrete on the project which includes feature walls, columns, and sloped soffits. All exposed elements were designed with dimensioned seam plywood layout for a consistent special finish. A computer generated solar study was used to determine the most effective placement of sunshade elements to maximize daylight and visual connections to the environment.

Amenities include a fitness center, an outdoor workout area, volleyball court and game area with horseshoe and corn-hole space. A cafe, amphitheater and flexible workspaces round out the amenities and blend with the architectural features to produce a unique creative space. In total Largo pour over 27,000CY of concrete over the 10.5 month schedule.

Project News

345 4th Street Tops Out

The eight level commercial office development on 345 4th Street topped out in San Francisco this month with GC Stoer Construction. The building will be occupied by WeWork, one of the leading space-as-a-service platforms providing flexible real estate options to businesses of all sizes. Designed by Stanton Architecture and DCI Engineers, the building provides 50,000sf of office space and retail storefront at street level. Located in the South of Market (SoMa) District, the downtown skyline will be visible to the north from the vegetated rooftop terrace.

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Awards, Project News

UCLA Margo Leavin Art Studio Wins Charles Pankow Award

Largo Concrete worked with Abbott Construction on the UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio Project in Culver City, CA.

The overall project consisted of a 21,200sf renovation of the Graduate Art Studios existing building and a 26,800sf, L-shaped addition to the facility. Design by architecture firm Johnston Marklee, the building is organized in the fashion of a ‘community’ with small blocks of private studios in a cul-de-sac setting adjacent to communal, plaza like facilities connected by pathways akin to city streets. Specialized lab space for woodworking and ceramics are also included in the facility which is designed to be adaptable to accommodate future new technologies and working methods. The Margo Leavin Art Studio project anticipates a LEED Gold Certification.

The construction of this building utilized several different concrete assemblies to support the building and achieve the natural concrete look. This was especially important to designers and the University to integrate the facility into the former industrial zone know as the Hayden Tract. The exterior walls were designed as concrete tilt-up panels with 2′-0″ “pillows” or half-circles on the exterior face. Special single-use form liners were designed and fabricated out of state to achieve the “pillow” shapes. Cast-in-place stitch columns were used to connect the tilt panels at each grid line. The stitch columns also used the “pillow-shaped” form liner but were exceptionally challenging because they were poured full-height (28′-10″) between the panels and had to line up perfectly with no gaps or visible seams. Largo Concrete’s in-house engineering team designed custom falsework to support lintel panels which would eventually be suspended 15’-0” in the air. These panels also feature the “pillowed” exterior finish and are unsupported from below as they span the openings to the building.

The interior frame of the building consists of cast-in-place walls, columns and ring beams: all exposed with an “as-cast” finish. Shotcrete walls and beams were installed against the existing building walls on two sides to connect the new construction to the existing building. As was the case with the exterior finish, no sacking or other cosmetic enhancements were allowed on the interior as well. The buildings roof is designed as a grid of vaults with curved glulam beams covered by roofing membrane, curved polycarbonate or nothing at all to allow for natural ventilation in certain spaces.

Limited access to the building pad because of the existing structure made it difficult to form, place and hoist the tilt-up panels. The time frame to complete all of the building concrete was 8 months. Despite these challenges the concrete scope of work was completed in eight months with zero safety incidents over 29,213 hours. Some of the potential hazards that were endured included 30’-0” shotcrete walls and beams, 30’-0” shear walls and columns, 30’-0” tilt-up panels and hoisting the panels with a high voltage wire running along one side of the jobsite.

A special thanks to all those involved in this great project:
Owner: University of California, Los Angeles
General Contractor: Abbott Construction
Architect: Johnston Marklee
Structural Engineer: Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger
Readymix Supplier: Cemex