Lightning-fast construction achieved with CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels
- Project Middlesex Center Warehouse
- Location Jamesburg, New Jersey
- Type of Precast CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels
- Project Size 1.3 million sq. ft.
- CarbonCast Surface Area 255,000 sq. ft. of wall panels
- Architect MH Architecture
- Contractor Greenfield Builders, Inc.
- Precaster Oldcastle Precast Building Systems
One month. That’s all it took for CarbonCast® High Performance Insulated Wall Panels to enclose a 1.3 million square foot, 279-bay Middlesex Center Warehouse and distribution center in New Jersey.
At times, AltusGroup member Oldcastle Precast, Building Systems erected more than 16 panels a day – speed unachievable with tilt-up or other construction methods. The nearly 490 precast elements were fabricated off-site and delivered for immediate erection without concern for weather delays or other setbacks.
Equally impressive is the solid state R-20 performance of the CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels. They used 5.5 inches of continuous insulation sandwiched between 2-inch thick interior and 2.5-inch thick exterior wythes.
The CarbonCast panels use C-GRID® carbon fiber shear grid to connect the panel’s inner and outer concrete wythes. With relatively low thermal conductivity, the carbon fiber prevents thermal transfer between the wythes, virtually eradicating hot and cold spots on the interior wall. With thermally efficient wall panels, the building will be much slower to cool down and warm up, resulting in energy savings.
In addition, the carbon fiber shear trusses render a fully composite, load-bearing panel, acting as if they were 10 inches of solid concrete. The 46’-6” high CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels support the warehouse’s entire roof load and eliminate the need for interior columns and beams along the building’s perimeter.
The architect worked closely with Oldcastle to reuse the 12-foot wide precast wall sections. Three formats – one with two window punches, one with a bay punch and one solid wall – were repeated dozens of times to realize efficiency of scale for each precast form. From an aesthetic standpoint, the entryway incorporates a large precast fin adorned with three small, painted squares. The geometric pattern with reveals is repeated on the solid gray panels throughout the building.
In the end, CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall panels offer all the speed and erection benefits of precast concrete with the added bonus of significant energy savings, making them a smart choice for virtually any industrial application.
