- Project Universal Alloy Light Press Plant
- Location Ball Ground, Georgia
- Type of Precast CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels
- Project Size 110,348 sq. ft.
- CarbonCast Surface Area 65,886 sq. ft.
- Architect LOCAL ARCHITECT - Tim Keith, Wakefield & Beasley & Associates Architects, Inc. CORPORATE + FACADE DESIGN - Querkraft Architects, Vienna - Austria, Jakob Dunkl, Clemens Russ, Veronika Felber
- Engineer David Lovvorn, Haines, Gipson & Associates, Inc.
- Contractor Steve Franks, Choate Construction Company
- Owner Montana Tech Components, Vienna Austria
- Precaster Metromont
Manufacturing buildings are almost exclusively utilitarian. Though many in the last half-century have been constructed with precast concrete, most designers are not given the budget to take advantage of its unique properties to add enhanced architectural details. The Universal Alloy Light Press Plant, completed by Choate Construction Company, is an exception – with virtually no added cost.
A 110,348 square-foot manufacturing facility in Ball Ground, Ga., this project features an exterior façade with load-bearing CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels. The panels have painted vertical accent stripes that align with sawtooth tops. This creates a 3-D illusion that the panels project in and out like an accordion, making for an eye-catching façade.
This project used CarbonCast panels that are typically 10” thick, 12’ wide and 43’-6” tall. The tallest panel is 46’-10” tall and the heaviest panel weighs 51,502 pounds.
Both wythes of the insulated panels are prestressed to given them beam strength and load-bearing capacity. They span from foundation to roof structure without requiring wind bracing. There are 144 pieces and erection took fifteen working days.
The insulated wall panels have a 3” face wythe backed up by 3” of expanded polystyrene breadboard (EPS) with a 4” back wythe of concrete for an R-value of R-12. The door and window openings have a solid zone surrounding the openings to facilitate attachment of the frames. The solid zones represent only about 10% of the surface area, leaving a net R-value of R-11, still about 50% over the code requirement for this climate zone.
