ENR releases Top Specialty Contractors - Gate Ranks #4 in Concrete Division

ENR released its Top 600 Specialty Contractors for 2010. Gate Precast Company consistently ranks in the top 100 annually, and this year the precast concrete manufacturer ranked #4 in the Concrete Division and #99 overall.

Dean Gwin, President, COO of Gate Construction Materials Group was interviewed in the annual report which focuses on the recession's affect on specialty contractors.
Gwin was asked about Gate Precast's relationship with general contractors and suppliers.

"GCs are facing many of the same hard-bid challenges Gate faces on a daily basis, so they can relate to the battles we fight. We still have many friends in the business and look to support them in both good and bad times," Gwin said.

When asked about his forecast for economic recovery to the sector, Gwin replied, "Our research shows it could be a minimum of three to five years before we see any substantial improvement."

Albeit this market has been difficult for several years, opportunities do exist.

"Gate Precast Company is offering more products, scrutinizing all expenditures and is willing to hang in there regardless of how long the current economic conditions last,"

For the complete report, Visit ENR.com

Precast Design Awards Bestowed Upon Gate Precast Company

National World War II Museum Phase IV Expansion, New Orleans, La.
(Architect: Voorsanger Mathes LLC)

Gate Precast is recognized excellence in 
precast design and fabrication

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) September 01, 2011

     Gate Precast Company, one of the largest precast concrete suppliers in the U.S., has been recognized in the 49th Annual PCI Design Awards Competition for precast design and fabrication on a wide variety of structures.

     Gate Precast earned Best in Class awards for its work on the following projects:

• Best Stadium: IU Memorial Stadium North End Zone in Bloomington, Ind. (Architect: Ratio Architects, Indianapolis, Ind.).; Associate Architect: Moody-Nolan Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.

• Best Healthcare: Saint Joseph Regional Hospital in Mishawaka, Ind. (Architect: HOK, St. Louis, Mo.)

• Best Public/Institutional: The National World War II Museum Phase IV Expansion, New Orleans, La. (Architect: Voorsanger Mathes LLC New Orleans, La.)

• Best Public/Institutional: City of Miami College of Policing/Miami-Dade School of Law Studies, Homeland Security, and Forensic Sciences, Miami, Fla. (Architect: AECOM, Coral Gables, Fla.)

     Gate received Honorable Mention recognition on the following projects:

• CTA Beach Comfort Stations, Biloxi, Miss. (Architect: Eley Guild Hardy Architects, Biloxi, Miss.)

• LSU Basketball Practice Facility, Baton Rouge, La. (Architect: Holden Architects, Baton Rouge, La.; Associate Architect: RDG Planning & Design, Des Moines, Iowa)

• Duke University Research Drive Parking Garage, Durham, NC (Architect: Ratio Architects, Indianapolis, Ind.)

• Alfred I. DuPont Testamentary Trust Corporate Headquarters, Jacksonville, Fla. (Architects: GUND Partnership, Cambridge, Mass. and Gresham, Smith & Partners, Jacksonville, Fla.)

• Marcene H. & Robert E. Christoverson Humanities Building, Lakeland, Fla. (Architect: Robert A. M. Stern Architects, New York, N.Y.; Associate Architect: Wallis, Murphey, Boyington Architects, Lakeland, Fla.)

• The Water Wall at Signature Place, St. Petersburg, Fla. (Architect: Fluidity Design Consultants, Los Angeles, Calif.)

• Colts Indianapolis Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind. (Architect: HKS Inc., Dallas, Texas) 

Dean Gwin
President, COO

“Gate Precast is proud to be recognized for these projects which highlight the versatility of precast concrete systems. Our skilled craftsmen are to be commended for their continued dedication to produce superior quality work, said Dean Gwin, President, COO of Gate Precast Company.

     "Gate is known for its involvement in highly intricate architectural and structural projects. We encourage architects, owners, engineers and contractors to visit any of our state-of-the-art facilities to view our current projects which exemplify the innovative ways the design community is capitalizing on the constructability of precast concrete and on Gate Precast’s experience and knowledge to meet design challenges,” Gwin added.

     For a complete list of winners, along with detailed project information and photos, visit PCI.

Prefabricated Construction Seen as Growth Opportunity

The commercial modular or prefabricated construction market has been considered a growth opportunity for the construction industry by FMI Corporation, the largest provider of management consulting, investment banking and research to the engineering and construction industry.

According to FMI's fourth quarter 2010 NRCI  report, more contractors are thinking lean and looking for ways to build for less. The recession and new technologies are set to increase the use of manufacturing process and environments for construction. The NRCI report indicates that prefabricated construction is becoming more popular due to the growing use of BIM and owners wanting projects faster and for lower cost, safety, quality and the shortage of skilled labor once markets return to more normal growth.

Gate Precast has seen an increased interest in using BIM in the early design stage of projects giving owners the ability to visualize their project before it's built. Designing systems that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also act as structural walls and support floor loads, reduces material redundancies in the structure and project costs. Gate Precast BIM Experience

Watch our Video BIM Fly-through on St. Joseph's Women's Hospital in Tampa, FL.

Prefabricated precast concrete systems offer sustainable, efficient building practices. A revolutionary transition from traditional hand-set masonry construction to Brick Inlaid Precast Concrete Exterior Panels are rapidly becoming the preferred building choice among architects, contractors and owners. The panels are manufactured in a controlled plant environment where many features can be added such as encapsulated insulation which offers higher R-Values, electrical boxes and wiring, and paintable troweled finish interior walls, which eliminates the need for metal studs and sheet rock. The integration of windows into panels is an innovation in precast that is in its infancy but sure to be in high demand once markets gain momentum. Among the many benefits, this prefabricated, unitized system offers accelerated occupancy, and less jobsite disturbance with the reduction of a trade.

Owners have more than two years' worth of pent-up demand for design services. Bring Gate Precast into the design and construction process in the early stages of your new projects to provide input and offer value engineering suggestions to maximize precast concrete's many benefits on your complete structure.

For More Information on Gate's Pre-fabricated Concrete Systems:
Woodlawn Elementary School, OH: Exterior features a pre-insulated load-bearing, non-composite brick inlay architectural precast wall system.
NAS Fitness Facility & Rescue Swimmers School, Pensacola, FL: Features a total precast building system that is designed to withstand both external (hurricanes) and interior (indoor pool moisture) elements.
CitiGroup Citi Center, Jacksonville, FL: The exterior of the five-buildings in the 530,000 sq. ft. campus features 15'x32' solid precast concrete panels which met the structural integrity requirements for a hurricane zone and an aggressive construction schedule. 

Register for Continuing Education Course on BIM and Total Precast  - Earn AIA credits

Related Article
Demand for Precast Concrete Products On the Rise...
US demand for precast concrete products is forecast to rise 6.1 percent annually to $11.3 billion in 2015.

PCI Launches eLearning Center -- Continuing Education Credits on Demand

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) has launched the PCI eLearning Center, a free 24-hour online education resource providing an opportunity for architects and engineers to earn continuing education credits on demand. The PCI eLearning Center is the first education management system dedicated to the precast concrete structures industry. Individuals can create a PCI eLearning Center profile and have access to a number of online courses.
All courses offered through this system provide continuing education credit to engineers and architects. Each course includes a webinar presentation recording, pertinent reference materials, and a quiz. All courses on the PCI eLearning Center offer continuing education credit in all 50 states.

Gate Precast Company is proud co-sponsor this new program for design professionals who are interested in sustainable design and LEAN building practices. Prefabrication construction is a means of increasing quality, improving schedule and minimizing site disruption. Several of the courses offered through PCI's eLearning
Center focus on Sustainable Precast Concrete Systems.

Seven courses are now available through the PCI eLearning Center, with new courses being added frequently. The courses are free and can be completed in one hour.

Below is a list of current course offerings:
• Designing with the 7th Edition PCI Design Handbook: An Introduction (1 PDH)
• Life Cycle Assessment and how it can Contribute to Sustainable Design (1 GBCI CE/1 PDH/1 LU)
• Parking Structures: Best Practice to Design, Build and Maintain (1 PDH/1 LU)
• Quality Assurance - Your Lifeline to a Better Project (1 PDH/1 LU)
• Precast Concrete - Providing Aesthetic Versatility in Color, Form, and Texture (1 PDH/1 LU)
• Designing Building Envelopes to Meet Sustainable and Aesthetic Goals - Part I (1 PDH/1 LU)
• Designing Building Envelopes to Meet Sustainable and Aesthetic Goals - Part II (1 PDH/1 LU)
• Get in front of your current and potential customers by using a course as a lunch-and-learn.

You can access the site at any time from your computer, tablet or phone with an Internet connection.

PCI eLearning Center.

Complex Precast Surfaces Unfold on Perot Museum of Nature & Science

Gate modeled over 100,000 sf of intricate precast panels

Ross Perot, former presidential candidate and a major donor to Dallas' new Museum of Nature & Science, attended a ceremony March 10, 2011, marking the placement of the final beam in the construction of the Perot Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas, TX. Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects designed the new 180,000-square-foot museum and was also among those who signed the beam. http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/perot-takes-part-in-museum-ceremony-1312723.html
The museum is designed to be viewed as a massive cube floating over the landscape. Initially, the exterior was undetermined. Gate Precast’s Hillsboro, TX division worked with the design team to define the cladding through the creation of mockups with varying horizontal striations. The panel design incorporates both convex and concave horizontal striations. The random combinations lend striking shadows and the striations give way to smooth concrete surfaces on higher levels of the building.
http://www.gateprecast.com/#/projects/perot-museum-of-nature-and-science

Horizontal Striations Visible in Four Panels Stacked Together

Gate’s BIM operators modeled over 100,000 square of precast cladding on museum's exterior which was integrated into the structure’s final 3-D model. Company-wide, Gate has 38 trained BIM users and has modeled 2,000,000 square feet of architectural precast concrete.
http://www.gateprecast.com/#/design-assistance/bim
The museum is scheduled to open in early 2013. Watch the progress of the Perot Museum at
http://www.natureandscience.org/expansion/default.asp

Contact Gate Precast for Design Assistance on Future Projects and Visualize Your Project Before It’s Built.  
http://www.gateprecast.com/#/design-assistance/design-assistance-request

Duke Parking Garage IX Receives LEED Certified Rating for Precast Free-Standing Garage

CLICK FOR MORE IMAGES

The LEED Certified rating for the Duke University Parking Garage IX in Durham, NC, is the first recognition of its kind for a free-standing garage. Other garages have been certified but all are attached to other buildings or part of a mixed-use environment. The garage opened in January 2009 and features more than 1,900 spaces.

The parking garage blends well with surrounding campus buildings while providing a sustainable green design. The mixture of Architectural Precast Spandrel panels at the upper levels and Terra Cotta material at the lower levels provides an attractive design solution. Gate Precast in Oxford, NC produced 95,000 square feet of exterior panels for this project.

The architectural precast components were manufactured in a controlled environment which offers reduced site disturbance and all-weather construction.

This marks the second LEED Certified project Gate has been involved in on Duke's campus. Since 2003, all new construction at Duke has been required to work toward LEED-related construction. The campus has received 19 LEED certified projects.

With seven LEED Accredited Professionals on staff, Gate has a true understanding of green building concepts and precast concrete's contribution to sustainable practices. Contact Gate to collaborate in the early design of your next project to determine how precast concrete can assist in the environmental requirements of your projects.

LSU's New Basketball Practice Arena Uses Clean, Green Technology

LSU's newest sports facility features a stark white architectural precast finish with self-cleaning and pollution-reducing properties when exposed to sunlight.

With Louisiana's humid environment which is conducive to mildew which discolors building exteriors, Holden Architects, LLC,  selected TX Active Photocatalytic Cement as a potential solution to mildew challenges.

"With our rain and humidity, severe mildew will eventually attack building exteriors, particularly on the north side," explains Tom Holden of Holden Architects in Baton Rouge. "Discoloration can become a problem in a very short time, particularly if you have lighter surface tones."

The new basketball practice facility is part of LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center, built in 1971. The architect wanted the new facility design to be in harmony with the landmark center's primarily stark white dome. TX Active's self-cleaning properties offered the university a solution that allows them to maintain its expansive white surfaces while reducing maintenance costs.

Contact a Gate Precast Sales Representative in your area to see why architects are choosing  TX Active as a means of meeting a variety of objectives, not least of which is a focus on sustainability.

For more images go to LSU Basketball Practice Facility or email jmartin@gateprecast.com.