Category Archives: Plazas

Bomel Construction Installs Winning Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Hardscape for the LAFC Stadium

June 11, 2019

Exposition Park is a collection of world-class museums, educational and sport facilities and entertainment venues. It is more than just an urban park with outdoor recreational activities. Within the 160-acre campus, you can experience the fun of science, math and technology at the California Science Center, learn about the diverse cultural experience at the California African American Museum or explore natural and cultural worlds at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, or simply relax in the splendor of the City of Los Angeles Rose Garden.

The landmark Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum offers the excitement of world-class competition, and the Los Angeles Football Club Banc of California Stadium is the newest addition to the community that is all ready to host the 2028 Olympics. Bomel Construction Company, Bomanite Licensee, was brought in by PCL Construction Services to install the fine details of the hardscape project list of the well-known prominent designer in the community, Studio-MLA. The building interior and exterior of the Banc of California had to stand up to its reputable counterparts. Studio-MLA developed the exterior site design concept to blend into and complement the existing venues landscaping as well as provide a highly visual and intuitive fan experience. Working closely with the team owners, design team, and the surrounding communities, Bomel Construction Company helped Studio-MLA transform the 16-acre site into an iconic facility for world class sporting and entertainment events.

LAFC Stadium Los Angeles Futbol Club inspired by Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Systems Sandscape Texture and Bomanite Alloy Paving and Walkways with a specialty Flight Wall and Rooftop Deck created for Fans

A series of entry plazas, pedestrian walkways, seat walls and stairs, over 150,000 square feet of hardscape, were planned to cultivate the fan arrival experience and contribute to the visual identity of the Stadium for the surrounding community. Studio-MLA’s design drew inspiration from the LAFC brand. The Northwest corner of the site stands out with a small platform – called the “flight wall” – wrapped in a unique texture that bridges old and new inspirations. Bomel Construction Company constructed the cast-in-place concrete wall with a “Fishscale” custom form-liner done with a gray Integral Color to achieve the statement art-inspired piece. This location being most proximate to the Coliseum is key as an entrance to the building as well as a focal point for park visitors.

The Northwest Plaza entrance is designed to serve as an extension of the stadium, offering needed space for fans filtering through entrances while also providing an outdoor eating venue complete with an exterior wood deck for “The Fields LA”; a L.A. based curated food experience. Imbeds of Bomanite Stamped Concrete using the Bomacron 11.5” Boardwalk pattern in a contrasting gray color connects the two spaces as a short walkway and leads the fans from the deck seating to the entrance of the restaurant.

Studio-MLA expanded the hardscape design above ground. A publicly accessible rooftop terrace and garden over The Fields LA contains a large flexible event space that extends the Stadium Club Level lobby interior space to the outdoors. Fans can take advantage of the panoramic views over Expo Park. The terrace has been designed with a geometrical arrangement of pedestal pavers that are accentuated by a series of large trees set amid lineal planters adrift in crushed stone. Bomel Construction Company installed the gray Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Sandscape Texture finish to the lineal planters as well as the circular tree planters. The flexibility of both game day and non-game activities provide year-round engagement for the whole community.

The pedestrian entrances and walkways, throughout and around the LAFC Stadium predominately used the Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Sandscape Texture System, allowing for low maintenance and a light buff color for solar reflectance benefit. Bands of the Bomanite Alloy Exposed Aggregate System were incorporated smartly in gray with Clear Glass Aggregate and Mirror Flakes that sparkle and catch visitor’s attention serving as line formations directing fans to the stadium entrances. Bomanite Sandscape Texture and Bomanite Alloy are both suited exceptionally well for exterior applications— anywhere that improved wear resistance for light- to moderate-duty vehicular or foot traffic combined with an architectural finish is necessary. Bomanite Decorative Concrete perfect for those 22,000 fans emerging in and out of a world class stadium.

AWARDS: 2018 Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Systems Project – Gold Award

Lenexa Creates Colorful Festival Plaza with Bomanite Decorative Concrete

October 29, 2018

Lenexa City has developed and opened a 300,000 plus-square-foot mixed-use campus, that includes a new City Hall, Park University, a Public Market, and a community Rec Center along with public gathering spaces. Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, had the opportunity to work with PGAV Architects and Plaid Collaborative on the design of the pedestrian plaza as part of the Civic Center.

PLAID collaborated worked with the City and PGAV to design outdoor spaces to express as they noted a “prairie deconstructed theme, which embodies the spirit and character of the native prairie (landform, geology, and vegetation) and the history of Lenexa in a contemporary, sustainable, and sophisticated motif.” The three primary outdoor spaces created were the Festival Plaza (a large plaza for public gatherings and celebrations), the Vista (a space for activities that support the adjacent community recreation center and farmers market), and the Strata (a collection of intimate spaces for City Hall and public market patrons). The idea was for each space to have different uses, different scale and configuration but a common pallet of materials, furnishings, and details were woven through the design to complement the building architecture, provide visual continuity, and reinforce an overall sense of place.

The Festival plaza incorporated 13,000 square feet of the Bomanite Sandscape Texture Exposed Aggregate System and then was stained with pops of vibrant and subtle colors of Bomanite Con-Color that were cohesive with the overall design. The detailed stain pattern created unique challenges and used four colors: Travertine Beige, Franciscan Red, French Gray, and Gunmetal Gray. Once the color was in place the plaza was sealed with Bomaseal C-18 to help withstand the outside elements of weather and human traffic.

The center piece of the project was the 700 square feet History Node. The Bomanite Alloy Exposed Aggregate System in Natural Gray was chosen for this portion of the plaza, installed, and then engraved with 23 significant names, dates, and events unique to the history of Lenexa. The text was of varying scale from 4” to 9” tall. Layout and execution was critical, and accuracy was of the utmost importance.

The project conception was citizen-led and has helped Lenexa visualize their dream of starting a new downtown. This is a beautiful project and exhibits the potential and beauty of quality Bomanite Decorative Concrete. To view more photos and project details check out the project video.

Garmin Expansion Calls For Pedestrian Pathway

July 31, 2017

Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors (M&H) worked with local architecture firm Gould Evans during the design development phase of the Garmin Expansion project. M&H assisted with the project specifications and samples. The design team and owner’s representatives visited the M&H architectural concrete showroom multiple times to discuss project particulars and review samples until the team was able to fine tune the project finishes.

Musselman & Hall placed 40,800 SF pedestrian plaza as part of a building expansion project at the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, KS. Nearly 25,800 SF of the plaza was done utilizing the Bomanite Sandscape Texture Finish, Multiple planter beds, cast-in-place Sandscape finished concrete benches, a continuous 1’ x 8’ joint spacing, and the detailed stain pattern created unique challenges to this project.

The entire plaza was saw cut and v grooved, or bevel cut, on a 1’ x 8’ joint spacing, joint layout was extremely critical. The jointing was continuous throughout the 700’ long plaza. Any variance in joint layout would be obvious and would not be acceptable.

M&H used Bomanite Con-Color to stain the Sandscape Texture portion of the plaza. The stain pattern incorporated three Bomanite Con-Colors; Cobblestone Gray, Nickel Gray, and Natural Gray. The stained Sandscape was then sealed with BomaSeal C-18.

This is a beautiful project and exhibits the potential and beauty of quality architectural concrete. This project won the Gold Award for the Best Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Project.

Bomanite Colored Sandscape Texture Plaza — Garmin Expansion – Bomanite Sandscape Texture with Bomanite Con-Color

Bomanite Decorative Concrete Creates a Harmonious Hardscape

May 24, 2017

The Northside Church decided to reinvent their stretch of lawn as a dynamic new multi-purpose plaza, the primary goal was to create something special, whether it be for celebrating the birth of a child, affirming one’s faith or for friends and family gatherings and church events welcoming one and all. The church’s goal was to provide a place for people to connect – to their faith and to one another.

The church saw several different decorative concrete projects, reviewed several hard samples to select the final material. The final scope of work included 41,000 square feet of exposed decorative concrete flat work, 650 lineal feet of walls, and some 4,000 square feet of the Bomanite Custom Polished Concrete Patène Teres System in The Frappe House. Northside Christian Church ended up selecting a combination of the Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Systems; Sandscape Refined Antico finish in Bomanite Light Brown, and Bomanite Sandscape Texture in three colors to get the cohesive yet varied look they wanted in order to connect the exterior spaces.

To expand the range of interest and energize the plaza during daily use, The Frappe House, the new handcrafted coffee shop was built animating the baptismal pool and amphitheater seating. In all, the plaza design objectives were to connect the church’s primary entrance, the youth ministry center next door and the coffee shop while also servicing individual and group baptismal celebrations in a harmonious space. The design blends a lot of forms and walls, rock work and fire pits, along with both integrated and movable seating choices. Roll up garage doors and rough raw materials fill The Frappe House to capture contemporary design sensibilities common to many chain coffee shops.

The challenge was in working to accommodate a diverse program of possible uses and group sizes. Appropriate exterior spaces that accommodate many different groups and purposes also had to be fit into a relatively small area tucked between three structures of independent functions. Creating harmonious connections throughout the plaza while having a modern, socially contemporary design aesthetic led to the use of curvy linear patterns spiraling out from the baptismal pool in the center of the design. Radiating outward, the patterns form seating areas, viewing sections and gathering spaces as the plaza steps up from the baptismal pool toward each building. The use of curves allows the energy of each space to easily be focused on either the main building it serves or conversely toward the center during baptisms. The key to tying it all together was in the primary hardscape choice – Bomanite decorative concrete.

Exposed Aggregate Bomanite — Northside Christian Church – Sandscape Refined Antico

Polished Concrete Bomanite Concrete Dye — Northside Christian Church Coffee House – Custom Polishing System Patene Teres

Salina Bicentennial Center Receives Colorful Exterior Renovation

November 18, 2016

The Salina Bicentennial Center project involved an extensive renovation to the interior and exterior of the 35 year old arena. Nicknamed Mid-America’s Meeting Place, the Salina Bicentennial Center provides central Kansas a place to meet, play and experience events that enhance living-in and visiting the City of Salina. The landscape design firm, Landworks Studio, and Convergence Design worked with the Local Bomanite Licensee, Musselman and Hall through the sample and specification process of the design process to choose a Bomanite System that would meet the entertaining expectations.

The new 18,000 sq. ft. entry plaza dramatically enhances the arena entry providing a place for outdoor events and gatherings. The Bomanite Sandscape Texture finish that was selected for the exterior plaza incorporates a multi-colored palate utilizing Bomanite Con-Color in Sonora Tan, Brick Red, and Mexican Tile. When applied to concrete, Bomanite Con-Color will provide variegated and translucent coloring effects without creating a film or coating that can be worn away. Bomanite Con-Color is a viable alternative to traditional acid-based stains when a larger color palette or ease of installation is required. Bomanite Sandscape Texture works well to incorporate Bomanite Con-Color as an additional coloration technique and design element. Used in combination with a variety of color and staining options, Bomanite Sandscape Texture creates consistent texture and durable hardscapes ideal for plazas, walkways, shopping centers, schools and more.