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Northside Christian Church (SRA)

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.

Tandy Family YMCA

The Tandy Family YMCA opened in 2016 with more than 100,000 square feet dedicated to the pursuit of healthy living and community building; this state-of-the-art facility is built on the grounds of the 50-year old Thornton Family YMCA, one of the anchors of midtown Tulsa.

In collaboration with OU Physicians Center for Exercise and Sports Medicine, and OU Physical Therapy, the Tandy Family YMCA features three brand-new pools, new interactive fitness equipment, an all-seasons Splash Park and playground, with a focus on prevention and education.

Bomanite Licensee, Bomanite of Tulsa worked with GH2 Architects to choose the Bomanite Exposed Aggregate System  for the exterior multi-use space. With the emphasis on ADA compliance and universal design, both Bomanite Revealed and Bomanite Sandscape Texture were incorporated. Bomanite Revealed was chosen for its ability to provide vibrant color, a Custom glass blend was created to compliment and unify the safety surfaces around the play areas. Bomanite Sandscape Texture in Gobi Desert was installed to provide for a more natural feel, its slip resistant/traction coefficient, appearance and longevity.

Patterson Residence Driveway

The Patterson’s contacted Bomanite Licensee, Bomanite Toronto in need of a driveway and patio area that was as awe inspiring as their home. They wanted something that was durable enough for the Canadian winters, low maintenance as well as stylish in design. Bomanite Toronto worked with the homowners, providing samples of different systems, aggregates and exposure levels to find the right style and design for their project. The Bomanite Sandscape Texture Exposed Aggregate System was chosen with a Buckskin Integral color for the main driveway. Approximately 3,000 square feet of concrete was poured, placed and finished. The banding along the driveway was formed and poured separately using a Limestone textured finish. Designed saw cuts were also placed as part of the overall design.

St. Vrain Elementary School #26

A Concrete Learning Environment
When the St. Vrain School District in Northern Colorado decided to add a new school to their map, they did not want just another cookiecutter school. They hired RB+B Architects and the Birdsall Group to design an atypical school that would create an educational learning environment relevant to the history and geology of the town where it would be located. The resulting St. Vrain Elementary School #26 in Erie creates educational areas for students to learn about their region’s history and geology outside of the traditional classroom.

For this LEED certified school, the school district selected Adolfson and Peterson (A&P) as the general contractor because of its reputation for budget consciousness and its school construction experience. RB+B, the Birdsall, Group, and A&P worked with Bomanite Licensee Colorado Hardscapes, Inc. (CHI) during the design process to ensure that their visions for the concrete applications at this school could be constructed within budget and to the quality desired. As a result, the transition from design to construction flowed smoothly.

Mineral Pedestal
After students enter the school they are encouraged to engage in an educational component designed by RB+B in a typically un-used area of the lobby. Underneath a stairwell in the main corridor of the school, CHI worked with A&P to create a raised pedestal on which rocks from all four geological types were hand-placed and glued. The mineral pedestals had a polished Bomanite Modena SL with embedded rocks, and the perimeter curb was a light gray Bomanite Micro-Top. Local aggregates embedded in a concrete topping and polished to a high sheen exposed these rocks and created the protective surface on which to sandblast referral numbers next to each grouping of rocks. The school placed placards within the slab to help students identify each type of rock.

Cafeteria Flooring
The Bomanite polished concrete cafeteria floor in this school serves as a transition point, moving students from the outside through the cafeteria and gymnasium. With a creative use of elongated steps, the steps leading from the gymnasium to the cafeteria doubles as extra seating for the gymnasium. In addition to aesthetics and functionality, the finish provides the school with very low maintenance flooring. The choice of polished concrete offers intrinsic savings to the total project by enhancing the mandatory concrete slab rather than covering it with a disposable overlay of carpet or tiles that have a shorter life cycle and higher maintenance costs. CHI created on-site mock-ups for approval from the architect and owner prior to actual placement of the floor in the school.

Because of the craftsmanship required in both the concrete placement and the polishing process of these floors, steps, and ramps, CHI used the expertise of different crews to perform the work. The polishing team needed to remove all surface cream as well as bisect large aggregate in a consistent visual texture across the entire area, including the edges, steps, and ramps. The ramp provided the challenge of needing to be dense, reflective, and cleanable, but it also needed to provide the correct traction and slip resistance for wheel chair access. After a couple of samples CHI found a successful stopping point in the polishing process that met all the requirements for this area.

Interpretive Site Wall
After students walk through the school and down the beautifully polished ramp, they can exit to a playground enclosed by an educational interpretive wall. The Birdsall Group and CHI team, through budgeting and design conversations, chose an integrally colored wall displaying both an organic form finish and a more refined, yet natural, Sandscape® finish. The wall tells a story on each side. The side facing the parking lot shows the terrain where the town of Erie sits. The side facing the playground gives a timeline of the history of Erie.

The construction of the walls took creative thinking and pre-planning. Because of the two different finishes on the wall, CHI’s crews developed unique methods for forming and facing the walls. The walls contained both finishes on each side and needed to be poured monolithically. CHI worked with the designers to adjust the design slightly to create a formed concrete solution. On site the crews used great care to place, strip, and finish the walls. Other contractors on the jobsite commented on the craftsmanship displayed.

Pulling It All Together
Through design meetings, samples, on-site mock-ups, coordination with all parties, and on-time delivery, CHI exceeded expectations on St. Vrain Elementary School #26. This project required extensive coordination for CHI to provide the variety of finishes required. Crews with different expertise worked side-by-side, offering the client ease in scheduling, contracting, managing and communication. With an accelerated schedule to open school on time, no other concrete contractor could meet the demands of multiple decorative concrete finishes, sustainable requirements, and coordination better than Colorado Hardscapes, Inc.

 

Wyoming Combined Labs

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Project Description:

As HDR Architects and Gallun Snow Interiors worked through the design and materials process for the Wyoming Combined Labs project in Cheyenne, they consulted with Bomanite Licensee, Colorado Hardscapes for flooring surfaces for some of the lobby and corridor space.

Discussion revolved around the comparison between terrazzo and polished concrete and how they could achieve the aesthetic goals they had for this area. The Bomanite Custom Polishing System Patene Teres was selected, utilizing several mixes and techniques including Lithocrete ® finished concrete with seeded aggregate, Sandscape® concrete with black sand in the mix, and three different areas of standard concrete that would be dyed utilizing three different shades of blue concrete dye. The different concrete pours would be separated with aluminum strips. All of this concrete would receive a Bomanite Custom Polish.

Multiple pours that were difficult to keep flat and then like to curl, as well as dealing with the aluminum strips and the shrinking of the concrete in the curing process all made the installation and polishing quite challenging.

To coordinate with the interior polished work, Sandscape and acid etched color hardener concrete were used for highlight areas in the exterior paving at the entry to the building. Custom blue hardeners and black sand were used to help link the exterior paving with the polished concrete inside the building.

The workmanship, the aesthetics, and the satisfaction of the contractor and designer make this job an outstanding project.

Village of 5 Parks

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Client Need:
The owner of this planned community needed to create a high impact village and community center to be the “heart” for the surrounding community. Although they wanted to achieve a pleasing aesthetic, budget constraints did not allow for imprinted or even colored concrete.

Solution:
Bomanite Licensee, Colorado Hardscape’s exclusive Sandscape Texture® by Bomanite, formliners, and sandblasting on uncolored concrete for the walls, flatwork and steps created different textures and the visual appeal of the hard surfaces.

Results:
Concrete is the design material used to create the pathways surrounding the Community Center, the elegant pool deck, decorative wall, and The Depot floor that together make the Village of Five Parks’ Village and Community Center a truly unique and beautiful “heart” of the villages. The concrete walls include custom designed and fabricated formliners, a rustication grid pattern and selected areas of sandblasting. Concrete flatwork on sidewalks and the pool deck is highlighted by banding and panels of uncolored Sandscape Texture concrete. Cantilevered steps are installed at the changes in elevation and natural stone paving is incorporated into the concrete paving. Interior Bomanite Micro-Top and staining of the concrete floor in The Depot kept the character of a train station of yesteryear.

Stapleton Redevelopment

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Client Need:
Concrete paving is very prominent on this project, and the designers needed to be sure that the finished product met all of their specifications for the high profile center of the Stapleton Redevelopment. The hardscapes needed to integrate with real stone in the city center and lend consistency and beauty to the rest of the walkways, patios and plazas along the street.

Solution:
Bomanite Licensed Contractor, Colorado Hardscapes, walked the property and worked closely with designers to determine their needs. With the Sandscape Texture® by Bomanite system and the superior craftsmenship of Colorado Hardscapes, the team was able to install the job to the quality necessary of the project.

Results:
Colorado Hardscapes worked with both Mortenson and Saunders on different sections around the Stapleton Town Center, including paving for patios and sidewalks along 29th Ave. Black banding and special “V” saw-cuts distinguish special areas along 29th Ave. Near the water features at the town center real stones were integrated into theBomanite Sandscape Texture around the perimeter. The Visitors Center features a multi-colored Bomanite Micro-Top interior floor.

Powerhouse Plaza

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Client Need:
Designers were looking for a paving material with the right texture for their vision of this plaza.

Solution:
Bomanite Licensee Colorado Hardscapes showed the designers the exclusive Bomanite Exposed Aggregate System, Sandscape Texture® by Bomanite paving installed nearby on the NCSL building and they were sold. Although the colors and patterns are quite different, the finish lends a nice texture to many design styles.

Results:
This plaza proves how concrete can take any shape. The dramatic lines of the design are enhanced by elegant, crisp Sandscape Texture paving with stained bands. Seat walls along the structure complete the look.

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Client Need:
A distinctive paving was needed for the entry and front patio of the NCSL headquarters in the Lowry Redevelopment. Natural stone carved with state names needed to be integrated into the paving material at the front.

Solution:
Bomanite Licensed Contractor Colorado Hardscapes, Inc.’s integral color concrete with the exclusive Sandscape Texture® by Bomanite finish results in the distinct look. Natural stone is skillfully integrated into the concrete.

Results:
Colorado Hardscapes, Inc. (CHI) created the entrance, a conference patio, drop off zone, outdoor patio break area, and a section under a revolving door for the NCSL buildings. Sandscape Texture® by Bomanite finished concrete, poured 4 inches thick, was used. Sections were integrally colored with a variety of custom shades with standard gray interspersed at the entrance to the building. The sawcuts further distinguish the different colors and flush out the pattern. Forty-eight linear feet of six inch planter curb was used and rounded seat wall surround the rounded sections of concrete and line the grill area on one side of the building.

Belmar Retail Development Walkways

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Client Need:
The designer of Belmar wanted to create a subtle but very specific look for the paving around the retail development that would enhance the architecture and give a sense of continuity to all of the city blocks involved.

Solution:
Bomanite Licensed Contractor Colorado Hardscapes, Inc. not only had the project management capabilities for this massive project, but the craftsmanship to create the paving details inherent in the design.

Results:
Sandscape Texture® by Bomanite finished concrete paving creates the walkways, plazas, and some of the medians throughout the Belmar development. (The curb and gutter work is by others.) The “V” cuts in the concrete mirror the architecture of the buildings.