Paras Concrete Contractors office and shop

Location: Spokane Valley

Owner/developer: Paras Concrete Contractors

Project team: Paras Concrete Contractors, general and concrete contractor; Wolfe Architectural Group, architect; DCI Engineers, structural engineer; Central Pre-Mix Concrete Co., ready-mix supplier

Paras Concrete Contractors built itself a 6,000-square-foot office and shop that showcases its line of work. The building’s architecture consists of a series of overlapping planes and volumetric bump-outs that were created by deconstructing the box. The success of the minimalist design relied heavily on the even consistency of ready-mix concrete.

While most of the building was made from tilt-up panels, walls in the reception area and conference room were cast in place. The cast-in-place walls were stained to create a focal point. The stain produced a modeled effect, which intensified the depth and complexity of the accent walls and floor.

Conference room walls were board-formed to create a wood texture and horizontal lines, which expanded the space visually. Form-tie holes were left exposed on all cast-in-place walls to emphasize the geometric grid and celebrate the construction process. The conference room door is a full-size model of the wood formwork used on the building’s concrete.

The use of concrete extends to the site, tying the building and landscape into a cohesive package. A 6-foot shotcrete wall can be found in the rear yard and the parking lot uses integrally colored concrete. Sidewalks are also integrally colored and include different textures, such as acid-washed and slate-stamped concrete.