Inland Empire Paper Co. entry and office

Location: Millwood, Spokane County

Owner/developer: Inland Empire Paper Co.

Project team: Divcon, general and concrete contractor; Ron Avery Joseph, architect; DCI Engineers, structural engineer; Central Pre-Mix Concrete, ready-mix supplier

Inland Empire Paper Co. wanted to expand its offices and update the entry area of its 1930s brick building to project a more modern corporate image. The project involved constructing an office entry and converting interior shop space into executive offices.

The shop space sat more than 3 feet below the existing office area. To make all the offices the same elevation, the extra space was filled with 460 cubic yards of pea gravel and controlled-density fill, and capped with a concrete slab on grade.

A large column in the middle of the new space had to be removed to make way for an open conference and meeting room. A 48-foot post-tensioned concrete beam was cast between perimeter columns to allow the removal of the column.

The project has 2,500 square feet of finished concrete floors, including the hallways and meeting room. A ground-and-polished finish was applied to the slab. In order to mesh the old office area with the new office area, the old office received a 3-inch concrete topping slab that was ground and polished to match.

The arched entry was cast using two tilt-up panels with thin brick designed to complement the original building.

The coping was formed with detail strips in the tilt panels to simulate the original building terra-cotta coping. Retaining walls and a walk were installed to provide ADA access.