
May 15, 1998

WACA Awards: Tilt-Up Structures

Journal staff

This category proved to be the most popular with eight entries, including the Grand Award winner -- The Chapel of St. Ignatius.

The other entries included: Overlake Christian Church, Twin City Foods processing plant, Bensussen/Deutsch & Associates warehouse, Valley Distribution Center, Canyon Creek Cabinet Co. building, Universal Avionics and Aldarra Corporate Park Phase III.

St. Ignatius

St. Ignatius was the winner of the Tilt-Up Structures category.
Photo BY JON SAVELLE.

St. Ignatius is a 6,100-square-foot chapel for the Jesuit community at Seattle University. It epitomizes how many different types and techniques of concrete can be used in a single building.

The chapel began with an elevated cast-in-place foundation resting on auger-cast piling. The foundation's structural deck is composed of 8-inch precast hollow core plank with a 3-inch fiber mesh structural topping.

Most of the chapel's 21 interlocking wall panels were cast on top of the foundation deck, then tilted into place. The rest were cast on the bottom of a reflecting pool, which also was part of the project.

To ensure a high-quality exterior finish, the panels were cast with the outside facing up, which protected the finish and allowed any potential slab deflection to occur on the inside face of the walls. Even the hoisting inbeds for the panels were camouflaged with custom cast bronze covers.

To save money, the project's specified black terrazzo floor was substituted with a 2-inch integral black concrete finish topping slab over the foundation deck.

Other uses of concrete on the project included retaining walls, curbs, walks and benches.

The two runners up for the category were Overlake Christian Church and the Twin City Foods processing plant.

Project teams

The Chapel of St. Ignatius: Seattle University, owner/developer; Monte Clark Engineers, structural engineer; Baugh Construction Co., general and concrete contractor; Olson Sundberg, architect; and Cadman Concrete, concrete supplier.

Overlake Christian Church: Overlake Christian Church, owner; Peterson Strehle Martinson, structural engineer; E. Kent Halvorson Inc., general contractor; ACTS LLC, architect; Hope Cement Finishing, concrete contractor; and Cadman Concrete, concrete supplier.

Twin City Foods processing plant: Twin City Foods, owner; McClaren Peterson Associates, structural engineer; Fisher & Sons, general contractor; Peterson Strehle Martinson Inc., architect; Clinton Passey Concrete Inc., concrete contractor; and Stanwood Redi-mix, concrete supplier.

Bensussen/Deutsch & Associates warehouse: Greater Seattle Concrete Inc., concrete contractor.

Valley Distribution Center: Puget Western Inc., owner/developer; Rupert Engineering Inc., structural engineer and architect; McCarthy, general and concrete contractor; and Miles Sand & Gravel, concrete supplier.

Canyon Creek Cabinet Co. building: Foushee & Associates, general contractor; LaRusso Concrete Co. Inc., concrete contractor; and Cadman Inc., concrete supplier.

Universal Avionics: Quadrant Corp., owner/developer; Engineers Northwest, structural engineer; GLY Construction, general and concrete contractor; Lance Mueller & Associates, architect; and Lone Star Northwest, concrete supplier.

Aldarra Corporate Park Phase III: Boeing MESABI Trust, owner/developer; Engineers Northwest, structural engineer; Donovan Brothers Commercial Construction, general and concrete contractor; LPN Architects & Planners, architect; and Miles Sand & Gravel Co., concrete supplier.