High-Rise, Sustainable Design
The Heron at Water Street, a luxury condominium building, is the first residential property to open at Water Street Tampa, a $3.5 billion mixed-use development from the owner of Tampa Bay’s NHL Lightning team and an investment group led by Bill Gates. It has 420 apartment homes.
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A high-profile project like this, with such discerning backers, necessitated eye-catching design. Architects chose some innovative structural and architectural components for The Heron, such as the three-legged column at one corner of the building. They specified exposed architectural concrete finishes for some of the structural members to add to the building’s dramatic appearance. And though the effect is minor, PLCs can have a slightly lighter color than ordinary portland cement, imbuing the concrete with a slightly lighter color, too, which can be appealing to some architects.
This building, which sits at the entrance to the Tampa Riverwalk, is both to see and be seen; it offers a prime vantage point and is, itself, visually striking. The waterfront location offers desirable water or downtown views, made even more accessible by both the floor-to-ceiling windows and spacious balconies that encourage outdoor living and entertaining. Common element green roof gardens and rooftop pools enhance the livability of city life. It’s part of Water Street Tampa, a mixed-use neighborhood on 56 acres of waterfront property that promotes itself as walkable, sustainable, and connected. PLC concrete fits perfectly with these design goals by offering similar performance as ordinary portland cement concrete with increased sustainability.
To help convince contractors to use PLCs, the ready mix supplier provided mix design submittals. For the 49,410 cubic yards of concrete used to construct The Heron, most of the mixes were made using PLC and supplemental cementitious materials (SCMs). Cement-only mixes were used for precast members and most decks, which were post-tensioned.
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This case study was provided by Argos USA. For more information, feel free to send any inquiries to our project contact.
