Added to the north side of Southwestern Junior-Senior High School, the Spartan Field House is a facility to be proud of.

The project, for which S & B Construction Group served as general contractor and Schmidt Associates served as architect, included a field house with two basketball courts, retractable netting to divide the space up, and retractable batting cages.

Mid-States Concrete Industries became involved with the project when Architect Nick Dodge, formerly of Schmidt Associates and now of RATIO Design, reached out about wanting to use Graphic Concrete on the project. In his research, he came across less than a handful of precasters who were capable of producing the wall panels needed for the project, located in Shelbyville, Indiana.

“I think it was mostly just that [Mid-States Concrete Industries was] incredibly helpful to work with, for one, and it was a public bid,” Dodge said of getting to work with Mid-States on this project.

Graphic Concrete technology allows you to impart durable patterns and images onto precast surfaces. The technology transfers patterns - custom or stock - as a surface retarder via paper membrane placed at the bottom of the form. Concrete is cast atop the membrane. After the concrete is cured and extracted from the form, the retarder is washed away with a high-pressure washer, revealing an image that results from the contrast between the fair faced and the exposed aggregate surface.

Mid-States Concrete Industries was proud to partner on this project and provide 42 precast concrete wall panels for the project, amounting to more than 17,600-square-feet. The Graphic Concrete design used is a nod to the school’s mascot.

“We opted to put in these Spartan soldiers, which were kind of a 10-foot tall band that went up around the baseboards [of the field house],” Dodge said, adding the design represented excitement, pride, and maybe even a little bit of intimidation as opposing teams and schools approach the field house for the competitions that take place there. “These Spartans watch over the school.”

To Dodge’s knowledge, this represents the first Graphic Concrete project in Indiana, though he has since seen two more. These wall panels were installed in October 2020.

“We were excited to get the opportunity to do another Graphic Concrete project that was unique from the others we had completed,” said Colin Jones, the Preconstruction Lead on the project.

Jones thought Mid-States Concrete would be a good fit for this project as the customer was seeking long-lasting, unique wall panels that would require low maintenance for the school district. Precast concrete structures can be designed for 100-year service life with minimal upkeep, per the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.

The Graphic Concrete pattern is 100% concrete; it is as durable and maintenance-free as concrete itself. This saves costs during the life of the building, an important consideration for planners, architects, and developers.

While Schmidt Associates had looked at possibly utilizing steel framing, they still would have had to infill that. They considered, and ultimately chose, precast for the sheer economy and the speed with which it could be erected. The ready-to-install precast wall panels featuring Graphic Concrete need no additional cladding or field work.

“It was huge that we could load bear right on top of the walls,” Dodge said. “… As soon as the panels were in, the rest of the building came together rather quickly.”

While this project was a little bit further from Mid-States Concrete’s manufacturing facilities than most projects we undertake, the project team sorted through the logistics and made sure to provide the customer a schedule of when to expect precast on site, and stick to that schedule so the customer could plan accordingly. Installation went relatively smoothly wand was completed in just a few days.

“I was pleased with how it turned out,” Dodge said. “Colin and the team were really helpful and willing to work a little bit extra on panels that needed some touch ups and let me call out a few things and make it as perfect as they could.”

PRECAST COMPONENTS
42 Wall Panels with Graphic Concrete (17,624 square feet)

PROJECT PARTNERS
GC: S & B Construction Group, LLC
Architect: Schmidt Associates