When the luxury apartments known as Parkview Lofts started the construction process for Parkview II, the construction team knew precast was the way to go for the building’s podium.

A common podium configuration consists of one or more levels of a hollowcore, beam, and column parking structure below ground with the upper deck, often hollowcore, providing both fire separation and structural transfer. In addition to the parking structure below, podium configurations often include an additional story of precast at the ground level for mixed use space, with four or five stories of wood-framed construction above.

“We have kind of a podium construction there for floors of wood frame above the precast and we needed a three-hour fire rating,” said Shane Morelock, Project Manager with Hodge Construction, the general contractor on the project. “Precast is really the most economical to reach that and not have to do additional fireproofing, and structurally it works.”

The project also utilized precast concrete walls for the building’s elevator shaft and stair shafts. The elevator walls were full height and the stair shaft walls were up to the podium. Morelock acknowledged the benefits of using precast for this, noting that when using precast, haunches are built in and coordinated. This saves time as an additional subcontractor is not needed on site then. The elevator embeds were also cast into the panels, getting that task done ahead of time as well.

Mid-States Concrete Industries provided nearly 15,000-square-feet of hollowcore, 21 beams, 15 columns, and more than 3,000-square-feet of wall panels for this project.

While Hodge Construction considered masonry for the elevator shaft, precast ultimately made more sense. In addition to the speed of erection for this project, other benefits included the elimination of fireproofing, which would have been necessary if they had used structural steel.

“Just the erection speed of it would be the biggest [benefit],” Morelock said. “This one was just shy of two weeks for erection.”

Morelock also praised the preconstruction work on the project, acknowledging the upfront work helped to eliminate some columns, which opened up the garage a bit, providing more useful space and saving money. He also said the shop drawings process went well with the 3D drawings helping to visualize how all the components work together and where embeds and things were needed. Morelock added that installation went smoothly and everyone on site was easy to work with and he was pleased with the quality of the precast components.

“I think this one went about as smooth as you could hope for,” Morelock said.