October 3, 2018

THE AVALON NATICK

Luxury High-Rise Apartment Building

Natick, Massachusetts

HIGHLIGHTS

Project Location: Avalon Natick Apartments, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Owner: Avalon Bay Communities Inc., Boston, Mass.
General Contractor: Callahan Inc., Bridgewater, Mass.
Design Engineer & Architect: Russell Scott Streedle & Capone Architects, Inc., & D.M. Berg Consultants Inc.
Oldcastle Infrastructure Products: Hollowcore Plank, Special Solid Slabs, Precast Stairs & Landings, Precast Lintels
Precaster: Oldcastle Infrastructure Building Systems, Selkirk, NY

Precast Hollowcore Chosen Because It’s Versatile, Efficient, and Resilient!

Avalon Natick, a new high-rise luxury apartment community developed by Avalon-Bay Communities, Inc., located in Natick, MA. includes a 10-story building and an 11-story building for a combined total of 456,220 square feet and 407 units. Both buildings will offer studios, one-and two bedroom apartments, and larger penthouse floor plans with high end finishes and features. Resort-style amenities include a cutting edge fitness center, resident clubhouse and a 137,036 sq.ft. elevated parking structure to accommodate 417 vehicles. The development is adjacent to upscale shopping and entertainment, with nearby parks and recreation, and is located near major highways and commuter rail. Oldcastle Infrastructure Building Systems used their own in-house engineering team to design the precast portion of the building. All the precast components were manufactured in their PCI certified, enclosed, environmentally controlled, state-of-the art facility in Selkirk, NY. The precast components consisted of hollowcore plank, special solid slabs for side cantilever condition, stairs and landings and precast lintels. Oldcastle Building Systems used their in-house PCI qualified crews to install the precast components. Each precast level was installed and grouted in 5 days.

THE DESIGN

AvalonBay Communities Inc. senior project manager, Paul Zarba explains “the experience using precast concrete hollowcore plank on masonry was most efficient, the process is very predictable as it relates to cycles and schedule.” He also emphasizes that “AvalonBay would definitely consider utilizing this building system in a future project with similar constraints (height) simply because it’s very appealing due to the speed and efficiencies in the overall system.”

While masonry work was being done on one building, Oldcastle Infrastructure was installing the precast components for the other building. The sequence went like a great dance moving from one building to another without any interruption.

INNOVATION

The use of precast concrete in multi residential facilities allows owners, developers and the design teams to take advantage of precast concrete’s attributes. These include speed of construction, energy efficiency, aesthetic compatibility, economy of design, and low maintenance.

Speed of construction was one of the benefits for choosing precast hollowcore planks. Immediate fire separation and ratings without any fire spraying, sound dampening, durable and low-maintenance were other attributes that assisted in the decision to build with precast concrete.

Find out more about Oldcastle Residential and Commercial Precast Concrete Solutions.