Tilt-Up Concrete Association Spearheads Design and Construction of Fort Bend County Veteran’s Memorial

The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) – the global authority for the tilt-up industry – along with the Sugar Land Parks Department and Sugar Land Legacy Foundation, is proud to be spearheading the design and construction of the Fort Bend County Veterans’ Memorial.

The project is a continuation of the TCA Community Project Program, developed in 2010 by the TCA, to encourage collaboration between member companies of the convention host city and to provide a vehicle by which these companies could give back to their communities.

A TCA Member Host Committee was formed to assist with planning the 2013 TCA Convention, which will be held in Houston, Texas from Sept. 30 – Oct. 2.

“It’s through the host committee that we identify these types of opportunities,” said Mitch Bloomquist of TCA. “They help us to make all of the local connections and to become more aware of the intricacies of their market. This assists in designing an event relevant to the region in which it is hosted. The host committee is also the core team for the community project.”

Patti Miller, Director of Business Development for E.E. Reed Construction and chair of the 2013 TCA Convention Host Committee, approached the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation earlier this year in search of a project. The 501(c)3 foundation works to increase the quality of life within Sugar Land with a vision to facilitate the development of more diversified recreational, cultural and civic opportunities.

Jim Browne, Director of Parks & Recreation for the City of Sugar Land assisted the Legacy Foundation in identifying three potential projects, and the host committee selected the one that most closely fit the scope they were prepared to offer and the potential for application and exploration of tilt-up concrete construction.

TCA Board of Directors member Jeffrey Brown of Powers Brown Architecture offered his firm’s services to design the memorial. “We decided to alter our process in keeping with the spirit of the project by getting as many of our team members involved as possible,” said Brown. An internal ideas competition was held and nine schemes were submitted, representing all Powers Brown Architecture office locations.

An eight-person jury was assembled to review and vote on the schemes in May 2013 at the Powers Brown Architecture office in Houston. The jury included:

• John Cadenhead – Senior Designer, Powers Brown Architecture
• Kinder Baumgardner – Lead Principle, SWA – Landscape Architecture, Planning and Urban Design
• Randal Hall – Associate Professor of History, Rice University
• Mark Reed – E.E. Reed Construction
• Mitch Bloomquist – Tilt-Up Concrete Association
• Thomas Colbert – Director of Graduate Studies, University of Houston College of Architecture
• Joe Chesses – Assistant Director, Sugar Land Parks and Recreation Department
• James Browne - Director, Sugar Land Parks and Recreation Department

The memorial will be located in Sugar Land’s Memorial Park and will be part of what the Parks and Recreation Department are calling Memorial Trail. There are two elements in the park itself that establish the beginnings of the Memorial Trail, which the subject of this competition will complete. The first two components are a Flag Court with flags from the nations where the veterans being honored have fought. The second is a general Honorary Plaque. The Veterans’ Memorial will complete the ensemble and result in a Memorial Trail that is a subset or overlay on the extensive park walking trail system.

The memorial site itself is really a two-part area comprising a mound on the east side of the allocated boundary area and a peninsula to the west side of the same area adjacent to and extending into the lake. The goal of the memorial is to exploit the site in a way that accommodates two distinct, but perhaps overlapping, tropes of honor- the Celebratory and the Contemplative.

In addition to the interpretive program, the goal is to explore the architectural potential of tilt-up concrete construction. “We asked those submitting designs to think of the tilt-up potential – to think of its method, its materiality and its possible treatment. We asked them to look to innovations in forming, acid etching, over pour, sand blasting permeability, variation in thickness and so on,” said Brown. “We wanted them to think of things that have never been done with the method, but do so only in service of the greater idea and purpose of the program.”

The internal design competition produced many very good ideas according to the judges. The winning proposal, designed by Matt Stephens, will be taken on by the Powers Brown Architecture’s Houston design team for design development and the production of construction documents. Elements of a second place proposal designed by Brian Burnett, Garret Delano, and Mike Fecco may also be incorporated into the final memorial.

Powers Brown Architecture will serve as Architect of Record for the project and E.E. Reed has agreed to build the memorial. The consultant team will be selected once the design of the memorial is set. Products, accessories, and other tilt-up industry services will be provided by TCA members at no cost to the project. Discussion of these items is taking place with the TCA’s Global Associate Council.

A dedication ceremony is being planned in conjunction with the 2013 TCA Convention in Houston for Monday, September 30. More details on this project and the 2013 TCA Convention can be found at http://tilt-up.org/events/2013-tca-convention/.

About the TCA

TCA was founded in 1986 to improve the quality and acceptance of site-cast tilt-up construction, a construction method in which concrete wall panels are cast on-site and tilted into place. Tilt-Up construction is one of the fastest growing industries, combining the advantages of reasonable cost with low maintenance, durability, speed of construction and minimal capital investment.  For more information about the TCA, visit www.tilt-up.org or contact TCA headquarters at 319-895-6911 or info@tilt-up.org.

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