Colorado Hardscapes, Inc. | Case Studies | Commercial

Client Need:
The designers of this plaza for the Discovery Canyon Campus needed a material and a contractor who could create paving and walls that illustrate fundamentals of science.

Solution:
Concrete was the perfect material to mold into the shapes and colors necessary to bring science to life. CHI's expertise with concrete allowed us to use the techniques required to produce the results the designer was looking for.

Results:
A concrete sediment wall, 20 inches wide at the base tapers to 12 inches at the top and is 22 x 3.5 feet, illustrates the history of the earth. Integrally colored concrete with Davis Colors "Sequoia Sand" filled the form-placement was stopped 9 times to create layers. The 3 inch low slump concrete allowed manipulation as workers used trowels to create variegated lines and slope the concrete; inserted mosaic pieces along the form boards; spread additional river rock, plus obsidian aggregate and red granite, and added color hardener to illustrate lines of sediment. Bomanite Auburn chemical stain and Okon penetrating sealer finish the wall.

A swirl finished slab of blue concrete colored with Blue Frost color hardener is highlighted with Con-Color stain and indicates water. Stenciled "molecule" clusters were added along with black paint stained dinosaur, trilobite and human "footprints."

A "DNA strand" with sawcut and topical stained "V" shapes highlights the 2400 square foot Proto Plaza. The linear direction of DNA is illustrated by an angled sandblasted band transversing the pattern. The DNA strand is finished with Colorado Hardscapes' Sandscape Texture™ surrounding the 5 foot wide sections of gray concrete.

Awards:
2006 Concrete Pavement Awards, Second Place, Commercial Cast-in-Place
2006 Rocky Mountain ACI, Award of Excellence, Decorative Concrete (Exterior)