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Cultural Buildings

National Veterans Memorial and Museum, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Constructing the asymmetric structure presented many challenges for the project’s concrete contractor, Baker Concrete, and formwork supplier, PERI USA.
More than 9,000 square meters of PERI’s VARIO system wall forms were required to place the National Veterans Memorial and Museum’s curved walls.
Because the radius of the Memorial and Museum’s curving walls changes continuously, each form panel used on the project was unique.
The complex geometry of the wall dictated a number of very large pours, as long as 36 m and 12 m tall.
A collection of interlaced concentric arches define the outer walls of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.
Box-out forms individually CNC cut in PERI’s Chicago yard played an integral part in defining the void geometry of the project.
Almost the entire structure was designed to be exposed architectural concrete, and originally was slated for sandblasting to ensure a uniform surface. However, the early concrete finish turned out so well off the form that the architect decided to forgo the sandblasting.
Said by many of those involved to be one of the most challenging projects they have ever worked on.
What made this project unique was that there were no paper drawings for the project – everything was based on a virtual model that was updated by the architect. The 400 custom box-outs were designed in 3D along with a significant portion of the wall forms.
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Project data

Location: Columbus, United States

  • Designed as a veteran monument, the memorial presents interactive and educational exhibits, permanent and temporary exhibits and meeting rooms for veterans groups
  • Impressive and sophisticated architectural design
  • Designed by Allied Works Architecture

Requirements

  • Asymmetrical building construction consisting of several interlaced concentric walls which rises from the earth with elegant and sweeping curves
  • The elegant, sweeping curves of the three interlaced cast-in-place reinforced concrete rings that define the structure belie the complexity of the project’s design and construction
  • Complex wall geometry through curved walls with 400 voids
  • High demands on exposed concrete surfaces
  • Shoring solution to support very large pours, as long as 36 m and 12 m tall
  • Realization of architecturally demanding shapes only on the basis of a 3D model, as the plans did not contain any dimensions due to the complicated structure

Customer

Contractor

Baker Concrete Construction Inc.

Field Service

PERI Chicago, United States of America

Customer's benefit

  • Economical construction of the curved walls due to the multiple use of VARIO system components, even though every formwork element was different
  • Very large concreting sections up to 36 m and 12 m high, supported by PERI UP Shoring, made the construction of the complex wall geometry possible
  • High-quality fair-faced concrete surfaces so that sandblasting could be dispensed with
Portrait of Jon Jones, General Superintendent at Baker Concrete Construction Inc
Jon Jones
General Superintendent

Two other contractors had this project and turned it down. Baker was approached to do it and accepted the challenge. PERI took on this challenge with us. PERI was probably the only company that could have constructed and supplied the forms to us. It has been a very challenging project for both parties.

PERI solution

  • The individual formwork solution for the collection of concentric arches that cross to create interwoven concrete rings
  • Planning, construction and delivery of over 9,000 m² VARIO GT 24 Girder Wall Formwork to create the curved walls with constantly changing radius
  • Each panel had to be different due to the constantly changing radii
  • 400 void forms were required to create the openings in the concrete rings. These plywood box-outs were CNC-cut in PERI’s yard and ranged in size from 3 m² to 25 m²
  • High construction effort for the execution of the voids with a tapering edge

PERI systems in use