The Otto M. Budig Theater, Cincinnati

1 of 3

MEVA Formwork Systems

The architectural concrete surfaces were achieved with form line… Read More The architectural concrete surfaces were achieved with form liners that imitate wood grain and give the interior of the theater the intended old­style elegance, and the audience the feeling of being in a classical theater built centuries ago.

MEVA Formwork Systems

The architectural concrete surfaces were achieved with form line… Read More The architectural concrete surfaces were achieved with form liners that imitate wood grain and give the interior of the theater the intended old­style elegance, and the audience the feeling of being in a classical theater built centuries ago.

MEVA Formwork Systems

3D model of The Otto M. Budig Theater.

With an exterior modeled after the National Theater in London and interior imitating Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, the 40,000-square-foot Otto M. Budig Theater is far from commonplace. Mimicking the old-style elegance of those structures required high pours and an architectural concrete surface with a wood-grain pattern and no seams.

The ceiling will be tall enough to allow for multilevel seats and scenery. To allow for balcony seating and large stage sets to be erected and disassembled onsite, the plans required 40-foot walls. Imperial wall panels with a pour rating of 2,025 psf allowed for 16-foot pours to be done quickly and efficiently. The 12-foot-by-8-foot panels reduced the number of required height extensions and seams, an extremely important benefit for both the architects and the contractor because of the architectural concrete requirements.

“The Imperial panels stay truer than other formwork”, says Jamey Arrasmith, a superintendent on the project. “They go together so quickly and easily you can teach anybody how to put them together.”

The theater also required architectural concrete walls on the inside with a wood-like appearance in keeping with the aesthetic of the Globe Theater, built in the 1500s. To achieve this look, form liners were used. These specifications required careful attention in the detailing of the formwork to ensure seams between panels and from pour breaks were hidden and that the form liners lined up perfectly so there were no breaks in the wood-grain pattern. Details such as electrical outlets also needed to be incorporated.

As an added service to assist the contractor with the location of electrical outlets and other placements in compliance with the architectural demands of the concrete, MEVA engineers completed the formwork design in BIM and gave the model to the contractor. This allowed Messer to easily incorporate other elements of the building construction into the design, saving time and effort.

• Victoria & Albert Museum; Dundee, Scotland

  Linear concrete cladding mimics color and texture of Scotland's craggy cliffs.

  

• Faena Forum, Miami Beach

  Unique underwater construction method used to complete $1.2 billion project.

  

• Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.

  Lightweight aggregate is strong enough to hold together massive football stadium.

  

• Wain Road, Canada

  The contractor used Concrete Insulated Panels (CIP) to build this home north of the border.

  

• The Otto M. Budig Theater, Cincinnati

  Imperial wall panels, with a pour rating of 2,025 psf allowed for 16-foot pours to be done quickly and efficiently.

  

• 150 North Riverside, Chicago

  This LEED skyscraper overlooks the Chicago River.

  

• A-4 Motorway Expansion, Portugal

  Measuring 63 feet in width, this cut-and-cover tunnel will become the widest on the entire Iberian Peninsula.

  

• The Clement Canopy, Singapore

  This is the first structure on the island using an all-concrete version of the PPVC system.

  

• Cal State San Marcos Sports Center

  Thirty-three tilt-up panels were used to build this sports center in California.