Colony Square, a ten-screen theater and associated retail complex is the centerpiece of a downtown revitalization effort for the city of Atascadero, which sits midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on scenic Highway 101.

“This is the largest commercial ICF project in the region,” says Andrew Stephens, the LOGIX territory manager that submitted the project. It took more than 11,500 ICFs (reaching 36 feet above grade in some places) and 1,140 cubic yards of concrete just to form the walls.

The building is located one block off Highway 101, and Stephens estimates that during construction, about 90,000 cars passed by the jobsite daily. The project received additional publicity from local television and print media, which featured numerous reports as construction progressed.

“The impact and significance of this project is huge,” he says. “It has been instrumental in opening doors to architectural firms in the region.”

To capitalize on the publicity, Scott Sorich, the local distributor, held numerous well-attended open houses for interested professionals.

The project was a good fit for ICFs to begin with. Large, long walls with few openings meant construction progressed quickly. The sound-dampening qualities of the LOGIX system easily met design parameters for the theaters.

The biggest construction challenge may have been the reinforcing steel schedules. California has some of the most rigorous building standards in the nation, and seismic requirements here were no exception. This project has a double mat of reinforcing steel (12” o.c.) in all walls. Integral full-width concrete pilasters were incorporated into the walls at 15-foot intervals. Embedded steel posts that supported the roof beams had to be placed inside the form and welded to the rebar mats.

Stephens says, “The ability to utilize the LOGIX Hybrid Technology knock down panels in these situations made a potential problem vanish.” In other areas, the regular block was used to speed construction.

The ICF installation was done by IC Walls, a subcontractor that specializes in large commercial ICF projects. Smart planning minimized difficulties. Stephens says that 80% of potential problems were averted through good communication; the remainder through the use of knockdown forms and a qualified installation crew.

The building, finished in August 2011, has a vintage look. The retro-styled Art Deco marquee outside the Galaxy Theater continues the theme. But inside, shoppers and moviegoers enjoy the comfort that state-of-the-art ICF technology provides.