Ten years ago, this magazine spotlighted the tallest and biggest ICFs projects yet built. In the ensuing decade, several new records have been set, and it’s time to recognize those landmarks. The ICF industry is now so large and widespread that it’s unfeasible to track every project. If readers are aware of ICF buildings larger and taller than those featured below, please contact the editor at editor@icfmag.com.
Tallest Buildings (With Weight-Bearing ICF Walls)
Project Statistics
Name: Icon Waterloo
Type: Student Residences
Location: 330 Phillip St. Waterloo, Ontario
Height: Estimated 250 feet (25 stories)
Year Completed: 2017
Form used: Nudura
General Contractor: Reid & DeLeye
Developer: Rise Real Estate
Icon Waterloo
At the time of its completion, this 21-story ICF dormitory was the tallest yet built. The 126,000 sq. ft of ICF were stacked in just eight months, which included winter conditions.
Luxe Waterloo II
Project Statistics
Name: Luxe Waterloo II
Type: Student Residences
Location: 339 King St. Waterloo, Ontario
Height: 225 feet (21 stories)
Year Completed: 2013
Form used: Fox Blocks
General Contractor: XDG Construction
Developer: Rise Real Estate
Honorable Mention
ICF high rises have not yet caught on in the U.S. as they have in Canada This eight-story Drury Inn outside Nashville is among the tallest ICF building with weight-bearing walls in the U.S.
Project Statistics
Name: Drury Plaza Hotel
Type: Hospitality
Location: 1874 McEwen Dr., Franklin, Tenn.
Height: 130 feet (8 stories)
Year Completed: 2011
Form Used: Amvic
Drury Plaza Hotel
Tallest ICF Walls
(Without Intermediate Floors)
The ICF walls of this Texas church rise 70 feet above the footers without intermediate floors. It is the tallest freestanding ICF wall known, although it is buttressed by other walls for a significant portion of the height.
Trinity United Church
Project Statistics
Name: Trinity United Methodist Church
Type: Worship Facility
Location: 1200 W Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington, TX
Height: 70 feet
Year Completed: 2012
Form Used: Nudura
General Contractor: FPI Builders
AME Red-E-Mix, Inc.
This is the only project from the 2007 listing that is included in this updated listing. Unlike the church, this storage silo is completely freestanding.
Project Statistics
Name: AME Red-E-Mix, Inc.
Type: Concrete Batch Plant
Location: Buffalo, Minn.
Height: 62′ 8″
Year Completed: 2006
Form Used: Arxx
Largest ICF Buildings
(Amount of ICF Used)
Ten years ago, the largest ICF building was a 20-screen megaplex in Utah that used 35,000 blocks (210,000 sq. ft.). That’s still a lofty benchmark, although a few commercial projects using 150,000 sq. ft. or more are built every year. The largest known projects, measured on the basis of the square footage of ICF used, include South Warren High School and Middle School in Kentucky (299,787 sq. ft. of ICF walls), and the Texas Tech University Dormitories in Lubbock, Texas, which used 244,000 sq. ft of ICFs.
Project Statistics
Name: South Warren High School and Middle School
Type: Public Middle School and High School
Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky
ICF Use: 299,787 sq. ft.
Year Completed: 2010
Form Used: Nudura
South Warren School
Texas Tech University
Project Statistics
Name: Texas Tech University Dormitories
Type: Student Housing
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Year Completed: 2015
ICF Use: 244,000 sq. ft.
Form Used: Fox Blocks
Largest ICF Development
(Amount of ICF Used)
The largest ICF projects in North America pale in comparison to the massive all-ICF Shershni community in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. Built over a period of three years, it reportedly used 1.5 million sq. ft. of ICF.
Project Statistics
Name: Shershni Community
Type: Planned Residential and Multifamily
Location: Chelyabinsk, Russia
ICF Use: 1,511,800
Year Completed: 2009
Form Used: Amvic
Shershni Community
