CEMEX Takes San Francisco Residents to New Heights

November 7, 2016

High demand for homes spurred the construction of the beautiful Lumina high-rise development in a once-industrial neighborhood.

San Francisco, California is home to more than 800,000 residents in less than 50 square miles, with more arriving every year. In order to meet the growing demand for homes, high-rise developments are transforming the skyline of the Rincon Hill neighborhood where warehouses once stood. CEMEX recently contributed to one of the most eye-catching examples.

The Lumina is a four-building complex with 655 high-end residential units and retail space. Two nine-story mid-rises connect a 43-story tower to a 38-story tower on a footprint of 75,000 square-feet (almost 7,000 square meters). Built as the city’s economy recovered, Lumina helped spark interest in revitalizing a neighborhood now home to several modern apartment buildings.

The demanding schedule called for completing a level in a three-day cycle. This meant within 72 hours, CEMEX trucks poured the deck and all vertical space, and then repeated the process the following day. All-in-all, CEMEX trucked in 100,000 cubic yards (almost 76,500 cubic meters) of concrete in just over a year.

Jeff King, CEMEX's Senior Territory Manager for the San Francisco Bay Area, “To meet the tight schedule, CEMEX used several specialty mixes – mostly accelerators so the deck cycles could complete on time and superplasticizers to get our mixes to the top of the 43rd floor.”

Adding to the challenge, a dense city like San Francisco can make the five-mile (8 kilometer) drive from the closest concrete plant take 45 minutes. To keep the project on schedule, concrete was delivered from plants 20 miles (30 kilometers) away during light traffic.

“CEMEX was invaluable in providing us the service we needed and prioritizing the schedule,” said Webcor Project Manager James Shimamoto, our client on this project. “They opened their Oakland plant when necessary, stayed late and worked on weekends. The fact that we were able to build these structures on schedule using one concrete supplier is pretty impressive to me.”

As King put it, “Our relationship with Webcor is not just vendor and contractor, it’s more than that…it’s the type of teamwork that you need to build a structure like Lumina.”

The result: a jewel in a once-forgotten corner of the city. Architect firms Arquitectonica & Heller Manus wove in incredible detail, including private balconies with views of the nearby bay and a 70-foot (more than 21-meter) lap pool in the fitness center.

“CEMEX has been instrumental in helping us design mixes that work with our fast-cycle schedules and construction needs,” Shimamoto said. “A lot of this neighborhood, and even this city, is here because of Webcor Concrete and CEMEX.”

“I’m extremely proud of what our Bay Area team accomplished at Lumina. This highlights how our project team and drivers can work together with our clients to solve several challenges – doing it all injury-free,” said Eric Wittmann, CEMEX President for the West USA Region. “The result is a stunning set of buildings that are transforming one of the world’s most remarkable cities.”

CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries. Celebrating its 110th anniversary, CEMEX has a rich history of improving the well-being of those it serves through innovative building solutions, efficiency advancements, and efforts to promote a sustainable future.