ICFs And The Silver Screen Mike Schwab admits he's a theater-type. Well, more like an ICF-theater type. Since the insulating concrete form (ICF) distributor started specializing in theater walls three years ago, he has built three theater complexes and is currently designing several more. Just last year, two of his projects opened for business -Jordan Commons, a 17 -screen theater in Salt Lake City, UT, and the Desert Star Cinema, a 10-screen complex in Wisconsin Dells, WI. Schwab, president of RTAS, LLC, finds the market very receptive to these sturdy soundproof walls because they offer speed and labor/cost savings. He uses his Desert Star Cinema project to illustrate the point. His contractor, Building Construction, Inc., Middleton, WI, was building a 14-screen movie theater in Madison using concrete block at the same time. Desert Star Cinema with its 88,000 sq ft wall area required 6,789 man hours, while Madison's 118,000 sq ft wall area required over 15,000 man hours. "The Madison project had more than double the amount of man hours to cover an extra 30% of wall area," says Schwab.

THEATER MAKER: schwab, shown above in front of Jordan Commons, a 17-screen theater in Salt Lake City, UT, finds the market very receptive to sturdy ICF soundproof walls because they offer speed and labor/cost savings. The Desert Star Cinema, a 10- screen complex in Wisconsin Dells, WI, shown at left, is another schwab project.

On top of that, construction of Desert Star Cinema began two months behind the Madison project with just five installers, compared to ten installers on the Madison project. And still Desert Star Cinema opened one month ahead of the Madison project. "We did the math and found that our wall system comes in at $1.71 less per square foot than CMU construction," he says.

Jordan Commons also proved to be a quick install. "When we originally bid, I estimated a
25-man install crew," recalls Schwab. "They actually installed it with seven." General contractor, Sahara Inc., West Bountiful, UT, found that the ICF blocks installed so quickly that, at times, the footing and foundation subcontractors had to work hard to keep in front of the ICF installers. The 136,000 sf Jordan Commons has 17 theatres, including one 70 mm screen. The structure includes a large food court, concession area and arcade room.

Theater walls are traditionally built with 8" to 12" thick concrete block. Masons stack up the block, fill it with concrete, then put a resilient channel or stud wall next to it for sheetrock. Another method uses a 2x6 double metal stud wall with an air gap in the center filled with insulation, and faced with seven layers of drywall- three layers on one side and four layers on the other.

For these theater walls, Schwab used a tongue-and-groove ICF block measuring 48" long, 12" tall and 13 " wide with an 8" solid concrete core. A metal fastener em- bedded into the foam every 8" on center holds the block together during the pour. Builders then attach the sheetrock to the fastener. Schwab developed his own brac- ing designs to keep the walls straight. He also has to ensure that the walls meet movie theater standards for blocking the loud sounds produced by today's digital sound systems.

"We did sound testing at the Riverbank Laboratories in Chicago," Schwab explains. "We've done all types of testing and come up with different types of systems using ICFs to block out these sounds."
The biggest mid-stream challenge was the block masons' unfamiliarity with the system. Masons typically stack up about 4' of wall at a time, fill it with concrete, and use bracing only for openings. "They wanted to come in and do the same thing with mine, and I said 'No!"' says Schwab. "I had to convince them that this is not a concrete block, it's a concrete form. It needs to be braced."
When the projects were completed, Schwab wondered how his general contractors felt about working with this ICF system. He happily reports that they are interested in working with it again. Any time they try a new system, there's a chance they're not going to make money. It's the
unknown", he says. "But once they try it out, they're impressed."

Article reprinted from Permanent Buildings and Foundations, The Business Newsmagazine For The Concrete Building, May 15, 2000