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Tectura Designs was tapped for its unique ability to create complex molds and produce thousands of pieces of custom concrete.    
Nearly a decade of planning. Countless meetings convening industry experts hailing from myriad fields. Detailed handiwork from some of the world's most skilled craftsmen at Tectura Designs – which delivered 2 million of pounds of concrete, meticulously shaped using complex molds.
These were just a few pieces of the complicated puzzle that were required to execute a complete reimagining of one of Cleveland's most prominent spaces – a project that is poised to set the bar for other major urban projects across America and beyond. Cleveland Public Square was previously a series of distinct quadrants that lacked cohesion. The design challenge: Transform the 10-acre space into a unified space that makes the city's urban core greener, and exceptionally walkable and liveable for a fast-growing population of downtown dwellers. The feat would require reorganizing streets, overhauling major sections of land – and, perhaps most critical, adding unique custom precast concrete creations from Tectura Designs. Leading the charge was James Corner Field Operations, the designing landscape architecture firm. Known for some of the world's most high-profile and iconic public projects – from New York's Highline to Chicago's Navy Pier – James Corner brought a unique pedigree and perspective to the challenging Cleveland Public Square effort. And a cornerstone of their design involved custom concrete that would tie the whole project together. James Corner tapped Tectura Designs, a Wausau Tile Inc. brand, for the company's 60-plus year heritage of creating complex concrete projects and an array of unique architectural products. Having worked on prominent projects from the Guggenheim to Times Square, Tectura brought not only a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, but also a unique ability to handle the sheer scope of the project. Tectura is known for its expansive custom concrete capabilities – from stunning streetscapes to cascading stairs to contoured curbing and much more. Cleveland Public Square's design required the creation of hundreds of unique molds, in order to ensure that all of the various pieces would seamlessly fit together. It required making 20,000-pound pieces that were cast in unique shapes from molds that were designed by skilled craftsmen, employing special mixes that incorporated highly graded aggregates, pigments, and admixtures. In the end, the massive project incorporated 1,200 pieces of concrete clocking in at north of 2 million pounds. In other words, Tectura was not selected only for its ability to create such distinctive and detailed pieces – but because the company could do it flawlessly, hundreds and hundreds of times over. "Drawing from decades of experience in creating some of the world's most complex custom concrete products, we approached Cleveland Public Square's unique challenge – and its massive scope – with excitement," says Justin Plunkett of Tectura Designs. "We collaborated with so many exceptional partners, including James Corner Field Operations, estimating firm AEcom and many more help bring this groundbreaking project to life, to be enjoyed by Cleveland residents and visitors for generations to come." To raise the stakes even further, the project was on a firm deadline and would be thrust into the national spotlight as soon as it was completed: the Republican National Convention – and all the press, cameras and visitors it entails – would descend on Cleveland in July. The dramatic project was completed on time and met with rave reviews from journalists, visitors and residents. But if the RNC was Cleveland Public Square's big debut, it's the park's future that is most exciting, promising beautiful settings for people, programming and diverse activities for all of Cleveland's current and future residents and visitors.  Widget is loading comments...
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