This ACI (American Concrete Institute) award winning three level, mixed-use project is centrally located in North Orange County.  It merges modernistic urban design with diverse uses such shopping, dining, entertainment, health club, hotel, and office space.  Strategically located at the corner of the second most trafficked intersection in North Orange County minutes away from Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Medieval Times, and Angel Stadium, The Source at Beach promises to be a dynamic and exciting place to visit for 43 million tourists who visit Orange County annually.

The original paving design for The Source at Beach consisted entirely of mortar-set precast concrete pavers laid in a running bond pattern.  Due to budget and construction timing constraints, an alternative to concrete pavers was actively pursued.  Cast-in-place concrete paving was finally selected as the paving material.  Several different concrete finishes were then reviewed and mock-ups prepared.  After extensive review and cost analysis, the Owner settled on simple broom-finished concrete paving, albeit, with a slight twist on its installation so that it would appear more than just standard broom-finished concrete paving.  This “twist” was created by chemical staining random concrete panels with white or gray colors.  Thois randomness of stained panels contributed to the “modernistic” theme of the overall project.  The challenge presented to J&M, however, was how to provide the Owner with basic broom-finished concrete paving but still result in an attractive, slip resistant, low maintenance, and durable walking surface.  J&M succeeded in this endeavor by implementing the following procedures:

• Careful and consistent attention was given to each concrete pour in terms of concrete mix design, broom finish direction and broom texture consistency.
• 3/16″ wide contraction joints were beautifully sawcut in a small 5-foot square grid to minimize random slab cracking and to humanize the scale of 137,000 SF of concrete paving.  Cutting 3/16” wide contraction joints instead of standard 1/8” wide contraction joints was chosen to accentuate the joints appearance and as a design statement.
• Eliminate the installation of the typical and very unsightly open-field caulked expansion joints in order to provide a clean, consistent, and decorative joint appearance.  Caulked expansion joints, or more appropriately called “caulked isolation joints” were installed only at vertical elements such as building walls, columns, and steps.
• Carefully stained random paving modules with white and dark gray water-based stains throughout the first level to compliment the modernistic storefronts.
• Incorporating a shrinkage reducing admixture in a concrete mix containing a low water/cement ratio in an effort to minimize slab shrinkage and related random slab cracking.

The broom-finished concrete paving installed at The Source at Beach resulted in an award-winning  paving design that was low in cost, high in durability and slip resistance and was aesthetically pleasing.  Who says broom-finished concrete paving is boring!