Architectural students and faculty from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, tapped the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) to create a tilt-up memorial to student Eric Goodwin, a class of 2002 student who passed away during his final year of study at the School of Architecture.

Designed to provide outdoor classroom space, the Eric Goodwin Passage is located across from Campbell Hall — the building that houses the School of Architecture. Comprised of two site-cast tilt-up panels, there is passage space between the two walls. The passage space is aligned with a tree memorializing Carlo Pelliccia, an admired professor at the school. One of the walls is vertical and the other is slightly tilted with braces.

“This project was a wonderful collaboration of students and faculty working together to create a much-needed outdoor space that could honor the memory of one of our fine students,” says Karen Van Lengen, Dean of the School of Architecture. “Eric Goodwin was a student that loved construction, and this project, which so inventively demonstrates tilt slab construction, is not only a tribute to him but will effectively serve the school in giving us access to our beautiful landscape.”

“This was an outstanding project, expertly facilitated by Gus Lorber of [Charlottesville-based] Allied Concrete Inc., to introduce the tilt-up concept to students in the University of Virginia Architecture School,” says Peter Easter, executive director of the Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, one of the sponsors of the Memorial.

“We are extremely proud that the students and faculty of the University of Virginia chose tilt-up as the construction method,” adds Ed Sauter, executive director of TCA. “During its history, tilt-up has been used for a variety of structures, but this one will certainly stand out.”

“As an industry, members of the tilt-up community need to reach out to students to educate them about the benefits of the method,” remarks Glen Stephens, president of Stephens, Aylward & Associates and an architectural advisor to the project. “The memorial demonstrates the architectural expression afforded through the use of tilt-up.”

The project was made possible through contributions made to the Eric Goodwin Memorial Fund, the Bruce Ford Brown Charitable Trust to support faculty and student design-build projects at Campbell Hall, and through the ready mix and forming accessory donations of Allied Concrete and the Dayton Superior Educational Fund. In addition, reinforcing steel was provided gratis through an arrangement by Dayton Superior Corp. with its local dealer.

The Memorial was dedicated Sept. 27 at a ceremony attended by the Goodwin family, representatives of the Class of 2002, Dean Van Lengen, Professor Peter Waldman, the academic advisor for the project, and first-year architecture graduate student Justin Walton, as well as members of the tilt-up industry.