Source: Lafarge North America, Reston, Va.
In pursuit of LEED certification and other sustainable construction goals, Seattle-based Stoneway Concrete selected Lafarge NewCem for concrete mix designs behind the city’s newest landmark—the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters. Located near the Space Needle, the Gates Foundation campus sits on about 12 acres. When the 900,000-sq.-ft. complex is completed in this spring, it will include two, six-story, V-shaped office buildings with landscaped courtyards. Campus designers hope the project will earn a LEED Gold rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The campus relies on NewCem concrete mixes to achieve high-strength, long-term durability and resource conservation. The product is a finely ground hydraulic cement produced from granulated blast furnace slag, a byproduct of the iron-making process. Engineered for long-term durability, NewCem helps achieve low permeability, increased resistance to chemical attack in concrete, greater strength potential and improved workability.