News » RSI Celebrates 3rd Year Anniversary of New Dali Museum

“...we were worried about using architectural concrete for the design of the new Dali Museum. RSI did an extraordinary job and we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. We are all very proud of the way the museum turned out, thanks in large part to RSI.”—Yann Weymouth AIA Director of design Florida HOK

The new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg opened on January 11, 2011, providing an architecturally unique building to house the renowned artist’s work. The vision for the new museum was to create a building that reflected Dali’s style both inside and out, and RSI played an integral role in accomplishing that vision by handling the concrete work for the project, a $30 million, 66,400-square-foot structure.

Internationally renowned architect Yann Weymouth with HOK’s Tampa office designed the new museum in collaboration with the Tampa office of Walter P. Moore as structural engineer. Weymouth’s design included the use of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) – the first building in Florida to use cast-in-place SCC as an exposed architectural concrete finish.  SCC is a typical concrete mix doused with admixtures to make the mix highly flowable. 

A few elements of the Dali Museum’s construction made SCC the best choice for the project. For one, the museum design included unique openings in the walls and heavy rebar congestion; SCC can easily flow under and around openings in formwork and through intricate rebar. The architect also wanted a smooth finish and sharp corners with no chamfers; SCC’s lack of bug holes and smooth texture after the forms have been removed leaves a pristine architectural finish. To accommodate these challenges, RSI worked very closely with the design team to ensure their vision, and the end result was beautiful, smooth and seamless walls.

The building was designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. It has 18-inch thick concrete walls, was built with 10,000 yards of concrete, and includes 1,000 tons of reinforcing steel. Building strengths were measured at more than 7,500 psi.

A major focal point of the new Dali Museum is a 56-foot-high spiral concrete staircase that starts in the building’s first floor lobby, carries visitors to the third-floor atrium, and winds upward into a taper toward the top of the building’s glass atrium. The base of the staircase has a 22-foot diameter. The wall of the spiral is 1 foot thick and the staircase is 5 feet deep. After the staircase reaches the third floor where the stairs end, the wall tapers to 8 inches wide.

RSI’s efforts paid off by having the opportunity to be part of the construction of a landmark building, which was awarded the Associated Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Project of the Year 2011.

“A lot of teamwork went into this building,” says RSI president Steve Whitley. “When we got this job we picked an A-Team, from the concrete supplier to the formwork supplier to the reinforcing supplier. Along with the structural engineer, general contractor and architect, we were all involved in planning. It was an interesting job and everyone was involved in making the project a success.”