Steamboat Springs faces a familiar constraint: delivering affordable housing in a high-demand mountain market with limited available land. Along the Yampa River, the 4.75-acre Riverview Steamboat development responds with a mix of residential types, including single-family, multi-family, and mixed-use buildings. Designed by Gorman & Company with Deneuve Construction as the General Contractor, the project demonstrates how precast systems can support multi-family housing in meeting performance, schedule, and architectural expectations.
AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM
EnCon United provided precast manufacturing and construction services for Building B and Building E, representing approximately 106,000 SF and six stories of residential development. Both buildings utilize a podium configuration with one to two levels of precast construction supporting wood-framed residential floors above.
The precast system includes:
• Insulated wall panels
• Double tees, beams, and columns
• Hollow core plank
• Flat slab plank
• Stair and elevator shafts
As a coordinated system of structural, architectural, and enclosure elements, precast provided the capacity and flexibility required for the project—supporting open parking layouts at the lower levels, accommodating stacked residential loads above, and enabling setbacks and balcony features.
EXPRESSING LOCAL CHARACTER
Precast enabled the project to meet local architectural expectations without sacrificing efficiency. Wall panels were fabricated with a board finish-form liner to replicate the appearance of weathered wood siding. This finish was developed through early coordination with the design team, including pre-production mockups at the plant and verification through field mockups. The result is a durable enclosure system that delivers the intended aesthetic with reduced maintenance needs.
Precast/prestressed structural systems can also support significant suspended MEP infrastructure, crane systems, process piping, and other concentrated loads common in industrial environments. Concrete’s inherent mass helps mitigate vibration from heavy equipment and mechanical systems, while its impact resistance provides durability in facilities with forklift traffic, service vehicles, loading operations, and daily industrial wear.
Built for the Mountains
Construction in Steamboat Springs introduced constraints related to climate, access, and site conditions. Insulated panels addressed thermal performance requirements, while prefabrication reduced exposure to weather-related delays. Precast components were fabricated off-site concurrent with early site work, allowing structural erection to begin as soon as foundations were ready. This approach mitigates the impact of winter conditions, which can significantly affect cast-in-place operations in mountain environments.
Transportation and erection planning, including a special drop lot and 3-day lookahead coordination between field teams and production teams, accounted for mountain access and limited staging areas. Field conditions, including adjacent construction and geotechnical considerations, required coordinated sequencing and erection strategies to maintain safety and progress. Erection was performed from within the building footprint, with controlled crane access and temporary ramping supported by crane mats to meet soil bearing limitations.
Performance Beyond Promise
In a constrained downtown site with limited access, active adjacent construction, and the added complexity of mountain logistics, Riverview required a construction approach that could be precisely planned, sequenced, and executed. Precast made that possible by leveraging off-site fabrication, reducing on-site congestion, and limiting the work area. At the same time, it supported the architectural requirements of the project without introducing additional trades or extending the schedule.
Projects like Riverview are becoming more common in high-demand, land-constrained markets. This project shows that when site conditions, density, and schedule pressures converge, a total precast approach can provide a clear and practical path forward.