2023 Texas Masonry Council Golden Trowel Honorable Mention Award Hardscape/Landscape

>>> Developed as a part of the “Bryan Midtown Park” master plan by the city of Bryan, Travis Fields serves as a little league center for both baseball and softball in central Texas.  This project is a complete reconstruction of the fields that once occupied the site.  The new park consists of three ball fields, eight full size batting cages, covered viewing areas, restrooms, a concession stand and a playground. 

The use of structural clay brick which combines the allure and strength of fire clay units with larger core holes that can accept reinforcing and the use of special sizes, shapes and corners makes the design of this park unique.  Shop drawings were required for every type/size of brick, as well as for the reinforcing steel since many of the walls are load bearing.  The planters and seat walls are installed on a radius and topped with radiused precast caps which provides additional seating for families and visitors.  The reconstruction of Travis Fields changed the landscape of baseball and softball in the area and the fields, along with the surrounding park, provide residents with an attractive local recreational destination.

The Travis Fields project utilizes structural brick which combines the allure and strength of fire clay units with larger core holes that can accept reinforcing.  Since the use of structural brick is uncommon in the masonry industry, multiple coordination conversations were held with the brick supplier during the pre-construction stage to ensure every unit was figured the way the architect envisioned.  Shop drawings were created and submitted for every type of brick, consisting of: 8” x 4” x 16”, 4” x 4” x 16”, 6” x 4” x 16”and the special corner pieces, and for the sills for the top of the walls.  Given the nature of the brick, we followed similar installation procedures as those typically used on a CMU project.  Rebar shop drawings were generated, focusing on detailing for the load bearing walls.  Some of the design features called for extra attention to detail.  In several areas 2 or 3 sides of a wall would be exposed, therefore, great care was taken when laying the brick.  In addition, the walls had to be laid out with great precision in order to align with several exposed steel embed knife plates that were designed to support the roof systems.  Weathered bed joints, in lieu of concave joints, were specified to help with water flow.  This project called for a quarter running bond pattern, which brought its own share of additional challenges.  Special corners had to be purchased which required additional cutting and grouting of to the cells.  Finally, the planters and seat walls are all on radius and topped with 250 LF of 3” thick by 1’ 6” wide precast caps from an out-of-state supplier, which required additional coordination.