Looks that thrill

Rockstar Energy Drink Bike Park is more than just an exciting opportunity for BMX racing in this Houston community. The largest BMX park in the country, it is an investment in the economically suppressed Greater Greenspoint neighborhood. It represents a promise for more economic development for the underserved population. It is a sign of better things to come for the region and its residents.

For his part, architect Brett Zamore and his team at Brett Zamore Design sought to deliver beautiful and functional design when he was brought on to create three buildings on the 23-acre site. He relied on Versa-Dek® long-span composite floor and acoustical roof deck systems to help realize his vision.

Brett Zamore Design was responsible for the $25 million park’s 2,500-square-foot Welcome Center; a BMX Center that features a classroom, office space, concessions area and restrooms; and the BMX Events Center with a second-floor observation deck. Versa-Dek® S Acoustical roof deck was used on all three buildings. Versa-Dek® S long-span composite was used to separate floors in the two-story events center.

Brett Zamore Design was challenged with creating a common aesthetic in three buildings that serve very disparate purposes. Zamore found the solution in the New Millennium Building Systems Versa-Dek® family of products.

“The New Millennium product really caught our eye. It’s unique,” says Zamore, who started his architecture firm in 2007. “We wanted to bring in a character that the product offered, and it tied well to the architecture. It was something we utilized through all buildings; there's a consistency. It helps create a backbone, in a sense, from one building to the next and continues a strong architectural language throughout."

“We felt that this added value to the project, not just short-term, but long-term.”

The Versa-Dek® S Acoustical roof deck sits on wood or wide-flange beams arranged to create a 10-foot-by-10-foot grid system. The Versa-Dek® dovetail design gives the roof deck a lineal, plank-like appearance to match the beams. Zamore liked how the exposed Versa-Dek® roof deck was “beautiful” yet felt at home in an extreme sports facility.

“At the BMX racing facility, we wanted to express the rawness of the material, which connects to the BMX culture,” he says. “The New Millennium product was a perfect fit for us.”

Versa-Dek® does more than unify the ceiling appearance of the three buildings. It also matches the buildings’ corrugated exterior cladding.

“One of the things that was important in the architecture was carrying the same systems from one building to the other,” Zamore says. “All three buildings integrate everything from the Versa-Dek® to utilizing the same exterior and finishes and details and incorporating a similar structural language.”

Rockstar Energy Drink Bike Park is in a floodplain, adjacent to the North Fork of the Greens Bayou. OJB Landscape Architecture planted 400 trees on the property during nearly four years of construction and preserved another 400. Eventually, the foliage will shade park users from the Texas heat. Nearby trails link the bike park to the 150-mile Bayou Greenway trail system.

Brett Zamore Design’s three buildings feature open interior spaces with unobstructed views of the natural landscape as well as track activities. Versa-Dek® S Acoustical allowed him to accomplish his goals in two ways. The Versa-Dek® 2-inch roof deck profile is the shallowest available, enabling Zamore to increase ceiling height, and the Versa-Wedge™ hanger system allowed utilities to be suspended from the ceiling, eliminating the need for larger mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) support systems.

“We needed to figure out how to increase the height of the ceiling in order to bring in more natural light within that space. By using Versa-Dek®, we were able to avoid using drop ceilings with closed plenum,” Zamore says. “We could have incorporated a standard drop ceiling, but exposing the buildings’ vital systems and increasing the volume of space created buildings with a life and beauty that express the buildings clearly.”

Although Brett Zamore Design’s three buildings at Rockstar Energy Drink Bike Park serve vastly different purposes, they all required noise reduction.

“Most of the spaces are open,” Zamore says. “There's a lot of sound vibration from concrete floors, sheetrock walls, and we needed a way to reduce acoustics. The perforated acoustical Versa-Dek® was a perfect solution to helping with our acoustical concerns.”

Versa-Dek® S Acoustical reaches noise reduction coefficients of .90 to 1.15. It features perforations that allow sound to pass into the deck’s flutes, which are filled with fiberglass acoustic insulation atop a plastic lath.

“This was a unique application,” Therien says. “Typically, acoustical deck is reserved for interior, conditioned environments. Due to exterior covered areas requiring noise control, it presented a situation where areas of Versa-Dek® Acoustical are exposed to the ambient air. New Millennium recommended encapsulating the acoustical elements in clear plastic, a means to address Houston’s extreme temperature fluctuations and stifling summer humidity. Far from experimental, this is the standard practice for indoor pool design.”

It proved particularly beneficial in the BMX building. It has classroom and office space that necessitated noise reduction. Local schools will use the educational space for STEM programs that teach children how to build BMX tracks.

The bike park celebrated its grand opening in August. It already has played host to state and national championships events, and the final 2020 Olympics qualifying race takes place there in May 2020.

Rockstar Energy Drink Bike Park isn’t reserved for professionals, however. Besides the park’s BMX racing track, the biking facilities are free and open to the public. There’s also a community gathering area on the grounds and plans for educational programs such as bike maintenance classes to bring residents together.