Alchemy Concrete, Inc., of Nelsonville recently received a pair of design awards from the Wisconsin Ready-Mixed Concrete Association.

The company received first place in the North Central Region’s Decorative Commercial category for its work on a courtyard at the Berard Center at the Boys & Girls Club in Stevens Point.

In its nomination submission, Alchemy wrote, “The Boys & Girls Club wanted a space intended for active and passive uses for multiple age groups. Challenges on the job site included access to the site from a major street on the open side of the courtyard which made it difficult to plan around morning and afternoon traffic volumes. The site was also bounded by a junior high school and the parks department with the police station nearby.”

Alchemy Director of Design Tom Dunbar said, “The use of ready-mixed concrete provided the color, texture, utility, and sustainability to create a space for kids that offers gardening, chess, checkers, hopscotch, four square, and gaga ball, as well as space for table games, small group gatherings, and the ability to sit and watch away from the activity.”

Alchemy also captured a first-place statewide award in the Decorative Residential category for “The Retreat,” a home near Mosinee.

The award application read, in part, “The customer wanted to replace and improve a 1980s landscape consisting of concrete pavers and wood-timber retaining walls into a more sustainable, maintainable, up-to-date space. This required re-engineering to accommodate new materials, particularly related to improving site grading, drainage, and pedestrian movement.

“The fundamental challenges were: 1) staging and construction sequencing that required vehicular and pedestrian access to the home throughout a construction process that surrounded and isolated the house and 2) site excavation, preparation, and construction access in a very tight wooded condition with large boulders that could only be reduced in size, not removed.”

Dunbar said, “The framework for aesthetics revolved around creating a design that honored the 1980s concrete paver and wood timber aesthetic while transforming it, using the color and texture that ready-mix concrete offers, into an elegant, warmer, robust, and more intimate visual context.”

Alchemy Concrete Owner Judah Haas said, “We feel very blessed to be surrounded by incredible team members and community! We are thankful for everyone who made this all possible.”

Alchemy Concrete’s award-winning work included decorative commercial work for the Stevens Point Boys & Girls Club and decorative residential work for a home near Mosinee.