Friday, August 21, 2026 · Sparta, Wisconsin
See a formliner made, then go find it on a wall
Advanced Formliners is opening its plant to the design community for an afternoon. Lunch, an accredited session, and then the floor while it is running. You will leave knowing what a texture costs to make, which is the part nobody can tell you from a sample board.
2 LU/HSW, AIA CES, reported by PCI Illinois & Wisconsin
The afternoon
- 11:30 Registration and lunch
Sign in, eat, and meet the room before anything starts. - 12:00 Presentation
The accredited session, in a room with samples on the table. - 12:45 Plant floor
Machines, molds, the seamless liner, and thin brick, running. - 2:00 Wrap
Formal program ends. Stay as long as you want to keep looking.
The 2:00 wrap ends the formal program. Guests are welcome to stay and keep looking at whatever caught their attention.
What you will see on the floor
The machines
Formliner production from raw sheet through the finished liner, at the scale it actually runs.
Molds and pattern
How a texture becomes a tool, and what that means for the repeats and the reveals you draw.
The seamless liner
Where the seam goes when there is not supposed to be one, and what that changes on an elevation.
Thin brick
Brick set into precast in the plant, under cover, off the critical path of a masonry crew.
Getting there
Advanced Formliners
300 Sherry Lynn Lane
Sparta, WI 54656
Sparta is on I-90 in western Wisconsin, about two hours from Madison and four and a half from Chicago. Advanced Formliners is a Premier Associate of this chapter.
Before you come
Wear closed-toe shoes and long pants.
Advanced Formliners supplies safety glasses, a hi-vis vest, and hearing protection when you arrive, so there is nothing else to bring. Open shoes cannot go on the floor, and we would rather tell you now than at the door.
Registration closes Tuesday, August 18 so the host has a lunch count. The room is capped at 40.
Register
Registration for this tour has closed. Email joe@pci-iw.org to ask about a late spot, or see the events calendar for what is next.
Common questions
Is there a charge?
No. Chapter education is free to the design community, lunch included. There is no membership requirement to attend.
What credit do I get?
2 LU/HSW through AIA CES, reported by PCI of Illinois & Wisconsin on your behalf. Give us your AIA number when you register and we file it after the session. Engineers can use the same hours as PDH; we issue a certificate for your records.
What should I wear?
Closed-toe shoes and long pants. Advanced Formliners supplies safety glasses, a hi-vis vest, and hearing protection when you arrive. Leave the open shoes at home or you will be watching from the doorway.
Can I bring someone from my office?
Yes, and we need their names, not just a headcount. Everyone on the floor signs in and gets safety gear, so put each guest by name in the registration form. Anyone who wants CES credit has to register under their own name with their own AIA number.
How far is Sparta from me?
Sparta sits on I-90 in western Wisconsin, roughly two hours from Madison, three from Milwaukee, and four and a half from Chicago. If the drive is the obstacle, tell us and we will look at bringing a session to your office instead.
What if I register and cannot make it?
Email joe@pci-iw.org and we will release the spot. The room is capped at 40 and lunch is counted from the list, so a cancellation genuinely helps somebody else get in.