2005 Excellence in Construction Award Winner
This $1.8 Million project includes combining the complete renovation of three pole buildings with the addition of connecting building sections and warehouse into one new 500’ long, 44,000 square foot, state-of-the-art motorcycle retailing, service, parts and training center.
The project had challenges before the first stone was turned. Miller, Miller & McLachlan was the low bid General Contractor on the project working under an out of state Construction Manager that took over the design responsibility for the project and also maintained responsibility for the site work, spray insulation, mechanical, plumbing and electrical prime contractors. Initially the project came in over budget and Miller, Miller & McLachlan offered 21 value engineering options totaling over $280,000, most of which were integrated into the project. The project may not have been constructed without these cost savings measures.
The challenge continued with the foundation excavation because the buildings were constructed on solid rock subgrade that in most case had to be removed with hammer excavation. The rock removal for the storm water and sewage systems was done by blasting the rock.
Tying three separate pole buildings into one building was also a challenge. The pole buildings were not constructed with the forethought that they would ever be connected together. The elevations of the buildings were different and were constructed without normal running foundations or the loading criteria necessary for the new use. Therefore many field corrections had to be made during the construction process to add additional beams, trusses and foundations.
The project included adding stud walls within the post and beam construction or removing and replacing the exterior walls and over framing the majority of the roofs. It would have been easier to tear down the buildings and start again. The majority of the roofing was changed from screw down metal roof panels to a glue down rubber roof systems. The majority of the exterior walls were changed from screw applied metal siding to a new EIFS system with integrated architectural features, columns and signage.
The entire interior was renovated to include a new customer lounge, employee lounge, ADA compliant toilets, offices, retailing spaces, parts department, service center, service staging area, receiving, warehousing and training areas. The focal feature of the building is the centrally located 48 foot tall customer lounge with a stepped interior drywall vaulted ceiling, large glass walls, standing seam roof and large exterior clock. The drywall interior work also included several round and shaped drywall components.
All the existing concrete floors had to be fixed to allow for the installation of the ceramic floor tile over concrete slabs which had a low level of finish and no crack control. Other flooring included new carpet in the offices and training areas and epoxy floor systems in the bathrooms, service staging and service areas. The service area includes new and relocated jib cranes and an interior wash bay.
To add further challenge to the project, the client had to maintain the safe, daily use of the full functioning motorcycle retailing and service operation throughout the entire construction process. This necessitated the project being done in several phases. The first phase was to construct a new warehouse space, receiving and service areas to the rear of the project and make these areas fully operational before beginning the second phase. The second phase included additions behind and renovations of the existing pole barn warehouse into the new Harley Davidson retail center and addition of the connecting Customer Lounge. This phase had to be fully functional before beginning phase 3.
Phase 3 was the renovation of the existing pole building retail area into the new retail center for Kawasaki and Yamaha Motorcycles. Phase 3 also included the renovation of the existing dyno area, service bays and part storage into the new parts department. This included the complete gutting and removing 16’ of the north end of the building to allow for the construction of the new angled entrance to this retailing section.
The project when completed hid any semblance of the original pole buildings. The project was the largest motorcycle retail / service facility under one roof in the State of Pennsylvania.