Wilderness Lobby Remodel
Case Study
“I wholeheartedly recommend Holtz Builders Inc. to anyone seeking a reliable, skilled, and trustworthy partner for their construction endeavors. As we look towards future projects, I have no hesitation entrusting HBI with our next construction needs.”
Tom Lucke
Owner, Wilderness Resorts & Sundara Spa
Project Scope
The Wilderness Hotel and Golf Resort chose to renovate the original lobby to include a new state of the art kitchen, bar, indoor dining, outdoor dining, candy cabin, retail and lobby along with a complete new exterior facade, including the Las Vegas style porte cochère. There were multiple projects involved including Wilderness Lobby Renovation Phase 1, Candy Cabin Remodel, and Lobby Renovation Phase 2. Holtz Builders’ success on Wilderness Lobby Renovation Phase 1 and Candy Cabin Remodel solidified their opportunity to complete Wilderness lobby Renovation Phase 2.
Type of Construction: Remodel
Size of Project: 21,000 square feet
Duration of Project: 6 Months
Project Details
Our first step in phase one was to demo the existing kitchen on the second floor and the dining area. Since the main lobby was still being utilized, we needed to build temporary walls, drywall and paint to keep a smooth transition for the guests.
It was during the candy store addition that phase two was introduced to the project team. The Wilderness team wanted the WOW factor, but we still needed to finish the interior of phase one. Part of phase one was connecting the restaurant to the new Take Flight Theater which HBI was also constructing at the same time. HBI was able to complete phase one on time which was 12-20-2020 just in time for Wilderness to use this new space for the winter holidays.
Phase two then began right out of the gate in January. We had already completed the pre-planning to make sure that everyone was on the same page. The new lobby was in location of the original indoor waterpark. Again, we needed to construct this building from the inside out. We started by removing concrete floors then pouring new frost walls to support the new glue-laminated post and beams. Our team also reframed the complete exterior to add more windows for the cabin-aesthetic Wilderness aims to resemble which is when Covid-19 hit.
The Challenges
Everything was going as planned and the guest experience was still being upheld by all of our contractors. Our team installed the footings for a new glass elevator. Then Covid-19 came into all of our lives. Face masks and social distancing was now mandated, and HBI would ensure that we slowed the spread. When the government shut down places like the Wilderness Resort, it truly hurt the morale around the project. However, now that the Wilderness was shut down HBI could start all of the exterior site work which included rerouting fiber, gas and power. We were able to do all of this work with directional boring since we had to relocate prior to excavation. Then we had our excavation company start with the removal of the old entrance and the original porta cochere which was on a hill fifteen feet up. We found bad soils rather quickly, so we undercut and filled back with the approval of the soils engineer.
Our Solution
Holtz Builders knows that planning is the key to a successful project. So, our team made sure to interview many contractors and vendors upfront and selected only those who would exceed expectations. We also utilized a lean pull planning schedule for this project to overcome the various moving items. Pull scheduling focuses on the end goal and identifies each predecessor activity in the proper sequence of events.
This proactive method had us meeting multiple times throughout the project to ensure that the even flow of work never stopped– especially with the large number of people on this project who had different working hours. It may seem like a lot of extra effort, yet when you get every trade and vendor in the same room, work is accomplished. It was great to see our team members working collaboratively towards the end goal.
We build relationships,
not just buildings.