The design and construction coordination challenge for the Woodbury Car Wash included maintaining the capacity to wash at least 300 cars per day throughout 9 months of scheduled construction and minimizing the shut down of operations to a total of just five days. The necessity to sustain the cash flow of the existing business resulted in a design strategy that preserved the existing masonry structure while installing an independent steel frame exo-skeleton from which a second floor mechanical area was suspended. Obsolete systems and tunnel equipment were strategically phased out as the internal services were upgraded.

The relatively low cost labor force of car wash employees were put to work building out the project, supervised by 2-3 construction managers from our office to lead the more challenging installation details, particularly the channel glass and corrugated metal. We bought the glass directly from a German manufacturer and they sent a field rep to our site for three days to teach us how to cut and lay up the vertical planks of glass.