As modern agricultural equipment continues to get larger and more sophisticated, the buildings that sell and service those massive earthmovers must do the same.
That’s why High Plains Equipment, an independent Case IH dealership in Devils Lake, N.D., decided to replace its existing cramped quarters with a spacious, state-of-the-art metal building.
“We needed to do this for our customers. It’s as simple as that,” says John Swenseth, the company’s owner/operator.
The new space—a 38,117-sf facility with a 7,950-sf second-level mezzanine—is three times the size of the former building, improving the dealership’s ability to serve its growing customer base.
Situated on a 22-acre site along U.S. Highway 2, the new building replaces the dealership’s existing 12,000-sf building located on a much less visible site.
“Now we get people stopping in here who didn’t even realize there was a Case IH dealer in town,” Swenseth says.
The project’s three buildings include a symmetrically gabled structure and two lean-to buildings, each braced by the gabled structure.
The facility’s large clear span enabled the installation of a dozen 25-foot service bays, twice as many and twice as large as in the previous facility.
The main structure also houses two 5-ton bridge cranes, each extending 175 feet and spanning 35 feet.
“The overhead cranes are making life easier and less strenuous for our technicians,” Swenseth says. “With more shop space, we’re able to hire more technicians and they can work inside instead of outside in the mud.”
Because technicians now have the space to work on more than one job at a time, productivity has been boosted. And the facility’s three overhead doors and dedicated wash bay contribute to improved operational efficiency.
“This is a very nice technical shop,” says Mike Dunn, business development manager of Construction Engineers Ltd., the Star builder in Grand Fork, N.D. “It includes floor heat and an air-conditioning system to keep the technicians comfortable year-round.”
The new facility also includes an expanded merchandise and display area as well as an indoor expo room and kitchen for hosting customer training clinics and community events.
“It’s a good experience for customers when they come in,” Swenseth says. “It’s big and open and clean and modern. They appreciate that.”
A fast-track, design-build construction schedule enabled the building team to complete the project in about eight months.
“We assembled a lot of the frames and the roof structure on the ground, and brought a crane onsite to lift larger portions of it into place to save time and increase safety on the project,” Dunn says. “We were able to take advantage of the short building season and meet the owner’s timeline to complete the building in time for the spring selling and service season.”
Related Stories
| Jan 12, 2015
23 projects win AIA's highest architecture award
Bjarke Ingels' Danish Maritime Museum and William Rawn's Cambridge Public Library are among the winning projects.
| Jan 9, 2015
Santiago Calatrava talks with BBC about St. Nicholas Church on Ground Zero
Calatrava reveals that he wanted to retain the “tiny home” feel of the original church building that was destroyed with the twin towers on 9/11.
| Jan 9, 2015
Nonresidential construction hiring surges in December 2014
The U.S. construction industry added 48,000 jobs in December, including 22,800 jobs in nonresidential construction, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate released Jan. 9.
| Jan 9, 2015
10 surprising lessons Perkins+Will has learned about workplace projects
P+W's Janice Barnes shares some of most unexpected lessons from her firm's work on office design projects, including the importance of post-occupancy evaluations and having a cohesive transition strategy for workers.
| Jan 9, 2015
Technology and media tenants, not financial companies, fill up One World Trade Center
The financial sector has almost no presence in the new tower, with creative and media companies, such as magazine publisher Conde Nast, dominating the vast majority of leased space.
| Jan 8, 2015
Microsoft shutters classic clipart gallery: Reaction from a graphic designer
Microsoft shut down its tried-and-true clipart gallery, ridding the world not only of a trope of graphic design, but a nostalgic piece of digital design history, writes HDR's Dylan Coonrad.
| Jan 8, 2015
The future of alternative work spaces: open-access markets, co-working, and in-between spaces
During the past five years, people have begun to actively seek out third places not just to get a day’s work done, but to develop businesses of a new kind and establish themselves as part of a real-time conversation of diverse entrepreneurs, writes Gensler's Shawn Gehle.
Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2015
NIBS report: Small commercial buildings offer huge energy efficiency retrofit opportunities
The report identifies several barriers to investment in such retrofits, such as the costs and complexity associated with relatively small loan sizes, and issues many small-building owners have in understanding and trusting predicted retrofit outcomes.
| Jan 7, 2015
University of Chicago releases proposed sites for Obama library bid
There are two proposed sites for the plan, both owned by the Chicago Park District in Chicago’s South Side, near the university’s campus in Hyde Park, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
| Jan 7, 2015
4 audacious projects that could transform Houston
Converting the Astrodome to an urban farm and public park is one of the proposals on the table in Houston, according to news site Houston CultureMap.