256 feet up, the final structural details are complete on the JW Marriott’s roof and helicopter pad. At peak construction, Granger Construction crews poured one floor every five days.
“Our goal was a floor every seven days,” said Mike Gnewkowski, project manager with Rockford Construction. “It was pretty exciting to beat that goal.”
The crews planned a learning curve into the construction schedule, and by the time they had poured the 12th floor they had reached an efficiency level that resulted in the five-day turnaround. Over 57,000 cubic feet of concrete was poured. What’s more, even though 185 employees were on site every day since the groundbreaking, there were no major injuries.
Every floor is encased in a glass curtain wall that creates the $7 million west wall of the hotel’s atrium, overlooking the Grand River. Antamex International creates the glass panels in a shop outside of Toronto.
“They just snap into place,” Gnewkowski said. “When guests stand in the lobby and look up, they’ll be able to see all the way to the 24th floor.”
The hotel will feature 337,000 square feet of space, 340 rooms, a restaurant, a ballroom, and a hotel conference center.
Completion is on schedule for Fall 2007.
Source: Mike Gnewkowski, Rockford Construction; Alticor
Photographs courtesy of Rockford Construction
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