Project Summary
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Florida, is one of South Florida’s most popular entertainment complexes. Claiming the region’s largest casino at 140,000 square feet, Seminole Gaming (SG) completed a major expansion and renovation of the hotel and casino that features a cutting-edge, 450-foot-tall, guitar-shaped tower of guest rooms. Other amenities include a new 7,000-person-capacity Hard Rock Live hall, state-of-the-art performance center; 120,000 square feet of meeting and convention space and numerous other entertainment, shopping and dining venues.
Hanson commissioned the mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and building automation systems during the design, construction, acceptance and occupancy stages of this $1.5 billion project. The team also is providing a variety of follow-up services.
The significant size of this project posed many challenges, in the form of multiple phases and numerous system turnovers. Many small turnover areas were adjacent to and, at times, in the middle of nonoperating facilities. To assist with smooth transitions in building phasing, Hanson developed air-pressure analysis and diagrams to promote proper pressurization within the facility as each phase and space was being occupied. The overall project, as well as areas and systems that were turned over, were resilient and remained operational at all times.
Hanson’s role also entailed a large-scale coordination effort with the project’s general contractor, three mechanical contractors, three electrical contractors, two plumbing contractors, two test and balance firms and a controls contractor, as well as 11 subcontractors.
Throughout the project, Hanson used the cloud-based CxAlloy application, which served as a repository for all commissioning information and was easily accessible at any time by all parties involved in the commissioning process. The application increased productivity, allowing the systems’ commissioning to be executed efficiently and supplementing the knowledge, skills and experience of the commissioning specialists. CxAlloy also provided dashboards, charts and other summarized data to the project owner’s management team; documentation included standardized, importable access data for import into the owner’s computerized maintenance management software system, eliminating hours of data entry.
While construction was under way on parts of the facility, design was still occurring on other areas. Hanson was able to provide design-phase commissioning of these areas, which was a benefit because it helped identify potential problems early and avoid issues and delays during construction. This approach saved time and money for SG, and it was likely a factor in the project’s on-time completion. The commissioning team also used the cloud-based application CxAlloy to store information during the project and allow all commissioning team members, as well as owner representatives, to instant data access at any time.