Fort Lauderdale-based Miller Construction‘s latest project will stand out to South Florida drivers—and automotive customers.
Miller recently announced its completion of a 427,856-square-foot Collision Center and Inventory Garage for BMW of Pembroke Pines. Visible from I-75, the six-story building’s design is inspired by BMW’s high-performance image, Miller says. The ground floor houses a collision center while the remaining floors are designated parking for the dealership’s inventory. The design by FSMY Architects and Planners of Fort Lauderdale features aluminum louvered panels on its north wall and architectural grids to create living “green walls” on its other exterior facades. Other project team members included engineering firms Winningham & Fradley of Oakland Park (civil), Bryntesen Structural Engineers of Fort Lauderdale (structural) and FAE Consulting of Deerfield Beach (MEP).
To construct the precast double-tee concrete building, Miller had to dewater portions of the site and installing foundations four to six feet into the water table. For the collision center, Miller’s crews coordinated the installation of 37 in-ground car lifts, plus alignment racks, car frame aligning machines, paint booths, a free-standing car wash, tire carousels and other shop equipment items.
“Keeping the dealership fully operational throughout, our crews staged and lifted about 1,200 precast components on the tight site,” said Miller president Brian Sudduth, “including precast concrete panels, concrete double tees, beams and columns. We appreciated the city’s responsive communication, as we were able to stay on track with inspections and keep everyone safe.”
Miller is no stranger to automotive projects. This project is its seventh for Holman Automotive. Miller Construction’s previous projects for Holman Automotive include the award-wining Lauderdale BMW showroom and the 209,023-square-foot BMW/MINI Service Center, both in Fort Lauderdale, as is Holman’s Lauderdale Imports luxury brands dealership that showcases Aston Martin, Bentley and Rolls Royce. Holman Automotive’s Audi Pembroke Pines dealership, previously built by Miller, is immediately west of the BMW dealership.
“Miller’s ability to anticipate and solve complex issues, giving us extremely accurate estimates during preconstruction, is a major business advantage for our team,” said Holman Automotive Executive Vice President Glenn Gardner. “Through their efforts, we’ve achieved the upscale design and highly efficient workflow we envisioned for this new center.”
