Xclusive Auto Spa
Xclusive Auto Spa
Client: Xclusive Auto Spa
Project Status: Completed 2022
Project Scope: 5438 SF Car Wash Tunnel with Equipment Room, Office, and Site
Architect of Record: Kevin Stewart (while at Manuel Commercial)
Project Team (MC): Chris Leger, David Nelson
Collaborators: Southeast Engineers, SPEC Engineering, AST Engineers, Design Vision
Contractor: Manuel Commercial
Tags: Commercial, Car Wash, High Collaboration
The Xclusive ownership team chose a high-profile location in Lafayette for their project, but would the property owners allow a car wash? After I sketched context-sensitive design solutions, we presented project renderings of an aesthetically appropriate auto spa that the owners welcomed into their development.
““I enjoy Kevin’s attention to detail and his ability to think outside the box while being practical at the same time. His follow through and organizational skills are top notch. He has an amazing ability to ask the right questions to take your concept of a building to a reality.”
— Chris Zumbek
Managing Member, Xclusive Auto Spa
It all begins with a vision…
What would an aesthetically appropriate auto spa look like? Xclusive owners Chris, Chris, and Thai had some ideas. They wanted it to fit into the context of the retail center in and around Costco in Lafayette, but they also wanted it to stand out from other car washes. Materiality and massing were important for the team, as well as the property owners.
Though the concept always included a tower entrance element, the slope of the roof changed during the design process. Due to the selection of a structural system for the car wash tunnel, the roof design shifted to a monopitch of wood I-joists over concrete block walls at the tunnel, and stud walls at the office for economy, which also allowed for a parapet design facing the side street.
My favorite part of this project was the heavy coordination that had to take place between owner-provided equipment representative Butch Martin, mechanical engineer Jordan Fish, electrical engineer Michael Doyle, civil engineer Jimmy Ricks, and structural engineer Will Potier. It was so fun to coordinate a team with my own steep learning curve in all facets of carwash equipment from vacuum stalls and pumps, to full equipment room and car wash tunnel with complex and precise trench design requirements. The entire team, all the way through Michael O’Niell and Johnathan Thibodeaux leading the construction, executed well.
