Here's a copy of the article in yesterday's Daily Journal of Commerce :

October 22, 2003

A Mini display
By JOURNAL STAFF




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For the Northwest Mini showroom near Fife, Helix Architecture designed a curved, wedge-shaped car showroom, clad in charcoal colored metal panels.

Design of the project was influenced by the L-shaped site, vehicle site circulation and display areas, future expansion of the shop area and Mini Corp.'s design guidelines. Helix created a connection to the existing BMW dealership through use of materials and color.

BMW owns Mini, but the nearby BMW site had no space to display Mini cars.

A glass storefront faces Interstate 5 and provides motorists quick glimpses of the 2,000-square-foot showroom's activities. Beyond the showrooms, the white stucco walls of the office wing contrast to the showroom's dark form.

The structural frame is composed of CMU bearing and shear walls, wood-framed bearing walls, exposed concrete and steel columns at the showroom and concealed-tube steel columns elsewhere. The floor and roof assemblies are framed using Glulam beams, TJI joists and plywood sheathing.


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Site improvements included three feet of structural fill, construction of a 20,000-cubic-foot underground concrete storm water detention vault and adjacent bioswale, and site dewatering during civil work.

The general contractor was Rushforth Construction Co.; civil and structural engineer was AHBL; and the mechanical/electrical engineer was Hultz/BHU.