Western Avenue Addition & Remodeling

The key component in Xcel Energy’s Western Avenue facility expansion and remodeling project was a 15,000 square foot vehicle storage/warehouse addition that houses short-term warehousing and distribution operations serving fleet trucks, a welding shop and a drive-through wash bay. The changes in the office area involved remodeling existing space into open-office line crew quarters, staff meeting and lunch room and administrative offices. A key challenge was the phasing of construction to accommodate Xcel Energy’s on-going operations.

Another major challenge during design was the site constraints, in particular, the amount of site available for the addition. Due to the site space restrictions, SDS Architects needed to consider the minimum allowable area for truck traffic approaching and leaving the new addition as it related to existing secure site entrances. During design, SDS directed the arrangement of orange cone mock-ups at proposed building entrances on the existing paved areas to confirm space requirements for vehicle movement such as turning radius, building ingress and egress.