Murphy Company was contracted by DF Chase to renovate the existing Grand Lodge concurrent to the construction of a new Events Pavilion at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Spa in Aurora, Colorado. Murphy was awarded this project due to our reputation for quality work, our strong work ethic, and our ability to maintain an aggressive project schedule and budget. Despite not being part of the initial project design phases, we stepped in to ensure that all aspects of the project conformed to the owner’s needs and worked to meet the existing budgets that were set.
This project involved extending existing utilities and facilities while maintaining a 24/7 operational environment, ensuring that the daily operations of the Gaylord Rockies Resort were not disrupted. The objective was to stay behind the scenes, allowing guests to enjoy the full resort experience without any interference from construction.
The scope of work included the installation of heating hot water, chilled water, domestic cold/hot water, natural gas piping as well as grease exhaust and dishwasher exhaust. Critically scheduled hot taps were required for tying into live utilities. Additionally, Murphy installed two new Air Handling Units and associated distribution ductwork. A focal point of the Events Pavilion is the indoor and outdoor gas fireplaces which required gas piping and fan-driven flues. The Events Pavilion has a prep kitchen that required coordination of domestic cold/hot water, natural gas, and drain piping to support the new kitchen equipment. The exterior patios have snowmelt-heated piping which is heated via a new heat exchanger fed from the existing resort heating boiler plant.
There was a hard deadline to complete this project as the new space was already booked with Gaylord’s customers. Murphy worked closely with our vendors to select and expedite large mechanical equipment. Murphy assessed the design and building layout alongside available factory equipment to ensure timely delivery. To minimize the impact on the Gaylord’s operations, tie-ins to existing utilities were required during off-hours which ensured resort guests were not disturbed.
Building a relationship with G2 Engineering was crucial for aligning the design scope and customer expectations. Open communication lines were established, allowing us to ask questions, propose solutions, and secure the engineer’s support. This collaboration helped us make informed decisions in the field and develop timely solutions to keep the project on schedule.
Murphy took the lead in Virtual Design and Construction and maintained this role throughout the project. This leadership enabled us to leverage our fabrication shop and prefabricate some of our scopes. We prefabricated plumbing and piping racks, spool ductwork, VAVs with duct connections on both inlets and outlets, and pre-assembled coil connections. By prefabricating nearly 20% of the project in our fabrication shop while utilizing on-site trailers for material storage and pre-assembled in-wall bathroom assemblies, we significantly minimized the amount of work required on-site. This approach allowed us to maintain a cleaner and safer job site for all trades and guests, which was a key priority for the owner.
The safety of our employees, the resort staff, and guests was at the top of our minds throughout this project. Utilizing our extensive industry experience, we dedicated safety resources to educate and hold team members accountable. Our project and field management teams fostered a safety-focused environment, ensuring that all tasks were completed safely. We worked with onsite teams to ensure a continuous safety focus, conducting weekly safety walks with DF Chase and monthly safety lunches. Murphy provided a designated safety professional to ensure safe practices at all times. With over 10,000 hours worked by Murphy Company, there were zero injuries on-site.
Murphy Company received a testimonial from the owner regarding our work on this project from John Patterson, Director of Engineering at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Spa.
John said, “The vastness and complexity of this hotel requires a contractor who is able to work on their own, communicate effectively and efficiently, adhere to all OSHA and hotel safety practices, and complete work as specified doing all of this with little to no direct supervision from the onsite team. This is a hard contractor to find, but we did find this in Murphy Company. Over the past two years, Murphy Company has proven itself to be able to accomplish all that I have asked, in an incredibly cooperative fashion. The team that has worked at this hotel has always been professional and courteous and worked within the parameters of an operating hotel to provide us with the best solutions and work possible. After we meet to discuss and review a job, I always have stipulations to work around, so we can operate a successful hotel…Murphy understands our business, and understands we have a 24/7/365 operation and always works with us to accommodate our guests and clients, and still provides quality workmanship to assist us with our repairs.
The communication, cooperation, and partnership have been exceptional in every way, and I can’t thank Murphy Company enough for the collaboration and trust we have been able to form. They are going to be a prime partner of this hotel for as long as they like, and I can’t express enough how grateful we are to have been able to find them, and establish this business relationship.”
