2011 Excellence In Construction Awards - Central Florida Chapter ...

Re–Inventing A Legendary Icon
If it walks like a duck … a very sophisticated trail of ducks, you are probably looking at
the Peabody Hotel Orlando. The Peabody has been a landmark in Central Florida since
1986 with its Four Star, Four Diamond status … and its unique signature duck population.
Balfour Beatty Construction faced a major challenge when they
were chosen to take this iconic hotel to the next level: a huge
$262 million expansion featuring a host of stylish amenities
along with a massive amount of new floor space.
The expansion includes a new 32–story hotel tower with 750
luxury guest rooms and suites (with 46 different floorplans), a
new convention center, and renovation of the convention space
in the existing hotel,
There is a full–service spa, grotto–style swimming pool, shops
and boutiques, fine dining and a garage for 2,800 vehicles. Sitework
covered 29 acres involving extensive utility relocations and
upgrades…all tied seamlessly into the existing hotel.
The project was divided into four distinct components: new construction
of the 690,000 square–foot tower, the new 450,000
square–foot convention center, renovations to 57,000 square–
feet of the existing tower–back of house and administrative
space and prolific sitework to achieve the tie–in with the elevated
walkway and parking garage.
Equally challenging was a site with limited laydown area and
the necessity to work around an active, fully–operational hotel
with little or no disruption to guests. Achieving project goals
meant intense planning, scheduling and noise reduction procedures.
There was a significant amount of overnight work to
complete intricate jobs without interrupting hotel services.
The hotel tower was a post–tensioned, cast–in–place concrete
structure on 116–foot deep augercast piles. The convention center
structure consisted of 4,424 tons of structured steel, with
180–foot long trusses to span the vast ballrooms.
Over ten years of planning and two and a half years of construction
have resulted in a stunning, ultra–modern hotel offering
services and amenities unparalleled in the Central Florida convention
market.
2011 EIC Awards 11