If you weren’t one of the approximately 200 attendees of the SurePods modular bathrooms pod loading event last week at the Residence Inn by Marriott under construction in Fulton, Maryland, here’s what you missed.
Developers, contractors and architects involved in hospitality and multi-family projects – along with local high school students – traveled to the suburban Baltimore -Washington, D.C., construction site to see SurePods in action. In addition to viewing pods fly through the air as they were craned into place in the 103-room hotel, attendees were able to go inside a demo pod in the parking lot to touch and see the interior fit and finish. They were given a tour of the hotel under construction which included a sneak peak inside 2 of the SurePods that were unwrapped to allow a look inside. Not to worry though, we re-wrapped them weather tight! Attendees were able to ask questions of the project contractor, architect, developer and representatives of Marriott International. It was a great opportunity for SurePods team to dispel any myths and illustrate just how simple the process of incorporating bathroom pods is.
What Marriott is saying
Marriott International is a big believer in the benefits of modular construction, using it in most of its hotel brands. Here’s what a couple executives said at the Fulton bathroom pod loading event:
“This is a no-brainer – a product that’s easy to repeat. Tons of benefit.” ~ Jennifer Lund, senior director, Global Design Strategies, Marriott International
“If any of you guys are doing multi-family or hospitality, you should really look at these bathrooms.” ~ Dave Walsh, senior director of Project Management for Global Design Americas, Marriott International
What the developer had to say-
Pete Plamondon, owner of Plamondon Companies shared the following: “These things look perfect every time and the beauty of these is zero punch list, Its locked and loaded and that’s a lot of stress from the owner, the brand and the overall project success.”
What the general contractor had to say-
Greg Brown, president of Waynesboro Construction Co. Inc., said during his brief speech “If you have built hotels you know how many things are going on in the bathroom, everything is going on in those little tiny bathrooms. It’s really bad for the contractors trying to finish this small space so we are looking forward to this opportunity to work with prefab bathrooms … it looks like the future of construction going forward.”
What the architect had to say-
Matt J. Runyon, Principal of Newcomer Associates Architect and Engineering Firm shared, “I can tell you from the architects perspective I would rather poke my eye out than punch out another bathroom. It is a pain, there are problems everywhere. These things (SurePods) are pristine inside.”
See event photo gallery
Want to attend a similar event in the future?
Be sure to watch this blog for announcement of upcoming events.