Nestled in the desert foothills of the McDowell Mountains, near Tom Thumb Trailhead in North Scottsdale, is an expansive new master planned community with stunning desert and mountain views. This resort-style gated community being built by award-winning homebuilder Toll Brothers, consists of a total of 355 homes and a state-of-the-art clubhouse featuring sleek and modern architecture. The Mountain House Lodge at Sereno Canyon is sure to delight the senses and provide a luxurious experience. MMI Industrial & Steel is proud to have been part of the construction of this masterpiece.
True North Construction, the general contractor for The Mountain House Lodge project, boasts an impressive portfolio of custom projects ranging from fully customized homes to luxurious hospitality venues. True North contracted with MMI Industrial & Steel in the summer of 2020 to complete structural steel work and miscellaneous metal projects, including pool trellises, golf cart parking shade structures, and hundreds of linear feet of site railing.
The project brought about many challenges for the MMI crew, the biggest of which was working with the complex angles of the modern structure and working with numerous roofs at varying elevations. Additionally, the building construction consisted of a wide range of building materials such as masonry, light gauge steel and wood framing all of which required acute attention to detail.
The highly customized nature of the project required countless RFIs (Request for Information) for clarity and understanding of why changes may have been made and long, weekly meetings with the design team.
The Mountain House Lodge was a project of learning and reevaluation of processes for MMI. “The complexity of the project helped us grow as a company. It forced us to communicate and coordinate in ways we hadn’t in the past”, said PM Services Manager Jason Barnes. “With so many different types of steel and some of it requiring decorative finishes (AESS – Architectural Exposed Structural Steel), we had to make sure our communication and directions were clear,” he continued. This diligence extended through all MMI for the duration of the project, but particularly for work orders for our shops and deliveries to the project site.
Projects like Mountain House Lodge would not be possible without the partnership of many key customers and vendors. In addition to the 3–10-man crew dedicated to this project, MMI is fortunate to work with Brown Strauss Steel, Intsel Steel and Smith Pipe & Steel who supply structural steel and miscellaneous metals, Copper State Bolt & Nut Company for hardware, A-Core Concrete Specialists of Arizona for concrete core drilling, Surelift Crane and Rigging and many more. The success of our projects depends on them as much as it depends on our own employees. We couldn’t do it without them.
