ARCO recently completed the WOW! Entertainment Center, an approximately 27,000-square-foot family entertainment facility located on a complex site in the St. Louis region. Faced with an original design that carried significant cost and risk related to site conditions and structural requirements, ARCO leveraged its design-build expertise to identify more efficient solutions, ultimately delivering nearly $4 million in overall project savings.
Complex Site Solutions
The property’s hillside location presented a significant grading challenge, with elevations varying by roughly 50 to 70 feet across the site. The original design called for importing approximately 38,000 cubic yards of fill dirt and constructing multiple retaining walls based on the assumption that solid rock was close to the surface.
ARCO recommended additional soil testing to better understand the subsurface conditions. The results showed that solid rock was much deeper than originally anticipated, allowing ARCO to redesign the grading plan to balance the site using existing soil. This approach eliminated the need for imported fill, reduced the number of retaining walls, and significantly lowered project cost and schedule risk.
Simplifying the Building and Site Systems
Beyond the grading redesign, ARCO found additional savings in through optimizing the building’s structural design. The facility was changed from a two-story building framed with structural steel to a single-story concrete tilt-up building with a mezzanine level, a simpler and more cost-effective construction method. ARCO also removed the underground stormwater system called for in the original design and replaced it with an open, above-ground detention basin to manage rainwater runoff.
Delivering Nearly $4 Million in Owner Savings
Along with several smaller improvements identified throughout the project, these three major design changes, the grading redesign, simplified building structure, and revised stormwater approach, were the primary drivers behind nearly $4 million in total project savings. By taking a comprehensive look at the original plans and identifying opportunities to simplify construction, reduce unnecessary scope, and address site conditions more efficiently, ARCO was able to significantly reduce costs while maintaining the owner’s vision and functional requirements for the facility. The value created through this design-build process, both in overall design efficiency and substantial cost savings, ultimately led the owner to select ARCO as its design-build partner for the WOW! Entertainment Center.
ABOUT ARCO
ARCO is a nationally recognized design-build contractor with deep expertise in value engineering, site development, and civil design optimization. By pairing in-house design capabilities with a data-driven approach, ARCO helps owners uncover meaningful cost and schedule savings. Through early collaboration and disciplined execution, ARCO delivers cost certainty and long-term value on every project, regardless of site complexity.
