The world’s largest RV sales & servicing center located on 50 beautiful rolling acres just outside of Tampa presented several design issues. Maximum visibility from the interstate was paramount, and preserving as many of the grand oaks was as important to the RV lifestyle as it was to the “greening” of the site. An ingredient in the design was to create “park-like” RV settings for display areas as opposed to the normal “sea of asphalt” for an auto dealership. Customer-friendly features, like an indoor shuffleboard court & water feature, as well as a skylighted food court area was created to make the shopping experience tailored to the RV-oriented population.

Located on a low, and very long, narrow site at the NE corner of I-4 & McIntosh Road just east of Tampa, Florida, we were able to save the Owner quite a bit of money by designing the site in phases that reduced the amount of fill required. We suggested to the civil engineer to utilize the retention pond on the front of the property as a “display dock” on which RV’s could be displayed and illuminated.

This project is a response to the plush Lazydays RV Center, also designed by Bert Thomas years earlier. The owners of Long View RV, a family-owned business, desired a low-key look to offset the image of their competition, Lazydays. The architect developed the concept for the new Long View RV sales facility from Cracker Barrel restaurant chain, frequented by RV owners. The front porch, the interior finishes, the antiques with clever anecdotes all mimic the restaurant chain. The second floor of the facility houses the corporate offices of Long View RV, and the service shops are attached to the rear of the sales facility, and designed to double in size in the near future.

Brought into the project at an early stage and advising the Owner not to buy the once-dump parcel with no public sewer nearby, we worked nonetheless to solve the site planning issues by providing the Owner with the size building necessary to make the project viable, even with the added infrastructure costs of removing organic materials and providing an onsite sewage treatment system. The project became a successfully full business operation shortly after opening.

We provided complete architectural, structural design services and coordinated the civil engineering design to a successful resolution of the problems faced. The Owner learned a valuable lesson.

The world’s largest RV sales & servicing center located on 50 beautiful rolling acres just outside of Tampa presented several design issues. Maximum visibility from the interstate was paramount, and preserving as many of the grand oaks was as important to the RV lifestyle as it was to the “greening” of the site. An ingredient in the design was to create “park-like” RV settings for display areas as opposed to the normal “sea of asphalt” for an auto dealership. Customer-friendly features, like an indoor shuffleboard court & water feature, as well as a skylighted food court area was created to make the shopping experience tailored to the RV-oriented population.

Located on a low, and very long, narrow site at the NE corner of I-4 & McIntosh Road just east of Tampa, Florida, we were able to save the Owner quite a bit of money by designing the site in phases that reduced the amount of fill required. We suggested to the civil engineer to utilize the retention pond on the front of the property as a “display dock” on which RV’s could be displayed and illuminated.

This project is a response to the plush Lazydays RV Center, also designed by Bert Thomas years earlier. The owners of Long View RV, a family-owned business, desired a low-key look to offset the image of their competition, Lazydays. The architect developed the concept for the new Long View RV sales facility from Cracker Barrel restaurant chain, frequented by RV owners. The front porch, the interior finishes, the antiques with clever anecdotes all mimic the restaurant chain. The second floor of the facility houses the corporate offices of Long View RV, and the service shops are attached to the rear of the sales facility, and designed to double in size in the near future.

Brought into the project at an early stage and advising the Owner not to buy the once-dump parcel with no public sewer nearby, we worked nonetheless to solve the site planning issues by providing the Owner with the size building necessary to make the project viable, even with the added infrastructure costs of removing organic materials and providing an onsite sewage treatment system. The project became a successfully full business operation shortly after opening.

We provided complete architectural, structural design services and coordinated the civil engineering design to a successful resolution of the problems faced. The Owner learned a valuable lesson.