SERV

Award Criteria

Architectural Excellence

SERV, Kansas City’s popular new food and pickleball venue, is composed of 19 modified shipping containers manufactured by Falcon Structures. Modular construction is not common in the food and entertainment industry, making this a unique use case. Seven containers were modified into fully functioning kitchens including sliding service windows. The interiors accommodate the equipment and workspace needs of a commercial kitchen, yet within the confines of a singlewide container. Two 40’ containers were plumbed for a women’s, men’s, and family restrooms. The walk-up bar container is a focal point of the park, with a large 16’x3’ opening as a service window for the venue’s popular drink menu. Two empty containers were stacked on top of the bar to serve as a large outdoor projection screen for sports watch parties. An empty 40’ container stands upright at the entrance of the park and serves as a landmark in the urban area with its prominent signage.

Technical Innovation & Sustainability

Rooftop equipment was cleverly concealed using parapet walls along the tops of the containers. However, the parapets could not be pre-installed due to transportation height restrictions from the factory in Texas to the site in Kansas. Falcon Structures collaborated with a structural engineer to design support framing along the perimeter of the roofs, which was then pre-installed. The posts were fabricated and shipped loose with pre-pinned holes. The thoughtful modular design implemented offsite allowed onsite installers to finish out the parapet structures easily and quickly. The SERV project is inherently sustainable thanks to its use of all repurposed one-trip shipping containers. While the containers required substantial modifications, they were completed in a manufacturing environment as opposed to a construction site. By opting for an experienced and streamlined manufacturing process, the SERV project produced less waste and generated a much smaller carbon footprint.

Cost Effectiveness

Falcon provided the most affordable bid for the project as compared to several competitors. This is thanks in large part to the use of shipping containers, which are an excellent modular construction option. Another cost-savings factor was Falcon’s manufacturing environment and established design library. The design and engineering teams customized existing, tried-and-true floor plans for the container bathrooms, kitchens, storage, as well as the upright 40-foot tower. The construction scope bids from other companies were more expensive because they accounted for extra waste, inefficiencies, and costly subcontractors. The well-coordinated construction process helped speed up the already-behind timeline, shipping all 19 containers to their final location 700+ miles away within just 16 weeks.