Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham—Jackson, WY

“We’re attacking a 3,000-unit problem 60 units at a time,” Casey shares. “The quicker we can turn more projects, the sooner we’ll bring some real impact. It starts with being able to house the crews we bring to the area during the summer months when lodging prices are astronomical.”

Casey had tried projects using panelized and containerized approaches that left him unsure, but still determined to try again. He and George saw automated modular as a possible silver bullet worth reconsidering. Reaching out to Autovol soon helped them get on board.

“We were still very interested in the process, but we had to find the right company to do it with,” Casey said. “Once I went over and walked Autovol’s plant to see how they did it and what their inspection process was, it closed all the gaps for us right there.”

Initial Autovol visits included Casey and George as well as Autovol’s CEO, Rick Murdock; CTO, Curtis Fletcher; Director of Business Development, Michael Merle; and Director of Preconstruction, Steve Clough. Steve helped define the project upfront by designing a preconstruction checklist that aligns developer needs with modular design and factory best practices to optimize efficiency and constructability.

Before hitting Autovol’s factory floor, the project was designed and modeled by Prefab Logic, another firm co-founded by Rick and Curtis. The design was created using Prefab Logic Housing products, developed by Curtis. Already factory-proven and site-friendly, the predesigned products accelerated the process for the developer/architect significantly and reduced the overall design costs. These products also leveraged the power of standardized design and supply-chain materials to take advantage of economies of scale.

“The initial design came together in a matter of a couple hours,” Curtis says. “That formed a good basis to customize with some customer-specific features. With these tools, we can establish a starting place and customize a design in a fraction of the time. At the same time, the design is basically vetted for constructability in the modular factory and onsite. Besides speed, these tools also greatly simplify materials procurement and project execution.”

The plan was to build the project in two phases. This would enable the property to open sooner and start accommodating guests while completing the second phase. The digital twin was designed to provide a complete factory-ready model for both phases upfront. That gave the factory everything it needed to bring each phase into production quickly. It also enabled everyone a way to plan both phases ahead of time, and begin prepping the site in advance.

“All the stakeholders leaned into this project and I think it really paid off in quality and strong execution,” Steve says. “We had developed a preconstruction checklist to define things upfront. It paid off as everything came together. Things like the room size put Autovol’s module length limit to the test, but the factory crew was ready, and they delivered.”

All the careful planning and collaboration enabled the finished modules to begin shipping immediately after factory completion. Seasoned crews from Snake River MEP and Accuset Construction were keyed up to set the building at breakneck speed.