< PreviousWRITTEN BY ERIC O’CALLAGHAN W hat defines a legacy? To many, a legacy is defined as something which is passed on and continues to do so long into the future. In that case, you could define the history of Master Craft Floors as being very much an ongoing legacy. Master Craft Floors is a full-service commercial floor covering dealer that prides itself on being a one-stop-shop. From flooring installation, in-house interior design, estimation, project man- agement and even floor care and maintenance, they strive to exceed their customer’s needs from start to finish. Celebrating 50 years in business this year, the company has experienced an exponential amount of growth throughout its business lifecycle and continues to invest in new services and products. Founded by Eugene “Gene” Ulfig and his wife Eleanor “El” Ulfig in 1974, the company was then passed down to their son Dan Ulfig in 1985. By hiring more staff and field personnel, the business continued to grow and is now run by director James “Jim” Judd. With extensive product knowledge of all flooring types and applications, Master Craft Floors are truly masters in the field. The business offers a range of services including carpet, resilient, ceramic tile, epoxy coatings, and polished concrete to name a few. The company also have their own in-house design, which is done by Jim’s wife, Julie Judd. Master Craft Floors has an extensive catalogue of work to be proud of, completing several significant projects along the way which include major stadiums and casinos. This began in the mid-2000’s when Detroit added three casinos to the downtown skyline. Master Craft Floors was the most qualified local contractor and incredibly, it was awarded two of these projects simultaneously, the Motor City Casino (now Hollywood Casino at Greektown) and MGM Grand – Detroit projects. With this gaming experience and the encouragement of partners and clients alike, Master Craft ventured into Nevada. After some exploratory work traveling back and forth as work demanded, Master Craft opened officially in January of 2010 with an office, warehouse space & full-time staff in the region. Jim has been with Master Craft Floors since 1994. In this time, he has witnessed multiple projects come to fruition, but there are some standouts that spring to mind for him. | 30 MARCH 2024Huntington Place Detroit, MI | 31 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION“We're wrapping up a project right now in Detroit called the JLA. It's where the old Joe Louis Arena was and where our Detroit Redwings have played for years. It's a 26-story resi- dential unit skyscraper and we did 1000’s and 1000’s of feet of flooring throughout that building. “The craftsmanship is just amazing. I sent some pictures back to the office the other day of the lobby and the wall panels we did with the tile and stone in it. It's cutting edge, and it will be one of those places that I proudly tell everyone, we did that.” Another project Jim is proud of is the Raiders Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Master Craft Floors satellite office can be found —the headquarters is located in Plymouth, Michigan, but Master Craft Floors also cater to businesses worldwide. Operating from different locations allows Master Craft Floors to complete projects in various locations. Whether it is the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas or the Huntington Place (formerly TCF Center/Cobo Hall) in downtown Detroit, Master Craft Floors is willing and able to input its expertise into numerous projects simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, the scope of work varies for each project. For example, the Detroit Metro Airport project involved installing both the flooring in the terminal and rubber tile in the pedestrian walkways of the parking garages. However, occasionally a project comes along that allows the company to really excel. The Shinola Hotel in downtown Detroit, for instance, allowed it to showcase a different set of skills altogether. To build the Shinola Hotel, five existing build- ings with different levels of elevation had their walls torn down and merged. Master Craft Floors did solid hardwood floor- ing — mostly custom cut — and poured concrete, inlaid solid brass strips and polished it. Although this job was completed five years ago, Master Craft Floors are currently back at the Shinola Hotel resurfacing the wood floors in the hotel rooms. Creating and maintain relationships is important to the team at Master Craft Floors and especially important to Jim. Building relationships and trust with clients is important for every business, but Master Craft Floors also tries to build and strengthen its internal relationships. Julie mentions the importance of knowledge and training in house, and how Master Craft Floors invest so much into its employees to provide the client with better results. Detroit Metro Airport Detroit, MI Hollywood Casino at Greektown Detroit, MI JLA Detroit, MI | 32 MARCH 2024We appreciate your business and look forward to working with you in the next 50! Proudly distributing Roppe and Six Degrees, American- made rubber and vinyl flooring products & accessories CONGRATULATIONS MASTER CRAFT FLOORS ON 50 YEARS IN THE FLOORING INDUSTRY! 50 YEARS 50 50 “Master Craft is unique in that we don't farm out our labour which ultimately works out better for the client because the quality of labour is so much higher. Our entire installation team is comprised of direct employees of the company. Jim, our warehouse manager Rob, and I are consistently doing the latest and greatest training in the for both our installation team and also for our in-house personnel, so that we're totally current and up to date on the latest trends in installation and products. “Our installers are real craftsmen and continually educated on the latest installation training - especially when specific to healthcare and ICRA (Infection Control Risk Assessment). We have been historically — and we are still —strong with resilient floors and that's a more technical install, including welding, flash coving, things like that. Our guys and girls — we have women on our installation team too — are fully versed in ICRA standards.” Master Craft claims that one thing it does better than anyone else is occupied spaces, and it has the evidence to prove it. Whatever the job, all staff are trained in best practices in health care, infectious control, rescue, risk assessment and blood borne pathogens. Master Craft staff can set up con- tainment to ensure no one becomes infected when they are in occupied space. Another area unique to Master Craft is the ripping up of old car- pet/floor covering and installing new flooring quickly and pre- cisely, which comes in particularly handy for its casino work. The business has invested in fabricating equipment that can pick up slot bases with the machines on them and move them out of the way. This allows for customer carpets to be installed with machines returned to the floor with limited downtime. By developing this equipment, it has helped master Craft Floors to strengthen its relationships within the casino indus- try. Clients have less downtime to worry about and Master Craft can provide a more efficient service. This is important to Jim as he has mentioned multiple times throughout the interview that “the clients come first”. With such a successful career to date, what is next for Master Craft Floors? Its current plans right now are for the company to engage more in artificial intelligence to help with stream- lining the software. Jim also has a goal to keep profit mar- gins up and within the next 15 years reach 60 million. With a growth mindset and dedicated leadership, you wouldn’t bet against it hitting these targets comfortably. “I've always lived by failure is not an option. So, one way or another, we're going to get it done and be successful with a happy client at the end of the day. And every day, I still live that. One thing that Dan has instilled in me is for this company to endure. “My goal is to make the company endure, for all of our employees to make a good living, and to also have some fun along the way.” “Our entire installation team is comprised of direct employees of the company.” The Shinola Hotel Detroit, MI | 33 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONWRITTEN BY DAVID O’NEILL P rior to the 21st Century, one material was used across North America as the primary foundation for both building and residential structures. Given its natural abundance, it is no surprise that wood has been used in construction projects for centuries. In fact, recent studies suggest that the material has been used for the purpose of building for close to ten thousand years. While its characteristics differ from some more modern materials and techniques, it clearly has a place within today’s industry. Evidently, materials such as steel, cement, glass, and plastic have risen to the forefront of the construction industry, and this is not without good reason. Demands change, and the requirements of structures are significantly greater in the modern age than at any other point in history. Super structures, heavy infrastructure, developments of massive proportions; the industry has adapted and used materials best suited for the job in hand. | 34 MARCH 2024| 35 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONHowever, in addition to the needs of communities, there are also the needs of the wider population to consider. The global community is one that needs to be listened to and, as ecological disaster comes ever closer, the construction industry is now committed to developing and harnessing more sustainable and renewable materials. This is evident in the hunt for lower carbon concrete, repurposed buildings, and wind energy. So, within this context, we need to ask the question, is there space for wood to make a resurgence? It seems as though the answer, as tends to be the case, is not clear-cut. How- ever, the material which has been used in the process of construction for millennia is certainly emerging as a viable alternative to the hegemony of concrete and steel. In fact, wooden structures are experiencing somewhat of a come- back. High-rise wooden buildings have sprung up in recent years and technological advances is enabling building contractors to make higher quality wooden structures that are safer from fire, earthquakes and strong enough to meet modern requirements. Across Europe, wooden buildings reaching up to thirty-five floors have been seen for a number of years, and this trend is moving into North America. New Land Enterprises, for example, is less than a year away from completing an actual 25-story mass timber apartment tower in downtown Milwaukee in partnership with Wiechmann Enterprises. The Ascent building, which will be a hybrid building made from a mix of concrete and timber, will surely raise more than a few eyebrows. However, the industry has no plans to stop there and ventures such as the Ascent building will no doubt be bolstered by the recent study undertaken by architect Jeff Sanner and a team of engineers, designers and researchers who looked into the possibility of using wood to produce the world’s first skyscraper. The study was conducted with one specific project in mind: a residential eighty-story structure on the south branch of the Chicago River. The concept project, titled River Beech Tower. “While the reasons for considering mass timber will vary by project, client, and region, the build- ing industry is experiencing an increase in the use of mass timber products for tall buildings. In 2008 there was one mass timber building over eight stories tall; by 2014, a survey of tall wood buildings identified nearly 30 buildings over eight stories that were either complete, under construction, or in late-phase design. This research began with acknowledging how wood behaves as a material. Its properties were com- pared to steel and concrete in terms of structural behavior, fire resistance, construction methods, environmental impact, and architectural expression. This fundamental understand- ing was then applied to the challenge of designing a building with real world design constraints.” The concept, while still at a research stage, seems prom- ising. According to the study, while challenges still remain and further research is required, the potential is there. “The increased value of timber that is expected to result from its use as an engineered construction product is likely to confer increased value on well-managed forestry. This is less critical in Europe and North America, where there is a long tradition of responsible forest management—but in many parts of the developing world, this may be a key driver towards better long- term forestry practice. By continuing to provide provocative, thoughtful solutions,” it states, “our industry will advance the potential that these materials have to offer.” However, the wood revolution goes further than design and research. Grown in a sustainable forest less than 300 miles away, Portland International Airport is the first major airport in the United States to have a mass timer roof. The project has been designed by ZGF Architects and is being unveiled this year. The company has worked in collaboration with Portland Airport for over six decades and this is just the latest in a long list of innovative and exciting projects it has in the works. “In 2024, ZGF will bring PDX into the future, with the main terminal expansion that doubles the airport's footprint. The new wood structure features an undulating mass timber roof and biophilic elements throughout—sustainable and resilient, the new terminal more than lives up to PDX’s reputation as ‘America’s Best Airport’.” This reputation is surely even more “Wooden structures are experiencing somewhat of a comeback.” | 36 MARCH 2024apt following the project. Not only was every piece of wood sourced from within 300 miles of the airport, about half of it came from 13 small and tribal landowners in Washington and Oregon. The process was managed with such a fine eye, the architects knew every board that frames the skylights above the 26 Y-columns came from the Yakama Nation, and all the double beams in the six massive oval skylights came from the Coquille Indian Tribe. It is incredible to think that such detail and care went into the project, given that is resulted in such a powerful and positive outcome. So, what does the future hold with regard to the use of wood in construction. Again, the answer is yet to be discovered. However, the signs are there. Timber frames, once a ubiq- uitous site on the skylines of North America, is experiencing a sort of come-back. With projects popping up around the world, and plans afoot for ever larger-scale structures, the traditionalist material may yet live to be the one that contrib- utes to the industry long into the future. www.zgf.com/work/5593-port-of-portland-portland- international-airport Portland International Airport Editorial credit: quiggyt4 / Shutterstock.com | 37 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION| 38 MARCH 2024WRITTEN BY AOIFE CHANEY A company built on good ethics above all else is a company of which you can be proud. This is the case for Heim Construction Co., Inc., a full-service General Contractor, Design Build and Construction Man- agement firm based in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Today the story of Heim Construction comes right from the source, that is founder and President Roy Heim. The company was started by Heim back in the early nineties, and though it has evolved over the years in tandem with the construction industry, its core values remain the same today. “We incorporated in 1994 with approximately three employees at that time,” says Heim. “It's sometimes a little seasonal, but we now have between 65 to 100 wonderful men and women employed with us today. One of the things that we believe contributes to our success is not only making sure we have good employees, but also training them and keeping our core values in place. We hire people with integrity and good ethics, and that keeps us moving forward in the right direction.” Keeping core values in place is just one of the three keys to construction industry success that Heim candidly reveals throughout our conversation. Recognizing the importance of functionality before aesthetics and adopting a forward-focused mindset are the second two and third, and it is these three keys that capture the true essence of Heim Construction. But before we get into that, Heim talks me through the full range of services that Heim Construction offers to the Pennsylvanian construction market. The General Contracting side of the business sees Heim Construction delivering projects in the traditional way, which involves working with owners, architects, and engineers to get the job done. This involves first bid- ding on the project, reviewing specifications, and ultimately completing the work at their request. | 39 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONNext >