EL VADO MOTEL
Overview
The El Vado (‘The Ford’ in Spanish) Motel located on Central Ave, the old Route 66 Highway, is considered one of the few remaining classic Route 66 motels built in 1937. The original design included 2 parallel, one-story buildings facing a parking courtyard. Ordinally there were gas pumps located along Central Ave and you were greeted by a neon sign with an American Indian with full headdress. The building was constructed in the Spanish Pueblo Revival style making it look like the local pueblos with irregular massing and viga (exposed wooden roof beams). Some rooms had carports next to the rooms.
design scope
The redesigned space will house 20 room boutiques, an event center, food courts, and a tap room, as well as retail space. Testudo’s new MEP design included new domestic plumbing replacing the outdated plumbing systems and extending plumbing to the new food court, tap room, and the small warming kitchen for the event center. The HVAC system includes a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system for the original motel. This system was chosen to minimize impact on the original charm of the building. The event center is served by rooftop package equipment.