NorPlex Manufacturing Facility: From Concept to Completion in Just Over a Year
Mountain Construction is proud to announce the completion of the NorPlex Manufacturing Facility, an 84,320-square-foot manufacturing facility in Centralia, Washington. What makes this project especially notable is not only the scale and specialized requirements of the facility, but how quickly Mountain and the project team turned an operational challenge into a completed facility for NorPlex.
NorPlex initially approached Mountain with plans to remodel an existing facility in Tacoma. The company needed additional manufacturing space, and the facility under consideration presented several challenges, including the height required for production equipment and the need for rail access to receive raw material shipments.
Rather than simply pursue the original plan, Mountain evaluated the project with NorPlex and identified a more cost-effective solution: build a new facility on property NorPlex already owned.
That change in direction gave NorPlex the opportunity to create a facility specifically around its manufacturing needs while avoiding the limitations and additional costs associated with remodeling an existing building. Mountain worked closely with the owner and design team throughout the process, helping guide the design to meet NorPlex’s operational requirements while staying aligned with the original budget.
The resulting facility includes a 75-foot-tall production space designed to accommodate NorPlex’s specialized manufacturing operations, along with a rail spur that allows raw materials to be delivered directly by train.
But finding the right solution was only the beginning. The real challenge was the timeline.
From the initial concept to completion, the entire project took just over a year. Once permits were issued, Mountain had only six months to construct the facility and obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy.
Completing an 84,320-square-foot manufacturing facility in six months is a significant undertaking under any circumstances. Add winter weather, a busy jobsite, and numerous activities taking place simultaneously, and the schedule became even more demanding.
Meeting that deadline required careful planning, constant communication, and strong collaboration among Mountain, NorPlex, the design team, subcontractors, and suppliers. As General Contractor, Mountain coordinated the project from start to finish, keeping the team focused on the schedule and the owner’s goals.
The result was a new manufacturing facility delivered on time, on budget, and ready for NorPlex to expand its operations.
For Mountain, the NorPlex project is a great example of what can happen when a General Contractor brings more than construction expertise to the table. By looking beyond the original approach, understanding the owner’s needs, and finding a smarter path forward, Mountain helped NorPlex turn an immediate need for more space into a long-term facility built specifically for its business.
