Mustangs cruise O Street, and Corvettes have their club in Lincoln. A McLaren club? Not quite. For that, you go to Chicago. Stephens & Smith made the trip not to drive the supercar, but to install an exquisite showroom floor inside a new McLaren dealership under construction in Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb west of the city.
“It’s pretty unusual for us to travel that far for a project, but this was a great opportunity,” said Curt Embree, who oversees architectural concrete and coating work. He adds that it could open the door for future work with other McLaren dealerships across the country.
The new two-story dealership at Ogden Avenue and Salt Creek Lane is designed to be one of the largest McLaren dealerships in the world. Stephens & Smith recently completed Phase One, applying about 11,000 square feet of Microtopping to the second-floor showroom. A second phase will complete the remaining areas.
Located among Ferrari, Lamborghini and other elite automotive brands, the dealership represents a different kind of car buying experience. Every McLaren is, in essence, a Formula 1 car built for the road, lightweight, aerodynamic and engineered for speed.
Embree said the Hinsdale project is a larger scale version of work the company performs elsewhere. Much of the application is still completed by hand, though crews used stand up trowels on this job to improve efficiency across the large, open showroom floor.
Stephens & Smith employees will return to complete the second phase.
While Ogden Avenue is the main thoroughfare, the area is widely recognized as part of Chicago’s western suburban luxury corridor, making it a fitting home for one of the brand’s flagship dealerships.
