Jumping up capacity

Helium Trampoline Park in New Berlin, Wisconsin has become a go-to entertainment space in the greater Milwaukee area. Complete with 130 spring-loaded trampolines, the park is a state-of-the-art jumping facility with dodgeball courts, a very large open jump area, foam pits, basketball hoops, a three-story rock climbing wall, private party rooms and concession areas.

Recognizing an opportunity to make a big impression on their customer base, Helium Trampoline Park looked to create an entertainment space that would stand apart from other trampoline parks that have been popping up around the country.

CHALLENGE

Integrate a Mezzanine to Create Additional Open Spaces with Easy Access Between All of the Park’s Various Amenities.

Steve Steidl, owner of the new park, wanted to utilize the building’s unused overhead space to provide additional party rooms. He also wanted to add an “observation deck” providing a gathering area for customers with a vantage point over all areas of the park. “We were looking to enhance the visitor experience, while also making room for more customers. Our goal was to increase capacity by 200 people from what we had originally anticipated,” Steidl said. However, it was important that the mezzanine design kept columns out of the way of guests on the main floor. The deck and framing system also had to serve as a hidden pathway for electrical and mechanical building services.

SOLUTION

Design a 2,700-Square-Foot, 14-Foot-High Mezzanine with Strategically Placed Columns.

MiTek engineered a custom mezzanine that spread columns out to free up traffic space in the concession area, and also custom fit columns in the office and bathroom areas to conceal them within those walls. The engineering team made sure the mezzanine trusses and deck were also as high as possible within the existing facility to maximize headroom.

Building codes required the mezzanine to support at least 100psf of uniform live load. That, combined with the long column spans and existing concrete slab thickness, meant that special footings were needed for many of the columns, which MiTek helped design. MiTek also played a role in preparing the permit package, providing PE-stamped drawings and calculations for the entire mezzanine package.

The unique mezzanine design featured kid-friendly, safe and attractive guard railing around the open perimeters as well as a number of stair systems between the three levels of the facility.

RESULTS

Customer Convenience and a Satisfied User Experience.

“Our big space is bigger because of the mezzanine,” Steidl said. “We can now utilize the building footprint to a much greater potential which will make the customer experience better and our revenue potential greater. We would do it all over again the very same way,” he added. “Nobody else builds prefab mezzanines like MiTek. Plus, with Accurate Installations (MiTek’s affiliated mezzanine installation company), we had an extremely talented, knowledgeable and capable installation team building the structure. They got it in within one week.”