Mercedes-Benz Van Center at Baker Motor Company

Introduction

Baker Motor Company opened its doors more than 25 years ago with its flagship Mercedes-Benz® dealership in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The company has since expanded to more than 16 luxury dealerships throughout the Charleston area. Most recently, Baker opened the first-ever standalone Mercedes-Benz® Sprinter Van dealership in the country.

The $25 million facility is situated on more than 13 acres in Summerville, South Carolina. The 28,600 square foot dealership includes a car wash, an eight-car showroom, consultation desks, conference rooms and lounges, as well as the all-important service area. Customers interested in the Baker Collection of previously owned luxury vehicles can explore options in a designated showroom. There’s even a hiking trail and fishing pond on the property.

The  Story

For this one-of-a-kind Sprinter Van dealership, the design team took special care to ensure all installed products would be of the highest quality and style. From the customer-facing Mercedes-Benz shop, service write-up lanes, and lounge to the offices and demanding service area, the Baker visionaries made meticulous material specifications to meet style, durability, technical performance, and low maintenance requirements. The team opted for Crossville collections in various areas throughout facility.

For the Mercedes-Benz shop and service areas, the team specified Crossville’s new AutoPaver™ collection, an American-made, 15mm thick porcelain clinker style tile. This single most durable shop floor available proved to be the worthy flooring alternative for shop and service write-up lanes that represent the true profit center for the dealership. Installed by Global Tiling, a division of the Muller Corporation, AutoPaver was able to be installed via the vibration method (a European standard), which allows the shop floor to be truly flat, strong and highly durable. In business since 2009 and based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, Global Tiling specializes in installing tile in car dealerships nationwide, having completed over 300 projects since being established.

Prior to the launch of AutoPaver, there were no other domestically produced clinker style tile; all other such products are imports from overseas. Responsibly manufactured at Crossville’s plants in Crossville, Tennessee, AutoPaver simplifies the supply chain for this specialty item that is often required within extremely tight construction schedules for auto dealers and service facilities. Crossville’s entry into this market brings essential deliverability assurances to owners who need installations to be done in timely fashion in order to begin selling and servicing cars as soon as possible. 

Both of AutoPaver’s colors were specified for the service write-up lanes and service bay. The design team used the darker Onyx hue to outline each working space in the service bay, a helpful design tactic to visually delineate these high action areas while creating a cohesive appearance.

Moving from the service area to the customer lounge and offices, the design team specified Crossville’s Nest collection to create a relaxed, modern wood look for the floors. Nest’s 6×36 planks authentically replicate a refined woodgrain appearance in a durable porcelain tile body, answering the high-performance requirements of commercial interiors.