LEGOLAND Florida is a 150-acre interactive theme park, built on the site of the historic Cypress Gardens. When the owners of LEGOLAND purchased Cypress Gardens, which was once Central Florida’s most popular tourist destination after opening its gates in 1936, the gardens and associated restaurants, retail stores and attractions had been closed to guests for months. Less than two years later, the public was welcomed back for the grand opening of the completely transformed LEGOLAND Florida theme park. The project, which comprises 10 lands and boasts more than 50 rides, shows and attractions was delivered in just 15 months from inception through design and construction.

To achieve the project’s aggressive schedule, the project team worked tirelessly to coordinate construction activities among trades, with the project seeing as many as 700 workers on site each day. The complex nature of the project required numerous specialty contractors and necessitated a great deal of daily coordination to ensure all trades were working efficiently. Extensive weekly, and with some trades daily, coordination reviews were held to maintain the project’s quick pace of work.

LEGOLAND Honoring the home of the new LEGOLAND park within the former Cypress Gardens, the project included the extensive recycling and reuse of vegetation and demolished material. The team preserved or relocated over 640 trees, many of which were more than 150 years old. Any trees not relocated were 100% recycled for mulch used on the project. More than 34,000 tons of recycled concrete was salvaged, crushed and re-used for base material under the project’s hardscape and roadways. All demolished concrete structures, ride foundations and hardscape were 100% recycled and reutilized on the new project. The demolition and recycling scope included the salvage of just under 500,000 square feet of hardscape and the addition of more than 250,000 square feet of new hardscape constructed on top of recycled base material. Through the team’s diligent efforts as the design-builder of the project, the reinvigorated site of the former Cypress Gardens transformed to create the awe-worthy LEGOLAND Florida theme park in just 15 months.