The Holiday Inn Express Altoona is an 80-room hotel located just off Interstate 80 in Altoona, Iowa. This hotel opened in the Spring of 2007 to accommodate the new race track in Newton, the expansion of Prairie Meadows in Altoona, and the overall growth of the Des Moines/Central Iowa area.

The hotel rooms are each served by stand-alone PTAC (through wall units), which accommodate the varying HVAC needs of each of the hotel’s customers. The common areas on the first floor are served by split systems. Baker Group also designed and installed a specialized HVAC system for the indoor pool, which is served by an air-cooled dehumidification unit and hot water coil.

The construction team worked together to meet an aggressive construction schedule. Baker Group (as well as other contractors on the project) faced a limited amount of room in the ceilings to install material. The entire construction team did a great job in coordinating their respective scopes with each other to make things both functional and accessible. Close collaboration and coordination between the construction team, the owner, and Holiday Inn Express was required throughout the project from design through completion to maintain the brand standard that an end-user expects when staying at a Holiday Inn Express.