With more than 24 locations in 19 countries, KidZania was created as an interactive city for children where they can use role-playing and experimental learning to explore difference professions and trades. KidZania’s headquarters are in Mexico City and they use local industry partners in each city where they build. These industry partners play an active role in the design of their spaces within KidZania to maintain their unique and individual brands. KidZania USA opened its first US location in Frisco, TX in November 2019 at the Stonebriar Centre. Turner Construction was hired as the general contractor and worked directly with the architecture firm Design Republic and KidZania staff who are licensed architects, designers, and engineers.
When the time came to engage a flooring subcontractor, Turner Construction partnered with All Commercial Floors to help KidZania meet their targeted budgets, maintain their design concepts, and meet the scheduled opening in Fall of 2019. From February 2019 until August 2019, ACF worked diligently alongside the project team providing them with budgets and proposed products. The process would evolve into a design build project as a courtesy to Turner Construction to assist Design Republic keep up the client’s continuous modifications in design and cost.
In September 2019, Kidzania had finalized the design of the all their industry partner’s spaces and was ready to for ACF to begin with scope of work and have it completed by November 8th, 2019. In approximately 8 weeks, ACF had to procure and install more than 60,000 square feet of product in more than 50 different types of vignettes. To complicate matters even more, products that had originally been approved had to be changed to meet the aggressive schedule of the owner.
The ACF project worked diligently with our Fuse Partners to expedite shipping of the new selections and the installation teams made themselves readily available to install the products as areas became available. While the project was unique in its process and how we engage with the General Contractor and Client, we are proud to be a part of the team that worked on the first Kidzania in the United States.
Nancy Thiel, founder and principal of Thiel Architecture + Design, is a licensed architect and an interior designer. With 40+ years’ experience working with luminaries in the architecture world, including Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, and Rockwell Group, where she served as a studio leader, Thiel’s extensive portfolio includes single-family homes and multi-story residences, hotels, restaurants, retail, fitness clubs, offices, theaters, schools and shopping centers. She is a member of the AIA, holds NCARB certification and is a LEED accredited professional. Prior to her career in architecture, Thiel was a dancer and choreographer.
Thiel Architecture + Design is an award-winning multi-disciplinary architecture, interior design, planning, and product design firm with offices in CT and NY. The firm’s work focuses on high-end residential design as well as hospitality, contract, and retail projects. Thiel Architecture + Design’s work has been featured in Interior Design, Architype, New York and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens, Connecticut Magazine, Archello, and Fast Company magazines. In 2022, the firm received a Connecticut AIA Excellence award for Interior Architecture. Thiel earned a BA from Penn State University and her Master of Architecture degree from Syracuse University.
