Edmonton Construction 9 (2008-08)

[Kevin_foster]

Euch, PVC windows..

[240glt]

2009-E0441 "EXPECTED PROJECT" - SUN LIFE - MAIN FLOOR
Subscribe

City:
EDMONTON
Start Date:
30/03/2009
Gen Close Date:
16/04/2009
Addendum:


No details. I heard rumblings a while ago when I did some work in the building of a plaza on the main floor from CP, encompassing Sunlife and over to ATB.

[Coldrsx]

reminds me of what commerce 2 could have been sorta...



from darkstar416 at UT

[Daveography]

^ I've thought the same. *sigh*

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by Kevin_foster

Euch, PVC windows..

maybe they're like stucco and it's not the material as much as the application?

[Coldrsx]

^PVC windows in concrete highrises are a bad idea IMO given windloads and thermal issues.

[CanadianCentaur]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^PVC windows in concrete highrises are a bad idea IMO given windloads and thermal issues.

Are PVC windows bad at minimizing heat loss? If so, that's definitely NOT good, considering Edmonton's climate!

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^exactly... PVC should not be in anything over 5 storeys IMO or if a concrete structure.

Totally agree....

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^PVC windows in concrete highrises are a bad idea IMO given windloads and thermal issues.

if you don't like them fine but if you don't like how they look that's probably more a reflection on the designer than the product. as for wind load, that highrise will perform a lot better with a concrete upstand than with curtainwall. and as for thermal issues, the coefficients are probably better than aluminum and so likely is the upstand so... i can respect your opinions on what you like and don't like (and probably share a lot of them) but don't use statements of "facts" that really aren't to support what is just opinion and taste.

[Coldrsx]

PVC is a better thermal barrier than metal but the thermal expansion and contraction of PVC leads to far more issues than a more ductile metal...

i was comparing an alum frame versus a pvc with regards to windloading...

[Shodan]

City not throwing in towel on change room
Unisex facility 'different' but has advantages

Alexandra Zabjek
The Edmonton Journal

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Plans to build a unisex change room with individual stalls at the Queen Elizabeth pool might be revisited, but the city doesn't want to abandon the controversial concept altogether.

The project has been placed in jeopardy since details of the change room design recently emerged.

The plans include a change room with 25 stalls that would be large enough to accommodate families or people with disabilities who require an attendant.

The change room would be open to men and women.

People would be expected to change in the stalls and not the main room.

That proposal is being vigorously opposed by the Friends of the Queen Elizabeth Pool Society, which has lobbied for years for the facility and has raised almost $400,000 for the project.

"We'd like to go down this path, recognizing that it's different than what we're used to in this city," said Rob Smyth, the city's manager of recreation facility services.

When asked if there might be any opportunity to redesign the change room, Smyth said, "I'm not going to say no."

However, the city must continue to "explore new ways of delivering services to the public," he said.

This isn't the first time Edmonton has pitched a "universal change room" for a swimming pool. Similar plans were unveiled for upgrades to the Fred Broadstock Outdoor Pool last year.

Smyth said those plans were nixed because the city was upgrading an existing building, which made the project more difficult.

That facility is oriented more towards young people than families, making such a change room less appropriate, he said.

"There was a little bit (of community concern). But not to this degree," he said.

The Queen Elizabeth pool would have separate, segregated washrooms for men and women. Lockers and showers are planned for the pool deck.

The "universal change room" was pitched, in part, to save money for the Queen Elizabeth pool's aquatic facilities, rather than its change areas.

But the design could end up costing a lot if the pool society pulls the rest of its funding -- as it has threatened to do unless the change room design is revisited.

The society has already donated $100,000 to the project.

The city has acknowledged that could put the entire $5.1-million project in jeopardy.

"What a shame it would be to build a brand new building and not have people feel safe or comfortable," said John Stobbe, a spokesman for the Society.

Stobbe said what's at issue is respectful community consultation and proper design.

"We're a partner in this project, but we don't feel like one," Stobbe said. "The reason we're in this position is because they've chosen not to bring people together."

Stobbe said it wouldn't be difficult to redesign the change room to create a men's change room, a women's change room, and a family change room.

Coun. Kim Krushell, who sits on the city's community services committee, said it would be a challenge to come up with more money for the project right now.

"I'd like to think there's some reasonable solution," she said.

Lifeguards could do "sweeps" through the universal change room to keep an eye on things.

As the mother of a nine-year-old boy, Krushell said she prefers to use facilities with some kind of family room.

"It would allow parents such as myself to take my son to a facility and avoid the awkward situation of sending him to the change room by himself," she said.

"From what I've seen, it makes sense to me."

Family change rooms with large cubicles exist in all Edmonton YMCAs, but there are age limits on who can use them.

At the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove, family change rooms were "expected" when the facility was built in 2002, said Sylvia Gillespie, the centre's marketing and events co-ordinator.

Those change rooms consist of a number of fully enclosed rooms. The centre also has separate men's and women's change rooms.

[email protected]

Copyright © 2009 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

http://www2.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=d1f53898-4398-4c65-b0c4-ac858e458c69&sponsor=

[240glt]

Sooo..... bets on whether Mayfair Place will commence as planned in April ?

I say it's about a 50/50 chance, and probably depends more on Procuras' cash position than the need for the apartments.

[Coldrsx]

^of course... but they should have a decent proforma there given rents, vacancy, and location.

I will bet May

[Coldrsx]

good to hear a local firm winning an award...

The Water Centre

Click on the image to enlarge it.


ARCHITECTURAL AWARD
Winner

OWNER: City of Calgary

ARCHITECT: Sturgess Architecture / Manasc Isaac Architects

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Dominion Construction
123
photos:

Nothing says “water” quite like the City of Calgary’s distinctive new Water Centre. Viewed from the south, the curving steel roof pours over the building’s shimmering four-storey green/blue curtain wall like a giant cresting wave.

While the design of the building makes a dramatic architectural statement in steel, that’s only half the story. The Water Centre is also the first and largest civic office building to exceed Calgary’s minimum LEED Silver standard. The building provides the City’s Water Resources and Water Services division’s approximately 775 professional staff and field personnel with open office stations, meeting and quiet rooms, conference facilities and crew changing areas.

“When we first dreamed of this building, we were two separate divisions,” says Paul Fesko, Manager, Strategic Services, City of Calgary. “During the functional design we merged and the building was designed around how we wanted to work together.”

Architect Jeremy Sturgess says the low-rise design was chosen to promote communication. “We wanted to encourage interaction and felt a high rise was not the way to go.” The result is a long, narrow steel clad building 160 metres long by 20 metres wide, with open office spaces along the north side and meeting rooms along a middle corridor overlooking a four-storey atrium along the south side – all bathed in natural light.

Steel was used extensively throughout the interior and exterior of the building due to its reflective nature, Sturgess says. “I wanted the whole structure to appear light and steel allowed us to do that.”

The most notable use of steel was to clad the unique five storey curved envelope that starts on the north façade, arches over the building and concludes as an overhang protecting the four-storey curtain wall on the south side. “We wanted to maximize the amount of sunlight coming in but needed to temper it so the sun is never a source of irritation to the work spaces,” Sturgess says. “The curved steel roof acts as a blanket protecting the building from the north wind and sheltering the south side like a visor.”

The underside of the steel arch is exposed on the interior, giving the impression of a loft on the top floor, Sturgess says. “We set out to create beauty from the structural materials. All the elements are finely crafted, and we used the best quality materials so we could leave them raw. Basically there’s no ‘fluff’ in the building, because there was no need to hide or cover the structural materials.”

Fesko says the building reflects his department’s water management values. “We’re quite well served by the building. We’re a LEED Gold facility and we may actually end up with a LEED Platinum rating.”

All 700,000 kilograms of reinforcing steel used in construction of the building came from recycled sources, and 95 per cent of excess construction material was recycled. With 95 per cent natural lighting, the Water Centre will save an estimated 1,250,000 kilowatt hours per year on lighting – or over 1,100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

“We’ve built a highly sustainable building for a basic building budget and we’re really proud of that,” Sturgess says.

http://www.cisc-icca.ca/Award%20Details/Alberta/2009Winners/The%20Water%20Centre/

[Coldrsx]

for those who have not seen it, it is a very cool building...



http://67.220.225.35/%7Ealbe9667/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/curve1.jpg



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2858082263_3296444c06.jpg

[240glt]

EDIT: Sorry, meant to put this in the transit thread. Too many beers watching that depressing hockey game.

Proposed LRT route could cut through Old Strathcona

EDMONTON - A proposed LRT route from Mill Woods to downtown could cut through Old Strathcona before traversing either the High Level or the Walterdale bridge, plans posted on the city’s website suggest.

Those options are among four being presented for a long-awaited southeast LRT route.

In one plan, the LRT line would use the CPR right-of-way to move north from Mill Woods before continuing over the Walterdale Bridge, or veering onto the High Level street car tracks and crossing that bridge.

In another plan, the route would snake west onto Whyte Avenue from either 83rd or 75th Street and then take either the Walterdale or the High Level route over the river.

The proposals are being met with cautious optimism from the

“If they pick the right route and use the right system, it would be really, really good,” said Shirley Lowe, executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association.

One plan that proposes the LRT move west along Whyte Avenue for almost 10 blocks raises red flags for Lowe.

“It would be a huge imposition on the roadway. It would be chaotic and compromising.”

Still, she noted that places such as Portland have “great light rail systems that pull right up to the curb.”

The city’s transportation department does not know whether a smaller train would be needed to run along Whyte Avenue or where it might run along such a busy street.

“This is the concept phase, where we’re defining the corridor of the route,” said Adam Laughlin, a director in the transportation planning department.

The designs are preliminary and a preferred route likely won’t be presented to city council until November.

The Old Strathcona options were pitched because they use existing infrastructure to get trains across the river.

Other options for the southeast LRT route include having the train cross the North Saskatchewan River via the Connors Road corridor or the Dawson Bridge corridor. New bridges would have to be constructed for both those proposals.

Public consultations on the routes are scheduled to gear up in the coming weeks. The city has posted an online survey about the routes.

Bob Boutilier, general manager of transportation, acknowledged that building an LRT line through the busy Old Strathcona district could be difficult.

“I have no answer to say it won’t hurt business,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean during the time we’re working on LRT that every business will be out in the cold for 12 months.”

City politicians can take steps to mitigate the impact on businesses, such as offering special tax incentives or some form of compensation.

He’s hoping this round of LRT talks will go more smoothly than last year’s west-end LRT debates, where the mayor and transportation administration got into a heated battle over a preferred route.

The city has also posted online three options for a westbound LRT route.

A new policy that sets criteria for developing transportation plans should help the process, Boutilier said. The criteria states that overall land-use planning should be weighted most heavily when designing transportation projects, while issues such as cost and technical complexity are to be weighted less heavily.

“At least here, we can show why we did what we did,” he said. “Everybody knows how we’re judging it.”

The city’s transportation master plan wants to see all four quadrants of the city get LRT service by 2040.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Proposed+route+could+through+Strathcona/1449521/story.html

[canucklehead2]

The only thing I take offense to is LRT to all quadrants by 2040? Damn! Considering the original 1974 plan had LRT to all quadrants by 1985... That's about 55 years past due... We need LRT to all quadrants by 2020, max, not 2040...

[240glt]

^ Agreed.

Some permits issued- This fire hall will be a nice addition to that area and should make it a bit safer and nicer than the vacant lot that is there now:


9020 - 111 AVENUE NW
Plan 0822264 Blk 57 Lot 33
To construct a Protective and
Emergency Services Building (Fire
Station #5).
CITY OF EDMONTON
ALBERTA AVENUE
1010

This one slipped under the radar


2504 - 109 STREET NW
Plan 0022925 Blk 32 Lot 5A
2606 - 109 STREET NW
Plan 0022925 Blk 32 Lot 5A
2606 - 109 STREET NW
Plan 0740389 Blk 32 Lot 14
To construct an Apartment
building with 102 dwelling units
and underground parkade
(Century Park, Phase 2, south
building)
CENTURY PARK DEVELOPMENTS LTD. Value: $ 24,000,000 Site Area:
Type: Apartment Condos (315)
(01) New


2504 - 109 STREET NW
Plan 0022925 Blk 32 Lot 5A
2606 - 109 STREET NW
Plan 0022925 Blk 32 Lot 5A
2606 - 109 STREET NW
Plan 0740389 Blk 32 Lot 14
To construct an Apartment
building with 102 dwelling units
and underground parkade
(Century Park, Phase 2, north
building).
CENTURY PARK DEVELOPMENTS LTD. Value: $ 24,000,000 Site Area:


Does anyone know why they would be hoarding off 100 feet of 124 st at 103 ave ?


10310 - 124 STREET NW
Plan RN22 Blk 32 Lots 11-12
To construct a Covered Sidewalk
Hoarding -100' x 7'-10"
CANBIAN INC

[Kevin_foster]

========================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 01, 2009 9:17AM MST
EDMONTON CHOSEN FOR 40 STORY CLASS A TOWER

EDMONTON - A newly proposed 40 storey 'Class A' office tower is slated to go before the EDC June 31, 2009. London based Developer Longhorn Properties Inc. (TSX: LNG) comments "we realize the need for office space in Edmonton is strong. Edmonton is an upcoming powerhouse, who's citizens are dedicated, educated and hard working. Edmonton is situated in the best position globally for access to oilsands development and nano-tech structures from the world class UofA"..

The developer did release some primary renderings of what the tower will look like if approved:


The tower, if approved, is slated to start construction December, 2009 and will be qualifying under the LEED program for Platinum classification. The exact location of the tower is yet to be disclosed, but sources speculate it will be in or near the newly constructed ICON towers. There is a space of land North of Jasper Avenue commonly known as the "BP'S slate".

For more information please visit http://tiny.cc/vdmyW

================

[240glt]

You 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. Why are you doing this to us ? For the love o' god WHY ?