April 28, 2008

Redevelopment of the historic Hespeler Library netted Waterloo’s Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. an award of excellence in the restoration category.

Grand Valley Construction Association announces 2008 award winners

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Redevelopment of the Hespeler Library, one of the few remaining Carnegie libraries in Canada, netted Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. a top award in the Grand Valley Construction Association’s 2008 Building Excellence Awards.

Completed last June at a cost of $3.9 million, the project encases a historic 1922 facility in a modern glass structure. The renovation doubled the original building’s size while also modernizing the facility. The project was built from the inside out.

“The library is a deceptively complex project and in many ways, an unforgiving design from a construction perspective,” said architect Alar Kongats of Kongats Architects.

In its submission, Melloul-Blamey said the “extremely difficult construction exercise” demanded a high degree of understanding of building materials as well as technical ability.

Structural steel mixed with wood framing ties the existing structure to the new structure. Modern glass technology was incorporated. Massive panes were specially ordered. There were 40 different patterns.

Tarps were used to protect the finished interior from the elements as the exterior glass façade was completed.

Ceramic “frit” patterns on the inside of the sealed units’ glass surfaces diffuse light and reduce heat.

The pattern on one face is a series of rectangles similar to the brick on the existing building, and on the other face, fine vertical pin stripes.

Inside, the old concrete with the foundation and the library’s original brick has been blended with more modern materials. Recycled wood with a graphic striped pattern was used on the floors.

“In the final outcome, the result was to wrap the fully restored Carnegie library in a seamless glass envelope, preserving the historic building for all time as a symbol of both the library’s past importance to the community and its future significance,” said Greg Hayton, CEO of the Cambridge Public Library Board.

The award, in the restoration category, was one of 10 awards of excellence presented Friday evening at a gala in Kitchener.

The Niagara Region Headquarters project, built by Ball Construction, has a LEED Silver designation.

Ball Construction Inc. won big, taking home four top awards. These were for:

•The Accelerator Centre at the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park. The 22,500-square-foot flexible interior, created for start-up high-tech companies, incorporates raised access floors and moveable walls to create space as needed.

•Grand River Foods processing plant addition. The 10,000-square-foot addition is Canadian Food Inspection Agency registered throughout, right down to the type of caulking used. There was no downtime during construction as the plant had to remain fully operational.

•Beausoleil First Nation community centre. Located on Christian Island in Georgian Bay, the remote site presented logistical challenges. By providing input during a redesign phase and undertaking value engineering, Ball was able to bring project costs within the owner’s budget.

•Niagara Region Headquarters office building addition in Thorold. In its role as the design-build contractor, Ball achieved LEED Silver on the 10,300-square-metre addition.

Also in the winners’ circle, Collaborative Structures Ltd. (CSL) took home two awards of excellence. The rebuilding of Sainte Marie among the Hurons museum in Midland saw the team combine construction techniques from the 17th century with modern safety standards.

CSL also scored in the environmental achievement category for its work on Cambridge’s first LEED-registered industrial building.

Jamesway Construction Group won top honours for the Maple Hill Creek apartment building in Waterloo. The 100-unit project is said to be the world’s tallest insulated concrete form residential structure.

The Maple Hill Creek apartment building, built by Jamesway Construction, was recognized for excellence in institutional construction.

Nith Valley Construction Ltd. won an award of excellence for converting a dingy, 40,000-square-foot warehouse into a bright, high-tech office space.

The Geosign building, renovated by Nith Valley Construction, was cited for excellence as a conversion project

Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. snagged a top award for its Tech Town project. The showcase, 60,000-square-foot multi-use centre was built in less than seven months.

The awards recognize not just contractors, but the entire project teams.

“The winners of the Building Excellence Awards exemplify just how far our industry has come,” said association chair Marianne Micci-Fritz, surety manager for Canada at The Economical Insurance Group.

“The achievements of these contractors and the teams who work with them are truly remarkable; they have melded craftsmanship with innovation.”

Eight awards of merit were handed out as well.

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