SABMag | Winter 2024
Windermere Fire Station No. 31 is located in southwest Edmonton in a rapidly expanding neighbourhood. The project is the City of Edmonton’s first net-zero build-ing, achieved through a comprehensive passive design approach and a combination of solar arrays, geothermal heating and cooling.
The 1,520 sq.m facility has bays for three fire engines as well as offices, sleeping quarters and dining areas for a crew of up to 12 firefighters. The post-disaster, non-combustible, sprinklered building will also act as a community centre in the event of an emergency. To underpin this role, it also has a dedicated room to support the many community drives in which the department is involved.
Canadian Property Management | January 12, 2024
Glade Schoenfeld, BASc, P.Eng., RRO, CAHP | Principal
Preserving the past, one historic roofline at a time
From slate to clay, concrete to sheet metals, and cedar to asphalt, roofing materials today are selected for a variety of reasons, including durability, cost, embodied energy, ease of maintenance and constructability. Historically, however, architectural style and character bore more weight when determining materials and heavily influenced the design process.
ECA Breaking Ground | Winter 2023
Project Profile | Windermere Fire Station No. 31
The City of Edmonton is continuously working towards becoming an energy sustainable and climate resilient city and has set a target to be a carbon-neutral corporation by 2040. One project on the journey to meeting that commitment is the new Windermere Fire Station 31, which was built with sustainability and climate resilience top of mind.
Windermere Fire Station 31, which has been operational since July 2023, sets a strong precedent for new construction in the age of climate change. This net-zero energy building was initiated as a pilot project under the City of Edmonton’s prior policy (C532 Sustainable Building Policy).
ECA Breaking Ground | Winter 2023
Project Profile | Covenant Wellness Community
Healthcare and community aren’t often considered interdependent. The term “health care” often evokes images of physicians’ offices, hospitals, ambulances, and waiting rooms. But in the heart of Mill Woods, blocks from the Grey Nuns Community Hospital, Covenant Health and Rohit are working to bring the two concepts together and reimagine the future of health care in Alberta.
Reimagine Magazine | Issue 8
Project Profile
The Reimagine Architects team is never one to shy away from a challenge, so when the opportunity came up to design a new student building on Northern Lakes College’s High Prairie campus in 2018, principal Vedran Škopac and his project partners jumped at it.
Reimagine Magazine | Issue 8
Project Profile
Post-secondary campus life is a cherished experience for students. Many travel across the province or country to attend their institution of choice; some even come from abroad. All of them need a place to live. It is hoped that these students will leave their alma mater with an address book full of connections, lifelong friends and formative adventures.
Canadian Property Management | December 2023
Cait Mancuso, BESc, MESc, P.Eng. | Project Engineer
4 tips for achieving success through design-assist.
As buildings become taller and more complicated, the engagement of trades in the design-assist process is more integral than ever. The design-assist project delivery method allows the construction partners and the design team to collaborate early and often throughout the project duration, bringing more cohesion and cooperation to a process that might otherwise operate in silos.
Reimagine Magazine | Issue 8
Project Profile
For youth who’ve given up on schooling and taken to the streets, Edmonton’s Inner City High School offers hope for a future with purpose.
The school meets marginalized youth where they’re at, reeling in 300 a year with music, sports, art, food and wrap-around support – and enticing many to delve deeper into learning. Most who come are Indigenous and many have no real home, or have bounced from home to home, school to school. “They see this school as the last chance to change their lives,” says Joe Cloutier, cofounder and member of the administration team.
Canadian Property Management | December 2023
Mohammad Fakoor, PhD, P.Eng., CEA, CPHD, CEM, LEED® AP BD+C | Associate
“The most sustainable building is the one you don’t build”
As Canada’s 2050 net zero targets loom on the not-so-distant horizon, finding ways to decarbonize existing multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) in the most cost-effective way, with minimal disturbance to occupants, is an urgent undertaking for the sector.
Canadian Property Management | November 2023
Bernardo Garcia Ramirez, BSc, MSc, P.Eng. | Design Engineer
5 tips for managing the unexpected
Redevelopment projects are defined as any new construction project on a site that has pre-existing structures and uses. These projects can be large or small, ranging from a single building to entire neighbourhoods, and they often involve the demolition of some, if not all, the existing structures. Bernardo Garcia Ramirez, Design Engineer out of RJC Engineer’s Edmonton Office, has worked on many redevelopment projects—all of which have presented his team with some new and unique challenges. In fact, his current project in Edmonton has been anything but straightforward, with surprises ranging from curious to downright costly.