Award

64 | FEBRUA RY 2019 Whirlpool Distribution Centre PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY TRIBAL PARTNERS 40 trailer dock doors on the north side of the building, with an expansion capa- bility of 102 doors in total." Extensive glazing on the north and south sides of the warehouse gave the massive structure a visual appeal as well as brought natural light into the office and staffing areas (thus contrib- uting to LEED points, as would LED lighting and motion sensors through- out the facility). "Whirlpool also opted for an SBS roofing membrane that, compared to the EPDM membrane for the Princess Auto roof, would be eas- ier to repair and would cause less heat build-up," says Knudsen. Trumble says of working towards LEED Silver standards, "It has become a lot easier considering the new energy standards required in buildings almost matches the designation. Declining costs of advanced technology is also to our advantage. When we did the modelling for the Princess Auto, we determined that payback on investment for LED lighting would be seven years. With Whirlpool, it was only 2.5 years." Construction began in 2017 with Traugott Building Contractors having to level the entire site – an undertak- ing that required a massive amount of fill (material had to be transported from various sites in order to fill the volume beneath the 425,000-square- foot floor slab). Construction also had to take into account rainwater collection from the roof. An underground tank 18-feet wide and 270-feet long was situated just 4.5 feet below the surface of the truck court, built like a series of egg crates for structural integrity (the waf- fle structure was more affordable than the extensive bracing a normal tank would have required). Taylor McNamee, landscape architect at L.A. West Calgary Inc., worked with a small crew to create a naturalized green zone to the north- west, "and we also consulted with an irrigation specialist to ensure that all the rainwater collected in the under- ground tank would irrigate the entire site," he says. Parking lot buffering was achieved with the planting of native species such as spruce and pine trees. Due to the slow down in the local construction market, the pricing for con- struction of the Whirlpool distribution centre came down about 15 percent. Access to a talented pool of trades also increased due to the reduction in con- struction projects, allowing Tribal to deliver the building to Whirlpool ahead of schedule and under budget. Today, Whirlpool Warehouse is fully operational and the team is proud to have received the NAIOP Rex Award for Industrial Lease of the Year for this project. "This award truly recognizes the development team's success in cre- ating the most optimal distribution warehouse for Whirlpool; a build- ing that maximizes the integration of modern warehouse design to benefit the significant advantage of location within the most modern intermodal facility in Canada," says Trumble. A Superior Sprinklers.indd 1 2017-07-27 8:25 April 2019 ANNUAL INDUSTRY FEATURE: Green Roofs & Walls Book your ad space now: Dan Chapman 604.473.0316 Alexander Sugden 604.473.0358

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