Award

8 | FEBRUA RY 2019 Stantec With MWH now onboard, Stantec was able to offer expertise in water design, expand its geographic presence, and share its dedication to communities. But the acquisitions didn't stop there. Stantec continues to invest in strategic acquisitions in its buildings sector, and those acquisitions include Wood & Grieve Engineers in Australia and ESI Consulting and Peter Brett Associates in the U.K. And then there's the third strategy of creativity and innovation. Through its Creativity and Innovation program Stantec celebrates and encourages inventive thinking that benefits the company, its clients, and the communities where it works. "We have four ways to celebrate our employee's creativity: Project Greenlight is a seed fund, taking ideas from infancy to reality; the Innovation Forum, where our most innovative projects are presented at a two-day event in a TED-talk format; the Publish and Speak program that rewards those who put themselves and their ideas out there at conferences or in publications; and the Venture Fund, which is supported the same way other investors support startups. If there is a strong business plan, a member of our executive VP team will approve, support, and nurture that idea," says Castro. It's little wonder really that Stantec has become the powerhouse it is today, receiving not only recognition across the globe for being among the Best Places to Work, but also for its practices in engineering and design and its many, many impressive projects. One such project is Stantec Tower. Standing at 251-metres tall in the heart of Edmonton's bustling ICE District, Stantec's new global headquarters is a testa- ment to the company's deep connections with the city where it all began. The building showcases Stantec's design prowess and business model – bringing the best architects and engineers from around North America together to deliver Canada's tallest tower outside of Toronto. "For Stantec, designing Stantec Tower and co-ordinating a complex move proved our talented team could tackle any challenge. From architecture and engineering work on base building and interiors through to furniture and workstation design, move logistics, and communica- tions, Stantec Tower is an exemplar of the multidisciplinary collaboration Stantec is known for," says Darren Burns, principal in charge, Stantec Tower project. Another project that demonstrates Stantec's commitment to community is The Iqaluit Airport. Set deep in the heart of the Great White North, the community of Iqaluit is one of Canada's northernmost outposts that has no roads or rails, and a fro- zen sea that surrounds it which is too rough and tough to navigate during the winter months. "The community needed an airport, not only to get from A to B but for basic goods and services. The new airport helps connect the community of Iqaluit with the services in southern Canada, while providing a vital bridge point between Nunavut's northern communities and the rest of the country," explains Castro. And then there's Stantec's focus on sustainability and innovation, which can be seen in the high-performance evolv1 in Waterloo, Ontario – Canada's first multi- tenant, net-positive building that produces more energy than it consumes. The project presents a new business case for advanced sustainability not seen before in commercial building design. Evolv1 is the first commercial project to earn the Zero Carbon Building – Design certification. The 110,000-square-foot facility is targeting LEED Platinum and features envelope triple glazing, a solar wall for preheated ventilation, geo- exchange/VRF HVAC system, a three-storey green wall, and a combination of photovoltaics and solar panels. The innovative strategies employed at evolv1 are indeed turning heads. The project received the Canada Green Buildings Council's 2018 National Zero Carbon Building Award and was named Solar Thermal Project of the Year by the Canadian Solar Industries Association. Evolv1 showcases how end-users act within the space – generating an internal community of creative types to ignite new discov- eries that span science, technology, and wellness. Of course, technology plays a big role in Stantec's evolution and the company takes a holistic approach to the adoption, advancement, and application of digital tools (computational design, 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality, and analytics). Stantec has an established digital practice team, inclusive of practitio- ners, programmers, analysts, and developers, that encourage and support the use of technology on projects; fostering creativity and innovation that improve the design, delivery, and handover of facilities to its clients. With the advent of Big Data, Stantec's workflows focus on the creation, organization, and utilization of data in all forms, leveraging this information on projects to make informed decisions. Panoptes, an internally developed tool, is an example of this. "Data from our digital models is collected, aggregated, and avail- able for review via Power BI dashboards. Teams can see trends and take proactive measures to ensure we are constructing high fidelity models," says Sarah Dreger, digital practice leader. "In addition, we use our Digital Project Execution Plan [dPxP] to integrate our processes into the overall project execution roadmap for the project. The dPXP outlines a flexible approach that responds to each project's profile and specific goals. It has been our experience that embracing design technology and meeting project goals requires a team approach to project management, design manage- ment, and BIM management. We've found greatest success when there is a high level of overlap and engagement between these parties." The team at Stantec also understands the importance of technology in achiev- ing a better world and that it is in fact the invisible thread that connects each of us to the world around us, bringing efficiency to our infrastructure, buildings, and processes – shaping the way we experience the world. "Though you may not see it, every building that you step into employs information and communications technology [ICT] through security and fire alarm management, audio and video processing, transmission and network-based control, even the telephone and internet. These critical infrastructure systems generate information that can be leveraged to inform operations and anticipate impact. Adaptive technology, urban development, and smart cities are just a few areas wherein information or data and the ability to leverage it will provide not only competitive advantage but neces- sitate transformative change in design and community engagement," says Dreger. One internally developed interactive program, ParaCoords, allows both the designer and owner to review project specific design parameters (percent glaz- ing, rotation) in a visual, sliding scale format. As variables fluctuate, in this case glazing, the owner and designer can easily see what the opportunity cost of that shift is to the rest of the facilities systems or costs. "This is just one tool that we've created to better inform design and allow for a heightened level of understanding and interaction between owner and designer. We are a partner in the design pro- cess. We want to drive decisions earlier in the design process for many reasons, and tools like ParaCoords help facilitate this in a visually comprehensive way. Not only do we focus on enhanced design but being a better partner in the design and construction process as well. Interactive design, leveraging data, and machine learning are the future," says Dreger. Stantec has undoubtedly come a long way since its humble beginnings, and yet at its heart there remains a strong set of core beliefs that you will find consistent throughout the company, whether you find yourself at its Edmonton HQ, or one of its offices in India, Taiwan, or the U.K. "We believe our values unify our teams across all geographies and cut to the root of why we have been so successful: values that consist of putting people first, being driven to achieve, being better together, and doing what is right," says Castro. While Stantec and the team understand that there will always be new chal- lenges ahead, they also have faith that their focus on creativity, innovative design, and technology will ensure that its people are doing their best work, and that clients end up with projects that truly exceed their expectations. A Iqaluit International Airport, Iqaluit, NU. evolv1, Waterloo, ON.

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