Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1274063
J U LY 2 0 2 0 | 59 Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E SY C I T Y O F ED M O N TO N T he new Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage in Edmonton brings new meaning to the term "size matters," given the sheer number of vehicles it can service and also how the facility's large scale required a spe- cific method of construction. Named after Edmonton's first female bus driver, the $210.7-mil- lion garage is 450,000 square feet – a 10-acre building on a 13 acre site. The LEED Silver targeted facility also has capacity for 275 conventional buses and 28 electric buses; plus, the garage's roof directs rainwater into a 1.5-mil- lion litre cistern for vehicle washing. Don Hawkes, general supervi- sor, project management at City of Edmonton, says the garage had been considered as far back as 2011. "The project really came to life when we secured a strategic location in the northeast part of the city – the 1936 Canada Packers plant site that had been vacant for two decades. The site flanks the LRT line and is adjacent to the Yellowhead Trail and other key thoroughfares." The garage also acts as a park and ride for ETS/LRT staff to take LRT to other LRT facilities by means of a newly added LRT platform. The City acquired gh3 as the lead design architects and Morrison Hershfield Limited as the prime con- sultants through the City's design competition and Hawkes says of the former, "We'd worked with them many times on projects across Edmonton. Their partnership with Morrison Hershfield, along with us securing Graham Construction, was important in ensuring that this enormous proj- ect would proceed efficiently." The City and architects collabo- rated closely to determine optimum flow of vehicular traffic that would dominate operations at the garage, and the City also encouraged the development of architectural elements that went far beyond the boundaries of utilitarian design. This led to the architects decid- ing to use custom stainless steel panels to form a rhythmic skin around the rectangular, two-sto- rey facility. Additionally, a rooftop artwork installation titled 53°30'N by Thorsten Goldberg features five massive stainless steel topographic models of mountain scapes and gives the garage an almost Brutalist archi- tectural expression. During the garage's development, Morrison Hershfield remarked, "The modern design will feature interior spaces covered in natural light con- trolled by light diffusing glazed panels; when employees enter the building they will be greeted by light wells and enter through a skylit concourse." Attention to safety was also a prior- ity. For example, the bus maintenance zone was designed to have 35 bays, and fall arrest systems on the ceiling were specified to provide safety tie- offs for maintenance staff working on the top of the buses. Considering a 12-storey Canada Packers smokestack had been given a municipal historical designation in 2015, it was decided to restore the structure and create a public his- torical park around it; this required numerous damaged bricks being replaced with custom-manufactured matching Terracotta bricks sourced from Iowa. That task took two months; by con- trast, garage construction began in the summer of 2016 and was largely completed in late 2019. "In total, 24,000 cubic metres of concrete was poured, 116,000 metric tons of structural steel was used, and up to 280 workers were on the site daily," says Matt Heske, proj- ect manager at Graham Construction. "We started by digging up the remain- ing concrete foundations of the old plant and rebuilding and relocating storm and sewer lines." Hawkes adds, "The immensity of the site resulted in Graham building the garage from one end to the other like in a wave, with Graham lead- ing and the other trades following. It was not uncommon to see work on the foundations being done in one area and the structural steel and the roof being completed in another." Of the stainless steel panels, Heske says, "The unique cladding system was installed on a combination precast and steel stud exterior wall con- struction. The support framing and fastening system was engineered spe- cifically for this application, while the project team completed several mock- ups to fine tune the installation." The decision that the garage would accommodate electric buses wasn't made until late 2016, meaning the massive suspended concrete slab that comprised the bulk of the facility had to be reinforced beyond what had been originally specified; an emer- gency generator and charging stations also had to be incorporated. Despite crews being obliged to work in constant minus 30-degree weather during the winter of 2018/19, con- struction of the garage was completed on time and on budget. "It's a gorgeous facility with so many features that drastically improve bus operations and maintenance," says Hawkes. A KATHLEEN ANDREWS TRANSIT GARAGE by ROBIN BRUNET LOCATION 12403 Fort Road, Edmonton, Alberta OWNER /DEVELOPER City of Edmonton ARCHITECTS gh3 (lead design architects) Morrison Hershfield Limited (prime consultants) GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Graham Construction TOTAL SIZE 450,000 square feet TOTAL COST $210.7 million 4:05 PM 9:47 AM