Award

f iciency before all else: that was the mandate driving the development of the County of Newell's new Administration and Public Works Facility in Brooks, Alberta. While many such facilities can be an opportunity to make an architectural statement, the County's decisionmakers wanted primarily to put their various departments under one roof. "Previously our administration, maintenance shops and other facilities were divided between three buildings on two different properties," says chief administrative of icer Kevin Stephenson. "We had long outgrown the space, so we chose to relocate to a consolidated site on County-owned land south of Brooks." Although operational ef iciency was the key consideration, the 31,754square-foot administration complex and the 24,240-square-foot shop area nonetheless boast impressive design features, including extensive use of wood with a prominent exposed barrel vault roof, supporting glue-laminated beams and columns, and an exposed engineered wood roof structure. Wood wall panelling and millwork extends through the lobby and reception into the administration work areas and Council chambers. "The woodwork looks truly exceptional," says Stephenson. "And the good news is the project appears to be coming in slightly under the assigned budget of $17 million." Located prominently at the crest of a hill, the Administration building is joined by a two-storey permanent link to the adjacent maintenance shop. Public access to the complex is gained through an expanse of glass into the two-storey barrel vaulted lobby. All of ices throughout the facility have exterior windows. County services are located on the lanking main and second loor areas, and the lower level includes emergency operations, information technology plus staff lunch and itness LOCATION No. 183037 RR#14-5 Brooks, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER County of Newell #4 ARCHITECT/PRIME CONSULTANT Barr Ryder Architects & Interior Designers GENERAL CONTRACTOR Ledcor Construction Limited STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Protostatix Engineering Consultants Inc. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Nowak Engineering Inc. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT FSC Consulting GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT Curtis Engineering Associates Ltd. TOTAL AREA 55,994 square feet TOTAL COST $17 million COURTESY COUNTY OF NEWELL #4 E Administration Building and Public Works Facility – County of Newell #4 by Robin Brunet areas. The lower level also opens onto an exterior courtyard that contains a patio for public functions during summer months. Meeting and breakout rooms incorporate moveable acoustic walls that scale the work areas to speci ic needs. Stephenson says, "We had a new facility in our long-term plans for years, but we didn't get serious about it until 2007 when our economy went sideways and construction costs plummeted. We decided then that we needed to get the job done within a ive-year window. Accordingly, a $17-million budget was approved in 2009 for a turnkey project, and shortly afterwards we retained Barr Ryder Architects & Interior Designers not only as our architect but also as the construction manager." Stephenson notes that other short-listed contenders, "gave terri ic presentations and would have been fantastic to work with. However, Barr Ryder had previous experience in designing the kind of facility we wanted – and in a rural setting, too." (Stephenson is referring to the recently completed Administration Building and adjoining Public Works Shop for Brazeau County.) Barr Ryder partner-in-charge Jim Carey embarked on the design process in November 2009 with no pre-conceived idea of what the new facility should look like. "Instead, it was very much a case of collaborating with the County's building committee and other stakeholders, methodically determining what was required and what form the facility should take," he says. Stephenson recalls the process as "intense, especially during the irst few months when all sorts of ideas were being tossed around. Everyone wanted the moon on a limited budget, and at one point a proposed version of the building would have cost $20 million, so there was a lot of scaling back during the design stage. The bottom line we all adhered to was that this was a municipal-owned asset that had to be high-quality, durable and low-maintenance." In order to incorporate an abundance of natural light (to control heat gain and loss), the design team selected a highperformance curtainwall glazing system throughout the Administration Building and Public Works Facility – County of Newell #4 p.54-55Newell.indd 55 facility. Additional energy initiatives include a fully adhered air vapour barrier membrane system and exterior insulation on all surfaces. Staff comfort and privacy were achieved with a high-quality sound isolation between private of ices. Barr Ryder also accommodated speci ic program needs by creating several four-hour ire-resistant vital records storage vaults with dry chemical ire suppression, as well as a proximityactivated security and access control system throughout the building. Under the guidance of project manager Justin Estby, Ledcor Construction Limited broke ground in September of 2010. The construction process was uneventful save for problems posed by inclement weather. "We had a harsh winter in 2010/11, a terrible spring to follow and some huge winds that blew the beams off the structure last summer," says Stephenson. "That de initely caused delays, but the Ledcor team has worked very hard to make up time since last fall." Ledcor constructed the shop portion of the facility with conventional structural steel framing and clad it with a preinished high-performance insulated metal wall panel. High R-value insulated metal overhead doors and a two-ply SBS roof membrane contribute to a durable and low-maintenance building envelope. Painted concrete blocks were used as the interior's perimeter wall inish in order to maximize the durability of the building. Plus, staff comfort was taken into consideration with the pouring of the slab loor: it will receive supplemental heating from radiant systems above the overhead doors. Carey praises Estby's team for "being very focused on doing the job right. As a result, the project has come in on schedule, under budget and will be ready for occupancy in the fall." For his part, Stephenson reports that County councillors and staff are excited about moving into the new facility: "Thanks to Barr Ryder, Ledcor and many other sub trades we've achieved exactly what we set out to do: improve our operations with a new administrative headquarters that will last us for the next 50 years." ■ JUNE 2012 /55 5/25/12 12:01:53 PM

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