Award

June 2014

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Mayport Distribution Facility by Godfrey Budd COURTESY ALLEN & SHERRIFF ARCHITECTS INC. A new warehouse and distribution centre in Caledon, Ontario, has 575,000 square feet of interior space with a ceiling height clearance of 32 feet and refl ects a transformation of the sector over the last decade or so. "A lot of activity in warehousing has seen a shift from North American products to overseas products. A product would come off a train and the manufacturer might deliver it. Or, with the old Eatons warehouse system, suppliers would deliver to the warehouse by rail. The pattern began to change in the 1990s," says David Leeming, VP Eastern Canada, Hopewell Development Corporation. To accommodate the shift to imports arriving by ship, the container system has become increasingly the method of choice for moving stuff around the continent. Today, bulk warehouses are growing in numbers across North America. It is no coincidence that Mayport, which is a speculative distribution centre, is a stone's throw from highways 427 and 410, and located near intermodal yards for two major railroad companies, CP and CN. "They are two of the largest intermodal hubs in Canada," Leeming says. The steel-frame and precast facility has an exceptionally large number of doors and loading bays. "It used to be one door for every 20 to 25,000 square feet. With Mayport, we have one door for every 6,400 square feet," Leeming adds. The bay size is 55 by 40 feet, and, Leeming says, "allows for better racking confi guration." With this level of access, Mayport's 32-acre site, overall, aims at high functionality, with parking for 175 tractor trailers. An aspect of the warehouse, which likely applies to almost all modern facilities of this type, is the design and installation of ultra- fl at fl oors. They have a key role in a system that involves advanced forklifts that are geared to move quickly, automated racking systems and goods stacked 30-feet high. The design and shape of the warehouses also had to accommodate a local authority of the Greater Toronto Area that set some design parameters. "A local conservation concern resulted in constraints on the shape and size of the building. It had to be a bit narrower and irregular in shape. At the same time, our objective was to design a maximum land coverage facility," says Tom Walker, a principal with Allen & Sherriff Architects Inc. The design also anticipated potential installation of extra offi ce space at either end of the main facade, depending on the requirements of the tenant or tenants. The building's cladding is white precast concrete, with offi ce areas clad in white granite aggregate-faced precast. The building is not a simple square or rectangle. The west section is the larger part, and square, while the east part, which is attached, is rectangular. In buildings with a fl oor plate this size, wall sections extend a long way without breaks, so expansion has be accounted for in the design. "A structural expansion joint runs between the two halves, so both buildings can move independently to address temperature and seismic considerations," says Richard Querin, a senior engineer at Dorlan Engineering Consultants Inc. "But the most compelling reason for the separation is the temperature-related expansion and contraction. The buildings are separate in east-west movement, but act together in north-south movement. So the design of the structural bracing of the building has to take this into account." The roof includes a structural diaphragm, which improves the functionality of the bracing. "We had to do the design in a way to ensure that the lateral expansion and contraction forces extended to the braces, which were mostly around the perimeter," says Querin. The size of the facility also accounted for a challenge or two in the construction process. "You had to wait for one part to be completely done before starting on the next part, so the waits could be long. But two cranes on the site helped with the steel erection. That was done in nine weeks. The columns, beams and joists were all structural steel only," says Lesley Lackner, senior project manager with Urbacon Design/Build Corporation. Construction began last year, but the building was not enclosed prior to winter, so trades had to be staggered. "The ground was still frozen in early April. Winter was cold with a lot of snow and wind," Lackner says. But, she adds, leaving the structure open during winter construction and staggering trades saved money. ■ LOCATION 12333 – 12347 Airport Road, Caledon, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER Hopewell Development Corporation ARCHITECT Allen & Sherriff Architects Inc. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Urbacon Design/Build Corporation STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Dorlan Engineering Consultants Inc. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT GMC Engineering Inc. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Lapas Consulting Engineers Limited LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT JSW + Associates TOTAL AREA 575,000 square feet PROJECT COST $52 million JUNE 2014 /97 Mayport Distribution Facility Villa Marie – Assisted Living Facility p.96-97VillaMarie_Mayport.indd 97 14-06-03 10:33 AM

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