Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/493534
A PR IL 2015 | 67 Polo Park Shopping Centre Expansion PHOTOGRAPHY CHRISTOPHER LAWSON/COURTESY POLO PARK SHOPPING CENTRE Polo Park Shopping Centre Expansion by IRWIN RAPOPORT T he Polo Park Shopping Centre – the biggest in Winnipeg and the prov- ince of Manitoba – has undergone a $49-million renovation – converting a former Zellers store into a new wing that houses 22 new stores, including H&M and other first-to-market retailers in Winnipeg. Owned by Cadillac Fairview Corpo- ration Limited, Polo Park attracts cus- tomers from across the province. "We are the largest, with just under 1.3-mil- lion square feet of space," says Deborah Green. "With the renovation we really wanted to provide more unique and first-to-market retailers to the Winni- peg shopper. We were able to success- fully do that with the addition of stores like Disney, Anthropologie, H&M and Urban Outfitters." The mall underwent a $30-million upgrade in 2007 and the latest expan- sion, which opened to the public on October 1, 2014, continued with the same colours and styling. "We kept the architecture much in line, but the new section is a little bit different as seen in the column finish in the middle and tile patterns," says Green. "It has a lower ceiling because our mall is two storeys, and the second level has a great big sky- light that runs down the middle. We added about eight new skylights that brighten up the new area." The storefronts in the new addition are a foot taller than the rest of the mall and 22,000-square-feet of space was vacated on the main and basement level of the mall to make room for H&M. Scott Neish, an associate with Stantec, designed the exterior of the expansion. "The design of shopping centres is critical for high exposure for the tenants, good patron flow, ease of navigation, places of respite, connection to outdoors and nat- ural light," he says. "Key elements of the design included natural light, making the mall feel as though it flows and matches the existing design, while providing ten- ants to draw patrons to that side of the mall. The Zellers' exterior entry was renovated to act as a mall entrance with a lighted canopy and signage." Merrill Fung, manager of architec- ture and design in Cadillac Fairview's development team, says it was integral to create a space that was inviting to consumers and would create a success- ful platform for clients to offer their service and products: "Longevity is one of the key aspects. Our design focuses on strong presence with simple details and durable materials. We stay away from being trendy and maintain a mod- ern contemporary design that will last through the next 10 to 15 years." The design was done in-house by the architecture and design department – Sebastian Greenall, SVP of Architecture & Design and Fung. "The success was based on a pool of experienced consul- tants – Stantec, the construction man- agement team, Manshield Construction and the Property and our internal Project Management teams and Leasing," says Fung. "As we subdivided the previous anchor tenant space, we created a 'horse- shoe' layout that connects with the exist- ing mall from both ends. This creates a continuous flow for shoppers and a cohe- sive addition to the existing mall layout." Interior finishes and materials were chosen to match and improve upon the existing mall finishes. "We installed approximately 350 linear feet of sky- lights and embraced the space with natural sunlight," says Fung. "On the other hand, we introduced continuous light coves and strategically placed pen- dant lights to create a balance of natural and artificial lighting, day and night, in the new space. We have continued the same flooring material with a different f loor pattern that works for the new mall area. We gave a new paint palette to the developed area, however, we still maintain the same design vocabulary with the existing area." The increased storefront height is a key feature in the new development. "Finding the extra height required extremely tight construction tolerances and some additional modifications to the roof structure," explains Neish. "The design needed to be ready for tender before the design team had full access to the Zellers space." The only real exterior item was the new canopy at the former anchor tenant, which brought in aluminum metal pan- els. "The exterior facade started off with a canopy idea," says Fung. "We elaborated the idea further by raising the height of the canopy with vertical upstands and the interplay of planes. We selected the use of a metal cladding system, and chal- lenged the trades to build angled geom- etry that connected with one another." To reduce energ y consumption, high-efficiency mechanical units were installed, as well as LED downlights in the new developed area. In addi- tion, SMS Engineering Ltd. undertook a replacement of the facility's existing natural draft heating boiler plant with modern, condensing boiler technology and an expansion of the facility's cool- ing plant with the addition of a fourth large-scale wet fluid cooler. Manshield Construction was respon- sible for the renovation and special designs, and procedures were developed to strengthen the existing structural steel frame and minimize inconve- niences to the merchants. "A number of innovative and creative construction sequencing methods were employed throughout this project in order to achieve the design intent, while embrac- ing the factor of working within an existing and fully operational building," says Manshield's Randy Bowles. "These included processes such as constructing the structural framing modifications of the skylights below the roof, while simul- taneously framing and glazing the sky- lights themselves on the roof above - the roof itself was not removed to facilitate the new skylight until the entire feature had been framed, closed and sealed-in." Other limiting factors included cre- ating a network of plumbing drainage systems for the new second-floor spaces that had to be installed above the ceil- ings of existing main floor tenant and common area ceilings. "[But] the trickiest factor was work- ing in a linear sequence while adapting to the multiple adjustments of each ten- ant that would be made known usually out-of-sequence with the construction efforts on site," says Bowles. "Time is typically the most stringent factor on any construction project and thanks to Cadillac Fairview, our consultant team and our trades working together we resolved problems quickly and provided efficient, co-operative management of revisions while never wavering from the collective commitment towards the completion date and design intent." For Crosier Kilgour & Partners, the biggest challenges were dealing with the as-built conditions. "Polo Park was built in a number of phases and that kept us on our toes. Maintaining lateral sta- bility of the entire structure was a chal- lenge," says Tom Malkiewicz, a principal with Crosier Kilgour & Partners. "We had to introduce cross-bracing in areas where it previously had not existed, for example when we were cut- ting large holes in the roof to put in the skylights. In one location, we had to go through some pretty good gymnastics to get rid of the cross-bracing and intro- duce moment frames to resist the lateral loads to maintain usable space for the store. All the structural modifications had the full support of the architect and Cadillac Fairview, and was greatly appreciated," concludes Malkiewicz. A LOCATION 1485 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba OWNER/DEVELOPER Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited ARCHITECT Stantec GENERAL CONTRACTOR Manshield Construction STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Crosier Kilgour & Partners Ltd. MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT SMS Engineering ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT Pinchin Ltd. TOTAL AREA 133,400 square feet (new and reworked/renovated space) COST $49 million