Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/493534
A PR IL 2015 | 89 ATB Place PHOTOGRAPHY TINA MITCHELL/COURTESY STANTEC ATB Place by ROBIN BRUNET F unctional, efficient, esthetically pleas- ing: these are usually the elements developers aim for when creating a new office complex. Rarely is the word "inno- vative" used in the construction process. But ATB Place (formerly TELUS Plaza) is no ordinary office complex: it's one of the most well-known properties in the Edmonton skyline, and innovative thinking was required when it came time to undertake substantial renovations within a short time frame. The massive, 1.2-million-square-foot facility on Jasper Avenue in the heart of Edmonton's financial district (originally opened for business in 1971) is comprised of ATB's offices (11 storeys in the 35- storey south tower, TELUS house), a con- course and food court plus ATB Financial Branch leading to the lobby of ATB Place North Tower (a 26-storey tower). The most ambitious part of the $47.6-million renovation, which enlisted the services of Stantec, Delnor Construction and an army of contractors and sub-trades, consisted of gutting 11 floors of the south tower. "The project came about when TELUS revamped its working spaces and made these floors available to ATB," says Jody Kundrik, director of property management, for Triovest Realty Advisors Inc., who manages the complex on behalf of the owner of ATB Place, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. Stantec Architecture Ltd. worked col- laboratively with ATB Facilities staff and executives to evolve a program called Workplace 2.0 for the company's new office space. "Workplace 2.0 addresses the fact that trends such as staff work- ing from home have changed the office dynamic," says Craig Ainsworth, Stantec principal. "We rearranged the foot- prints of the 11 floors so that the work areas would be open spaces around the perimeter and bathed in natural light. Meeting rooms, service spaces and file rooms would be located in the interior." Under Workplace 2.0, community hubs with kitchens and lounges as well as collaborative areas and quiet zones were created. Ainsworth credits ATB for strongly supporting Stantec's ambitious propos- als. "The engagement between the end users, management and us was extensive, and fortunately everyone really bought into our ideas," he says. For the people at Delnor, the renova- tion was fulfilling on several levels. "First and foremost, we were able not merely to work with ATB Financial but become fully integrated with the company, and this was the real key to our success," says project manager Joshua St Cyr. "Because we were so integrated, we were able to create new policies and procedures that enabled us to start planning without any drawings in February of 2013 and then meet our sched- ule dates – all of this within an extremely short time frame of 14 months." St Cyr finds it somewhat ironic that 30 years ago Delnor did extensive con- struction work on behalf of TELUS in the south tower and even installed the TELUS logo on the side of the building. "Back then, our main contact person at TELUS was Garry Kunyk," he says. "Flash forward to us in 2013 gutting the south tower: our main contact person for ATB turned out to be Garry Kunyk, who had become that company's senior manager of special projects. He hired us to gut the construction we had done 30 years ago." When Delnor was awarded the con- tract to help consolidate ATB's Edmonton corporate locations into the south tower, it requested a full-time project manager with an onsite office. "The design was almost completed in early 2013, and construction would commence in June, and this schedule was so aggressive that it was vital for us to be in tune with all the construction dailies," explains St Cyr. "An active onsite management team would be able to respond immediately to LOCATION 10025 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan PROPERTY MANAGER Triovest Realty Advisors Inc. ARCHITECT Stantec Architecture Ltd. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Delnor Construction Ltd. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Read Jones Christoffersen MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Stantec Consulting Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT WSP Canada TOTAL SIZE 1.2-million square feet for ATB Place; 240,000 square feet for ATB offices; 5,000 square feet for ATB Branch TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST $47.6 million