Award

OCTOBER 2015 | 83 In fact, no matter where you look, Gateway's dedication to making this a world-class facility is prominent. "What really stood out to me was the owner's willingness to find original cutting edge items, such as the interactive video fea- ture wall, the Seeyond lights and the vapour fire place in the ATLAS restau- rant. Gateway really wanted this to be a first class facility, and they provided the willingness and the funding to achieve that," says Thomson. Inside there is a gaming floor with 500 slots and 18 table games, as well as three food and beverage outlets that each feature an outdoor seating area. Gateway's focus on sustainability also shines through on this project. "Heating and cooling on the gaming floor has been provided through custom heat recovery ventilators. These units were specifi- cally designed for the project to ensure the incoming outdoor air to the gaming floor is preheated by the stale air leav- ing the building which saves both natu- ral gas for heating as well as electricity for cooling," explains Jamie Dabner from Integral Group. "The building also fea- tures a demand control carbon dioxide ventilation system service which allows the air handling units to turn down by up to 70 per cent when the occupancy in the space is low." The kitchen ventilation system features an integrated control strategy which turns back when not in peak cooking mode to further reduce energy use when the building is not occupied fully. "This allows the building to maintain comfort with exceptional performance that exceeds standard regulations," says Gabara. Domestic hot water for the entire building is supplied by four Energy Star-rated condensing water heaters that have intelligent control system to improve energy efficiency while main- taining a reliable supply of hot water as required by health codes. To reduce energy usage, the heat- ers for the outdoor patios are on digital controls, which trigger only when the patio is in use, during business hours and when the outdoor air temperature reaches 14-degrees Celcius or lower. One of the major challenges faced by the team was the relatively brief design and construction period. Construction began in March and the facility was open to the public in early August. "It's a remarkable feat. Approximately 30 per cent of the time usually allocated to a project of this size and scope – there was a desire to relocate the casino within the summer of 2015," says Gabara. Due to the aggressive schedule, the contractor, architect and WHM consulted frequently to ensure the structural infor- mation was provided in a manner that suited the contractor's schedule. "To accommodate this, the structural design was prepared and issued in multiple phases, similar to just-in-time delivery," says Maver. "In addition, the design was continuously modified and tailored to ensure member sizes were readily avail- able from the Okanagan region." "With the pace of construction onsite, there was really no time to proceed with conventional construction procedures," adds Thomson. "Everyone involved with the project was fantastic in adapting to changing site conditions, and improvis- ing on the fly. With construction pro- ceeding seven days a week and most hours of the night, everyone had to be on call for emergencies and questions. Ron Wong and Brittany Paglia [interior designers] were especially good at com- ing up with solutions and alternate prod- ucts due to changing site conditions." Through a team effort on the part of Gateway, British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), the consulting team and the general contracting team, Plainsman Construction Ltd., were able to meet the compressed schedule. A RENDERING COURTESY MALLEN GOWING BERZINS ARCHITECTURE INC. Cascades Casino Kamloops

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