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FEBRUA RY 2017 | 53 Banff Gondola Upper Terminal Redevelopment PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS AMAT/COURTESY BREWSTER TRAVEL CANADA Banff Gondola Upper Terminal Redevelopment by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI T he $26-million redevelopment of the Banff Gondola Upper Terminal located at the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park was not only a feat of engineering but also a feat of logistics, as the crew who worked on this iconic building can attest to. "I'm a bit of a logistics guy and this was probably the most complex project, logistically, that I have encountered," explains Cole Kitchen, project manager, PCL Construction Management Inc. "If you forgot something from your truck it would take half an hour in the gondola to get there. As a result, there was an unbelievable amount of crew camaraderie and co-operation." Indeed, being perched 7,486 feet above sea level and with no road access meant crews and materials for the four-storey structure needed to be transported to the site either by gondola or helicopter, sometimes in high-wind conditions. "Around 900 pieces of steel were brought up attached to the cable and we had to use around 300 helicopter flights to bring up the larger material," explains project manager Jordan Lewis from Lawson Projects. The location and site access was a challenge that needed to be considered from the project's very outset when it was decided that to meet the demands of today's tourism industry, the gondola and its related structure would be redeveloped into a state-of-the-art complex that would be 30 percent bigger than the existing building, feature a 48-seat theatre, cafes and restaurants, a new interpretive centre, a rooftop deck providing a 360-degree view of six mountain ranges and a 150-person conference space for weddings and corporate events. Working closely with owners Brewster Travel Canada as well as Parks Canada, architects Dialog came up with a design that was not only esthetically striking, but would have minimal impact on wildlife and work with the challenging logistics. "The entire design and construction process was an exercise in helping our team and PCL define how to make the project small enough in terms of pieces so that those pieces could be carried up to the top of the mountain using two gondola cars and a tandem rig or a helicopter," explains John Souleles, architect at Dialog. "We were working with tonnage and length limits. There were a couple of situations where we had to change the design because of these factors," adds Nick Berci, senior engineer at Entuitive. Maintaining the circular structure, Dialog and the team chose exterior materiality based on an alpine modern design. "The idea is not to compete with nature or mimic it as it relates to the timber frame construction, but to allow the robustness, colour and texture of the material to reflect the mountain environment. We used concrete panels and fritted glazing, which is considered bird friendly and maximizes the amazing views," explains Souleles. While the new complex was designed using the existing foundation, the original design did not take into consideration the use of a crane for construction, so PCL worked with structural consultants Entuitive to adapt the design and have a helicopter transport a derrick crane to the upper terminal building. "The original building had this big core stairwell so we had the engineers modify their steel design so that it could have the capacity to hold our crane," explains Kitchen. On demolishing the existing structure, the crew was faced with an unforeseen challenge. "We discovered post-tensioning slabs, which was a bit of a curveball," explains Berci. "The original design required us to cut into the existing building, but as soon as we found out it was post tensioning it changed the game. We had to install sub framing to help support the slab, which we were now cutting into." "The structure was stripped down to the original bare concrete; suffice to say there was some spotty documentation that related to the original structure. It was a bit of an adventure as we peeled back layers of the building and discovered walls that weren't on the plans," agrees Souleles. Today, the only part of the original building that remains aside from its foundation is the gondola bay. "The gondola hall now ties into the 11:02 AM 10:41 AM

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