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FEBRUA RY 2017 | 91 Fort Chipewyan Swimming Pool Complex PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY IBI GROUP Fort Chipewyan Swimming Pool Complex by ROBIN BRUNET W ith their complex mechanical and structural requirements, even relatively simple public swimming pools can be tough to build, but this was a minor consideration compared to the other challenges facing the Fort Chipewyan Swimming Pool Complex, located in the same- named community of Alberta. From the outside, the complex exhibits clean, unadorned lines with staggered rooflines and several architectural flourishes, such as a circular rotunda gracing the entrance – a good balance between form and function. Inside, the pool includes a three Olympic- size lap area as well as a water slide looming over a water/spray park. But Fort Chip, as it's called by its 1,200 residents, is a fly-in community located 223-kilometres north of Fort McMurray, and therein lies the true challenge of the project. Not only did everything have to be trucked in over an ice road or transported by barge, a work camp had to be established for the builders. "Even though the pool itself wasn't overly complicated, the logistics made this a major undertaking," says Noel Vilamitjana, project manager at IBI Group. To facilitate the development and retain more control over the proceedings, IBI in Edmonton presided over the architectural component of the project on behalf of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), while IBI Toronto was in charge of complete mechanical, electrical and structural design regarding the pool building services. During groundbreaking in May of 2015, RMWB mayor Melissa Blake stated: "This aquatic expansion [of the existing Archie Simpson Arena] will provide a wonderful gathering place for community activity and is an example of the great things that happen when we work together." She added that the project, which would be the first-ever swimming complex in Fort Chipewyan, has been in the works since 2011. James Seaward, project manager for Monteith Building Group, points out that everyone prepared well ahead of time for the task of working in such a remote location. "One of the first things to do was build a 49-person work camp at the site and take special care getting the right caterers to run it, as smooth function and morale would be essential to the success of the project." GRC Camp Services provided turnkey management services for the camp. IBI Group relied heavily on VDA Architecture Limited to develop the pool portion of the project, and VDA architect Kevin Klippenstein recalls, "Early on, we opted for a pre- manufactured stainless steel/pva pool by Italy's Myrtha, due to the difficulty in getting good concrete trades up to our location as well as the fact that the iron ore in the aggregates available to us would have stained the concrete." VDA's expertise proved invaluable in avoiding the many pitfalls of pool construction; typical examples of mistakes made being the use of structural stainless steel (inappropriate in a pool setting due to pool chemicals corroding the metal) and the installation of open web steel joists (because the bottom cords collect moisture, meaning the joists have to be custom manufactured to compensate). Structural challenges included frost protection, according to IBI Group senior structural engineer Norman Tian: "In Alberta, the regular footing buried depth for frost protection is roughly three metres below grade, which would have been extremely costly at Fort Chip. After discussing with the client and contractor, we decided to apply rigid insulation material only 1.2- to 1.6-metres below grade. This not only lowered the cost of excavation, it shortened the construction schedule." The winter of 2014/15 saw 135 truck deliveries to Fort Chipewyan via an ice road. "By January of 2015 all components of the pool had been delivered to site, in preparation for the May groundbreaking," says Seaward. Because the ice road was available for only two months out of the year, other materials (including steel and a crane) had to be shipped in by barge, and consultants were flown in from Fort McMurray. Seaward says the biggest challenge of the construction process was concrete work for the foundations and slabs. "We needed 1,100 cubic metres, so we purchased a mobile mixing truck and brought it to site, where it produced about 30 metres per hour, which we accommodated by scheduling for smaller pours," he says. As for the mechanical systems, they included a centralized air conditioning system for the pool, and two independent AC systems each serving the changing rooms, plus diesel- fired hot water boilers and heaters, circulating pumps and glycol systems. "Designing a building system able to maintain interior temperatures of +30 Celsius and humidity around 50 percent for an outside environment of -46 Celsius required remote co-ordination between different specialties and extended travel for periodic site reviews," says IBI Group mechanical engineer George Vernescu. Tian adds, "No mistake was allowed in design and construction due to the very stringent weather conditions and short construction period," and a typical nail-biting incident resulting from this was the Myrtha pre-fab pool. "The pool panels were being constructed in Italy before the concrete was poured on site, so there was lots of video conferencing between us and the Italian craftsmen," explains Vilamitjana. Logistics aside, the project allowed a satisfying degree of creativity mainly due to the rotunda, which makes use of curvilinear walls that incorporate First Nations cultural motifs as well as employs colour and form to reflect the surrounding lakes in the region. One final challenge came when the people who would oversee the commissioning of the aquatic centre were supposed to be flown in from Fort McMurray. "That same day, the Fort McMurray fires broke out, forcing us to charter flights from Edmonton," recalls Seaward. But for all the difficulties, Fort Chipewyan Swimming Pool Complex was finished on time in the fall of 2016, and unexpected costs were mitigated due to the ingenuity of all involved. Klippenstein speaks for his colleagues when he says: "The collaborative process was intense, and thanks to a great working relationship with Wood Buffalo administration we got the job done. This was a memorable project, to say the least." A LOCATION Ward 2 - Fort Chipewyan, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo ARCHITECTS IBI Group (Edmonton) / VDA Architecture Limited GENERAL CONTRACTOR Monteith Building Group STRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL/LEED CONSULTANT AND FUEL SYSTEMS ENGINEER IBI Group (Toronto) POOL MECHANICAL CONSULTANT AME Consulting Group TOTAL SIZE 18,500 square feet TOTAL COST $30 million 11:02 AM

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