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J UNE 2018 | 57 Trio on Belmont Bousfield says, "Trio balconies have an uncommon feeling of space and security, and they allowed for the most recognizable architectural fea- ture on the building: some of them are framed by bold white precast concrete boxes, which break up the facade into discreet elements." Renouf adds, "The balconies are like picture frames, and for residents they're the equivalent of an additional room – great for dining in the summer." A dark colour palette of precast con- crete exterior wall panels was chosen to contrast sharply with the stark white colouring of the boxes, thereby achieving HIP's goal of a strong visual presentation. Because the internal corridor bearing line of a perimeter bearing alignment usually runs right through the middle of the drive aisle, this would present a challenge for the develop- ment of underground parking. ABA and HIP overcame this by designing and constructing a separate total precast concrete above-grade parking struc- ture. "This has a distinct advantage in that as automobile dependency less- ens – especially in an urban area such as Belmont Village – we have the option of dismantling the parking structure and creating a landscaped courtyard," says Bousfield, whose talents were also put to use designing landscape buffers and interfacing for the Iron Horse Trail behind the three buildings. Melloul-Blamey Construction com- menced construction of building A in March of 2016. "Our challenge back then was getting the parking structure up and certified for the residents of the first building," recalls Renouf. "Other than that, thanks to using total precast the structure went up very quickly." Indeed, Kurt Ruhland, director at MTE Consultants Inc., notes that the builders were installing the 10th floor by the first week of June, taking a week on average to install one level of floor and walls. "Using set precast concrete sizes also allowed for immediate installation of windows and the ability to begin fin- ishing the interior of each floor level as construction continued," he points out. All told, the 14-storey building A required 1,290 pieces of precast con- crete consisting of 48 columns, 172 balconies, over 1,000 wall panels, 16,908 square metres [182,000 square feet] of hollowcore floors, and 54 stairs and landings. As for the precast concrete parking garage, it used a dou- ble-tee floor system with structural beams, columns, column walls, and shear walls. Forty-nine spandrels were field stained, and the parking decks were finished with concrete topping Work on the remaining two tow- ers proceeded in a similarly quick and uneventful fashion and was completed on time and on budget earlier this year. "Precast was obviously the key benefit of this project, in that it mitigated the problems associated with weather – and we had a lousy winter and rainy spring – and enabled us to duplicate construc- tion for each building," says Jeff Shantz, VP, project development for Melloul- Blamey. "There were other benefits too: for example, good soil conditions, thanks to the owners of the warehouse having remediated the site years ago." Bousfield says that including Trio, "We've designed over a dozen buildings with HIP using the precast system, hav- ing proven we can be creative with it. The driver of course is affordability and speed of erection, and although there's not much cast concrete trade infrastruc- ture in this region, things are changing." As far as Renouf is concerned, Trio is a success on many fronts. "Realstar was very happy with the delivery timelines," he says. "The residents are happy, and so too is the City of Kitchener. As for us, it was enormously fulfilling to work with ABA and so many talented trades to realize the full potential of this urban site." A LOCATION 460 Belmont Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario OWNER Realstar DEVELOPER HIP Developments ARCHITECT/INTERIOR DESIGNER ABA Architects Inc. GENERAL CONTRACTOR Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT MTE Consultants Inc. MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT DEI & Associates Inc. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT MHBC Planning, Urban Design & Landscape Architecture CIVIL CONSULTANT IBI Group (Waterloo) TOTAL SIZE 52,972 square feet TOTAL COST $180 million 10:25 AM 10:36 AM 10:03 AM Serving the Kitchener – Waterloo and Southern Ontario Region We are proud to have been involved in the Trio on Belmont project! Congratulations to ABA Architects & Melloul-Blamey Construction on a successful job! goldstardrywall.ca | info@goldstardrywall.ca 519-699-5050 Star Drywall.indd 1 2018-05-02 2:14 PM Kieswetter Excavating.indd 1 2018-05-22 11:22 2:11 PM

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