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J UNE 2018 | 81 Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility (HMTF) – College of New Caledonia RENDERINGS COURTESY OFFICE OF MCFARLANE BIGGAR ARCHITECTS + DESIGNERS INC. Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility (HMTF) – College of New Caledonia by PETER STENNING M ore than ever, institutes of higher learning in Canada are focused on providing students with the skills necessary to obtain jobs in the heavy mechanical trades, and when the College of New Caledonia in Prince George, B.C., resolved to spend $15 million on the new Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility (HMTF) in 2016, it retained an archi- tectural firm that had considerable experience in designing facilities for this forward-thinking institute. The office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers inc. (OMB), which had previously created the col- lege's Canfor Technical Centre and the Technical Education Centre, designed the one-storey plus mezzanine HMTF to include a large multifunctional work- shop and several dedicated technology laboratories, with an abundance of natural light. The 25,000-square-foot LEED Gold facility replaces a leased building and connects to the existing campus build- ing with elements clearly articulated to express their use and modulated to ensure flexibility. Material selection is intentionally industrial, robust, and appropriate to its purpose, with local wood products including a heavy timber roof acting as a showcase in public areas. Upon the project being announced, New Caledonia president Henry Reisner pointed out that his institution works with local and regional indus- tries to determine what skills their employees require, and that the new facility "will enable students to develop practical skills that match employers' needs." The federal and provincial gov- ernments were credited for providing the main funding for the project, with the college contributing $1.2 million to bring the new facility to life. As much as government money was responsible for the creation of the HMTF, the funding also came with familiar challenges. "One always has to abide by strict scheduling and dead- lines when receiving government money, and in this case we began design work in November of 2016 and had to be ready for tendering by the beginning of June the following year," says OMB principal Nick Foster. "Fortunately, we had already estab- lished a great working relationship with the college over a 10 year period and understood their needs and the direction in which they wanted to go. The college administrators are very hands-on and involved, and great ideas always result from their collaboration." Early on, OMB established that the new trades facility should be part of a trade cluster on campus; the facility it would replace was located off campus, so it was decided that the HMTF would be located prominently beside the main traffic artery facing the campus, with the two existing trades facilities (one of which OMB had designed in 2010) slightly behind and forming a tri- angle. "This cluster would be linked by walkways, a communal courtyard, and a main cafeteria," says Foster. "Instead of being isolated, staff would share offices and classrooms." OMB visited other campuses, including BCIT and NAIT in Edmonton, to study their best practices, "and we came away with many great ideas that we incorporated into our design," according to Foster. For example, instead of traditional shops with walls, cages, and alcoves that encourage build-up of clutter and are inherently dark, the design team created a main workshop and auxiliary shops to be open-concept, with equipment areas marked on the slabs. "This served several functions," says Foster. "In addition to keeping things clean, these almost lab-like facilities are future- proof, which is vital because nobody knows how technology will evolve in coming years." Using Toyota's famous LEAN approach to function, OMB also ensured that every piece of equipment used in the shop was tagged with a computer LOCATION Prince George, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER College of New Caledonia OWNER'S REPRESENTATIVE Colliers Project Leaders ARCHITECT Office of McFarlane Biggar Architects + Designers Inc. GENERAL CONTRACTOR Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT AME Consulting Group Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT NRS Engineering Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Hapa Collaborative TOTAL SIZE 25,000 square feet TOTAL COST $15 million chip, "that way the college could easily locate tools and know when they were last used – one outcome being if the tool hadn't been used in a long time, the col- lege could get rid of it." Bringing as much natural light into the HMTF with glazing and skylights not only fulfilled LEED Gold requirements, but brightened the shop spaces. "In fact, there is a significant window running along the eastern portion of the facility facing the street, which allows motorists to look in and see what's going on," says OMB architect Beth Denny. "Conversely, a series of beautiful, mature trees near this window provides a serene view for those in the shop." OMB's 2010 Canfor Technical Centre embraced the simplicity of an indus- trial esthetic through the extensive use of concrete block, heavy timber, and steel work, and these became the mate- rials selection for the HMTF. In addition to the timber roof, weathering steel was selected for the exterior cladding in order to provide an industrial-type patina and durability. "The material is absolutely maintenance free, which is important to any college with a fixed maintenance budget," says Foster. Denny adds that the plethora of exposed spaces in the interior rather than finishes also saved on money and construction time as well as lived up to the industrial esthetic. "Polished concrete slabs and exposed aggregate walls can take a beating and look beau- tiful at the same time," she says. LEED Gold requirements also inspired the creation of state-of-the-art mechani- cal systems and high-performance building envelope design as well as cultivating a high quality indoor envi- ronment through use of natural and low emitting materials. The construction process began with the original trades building on site being demolished save for a circa-1950s heavy duty shop in remarkably good repair; Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. commenced work on the new structure under the same tight govern- ment deadlines. Unfortunately, their efforts were impacted by the B.C. wildfires of 2017: specifically, work was delayed due to New Caledonia being designated an evacuation centre for the region, which saw the influx of hundreds of RVs and thousands of evacuees. When work resumed in the fall, it was accompanied by a stepped-up schedule that ultimately enabled the builders to meet their September 2018 occupancy deadline. While at the time of its inception the usual number of politicians expressed their enthusiasm for the latest addi- tion to the New Caledonia campus, perhaps the most salient observation of its importance in the grand scheme of things came from first year heavy mechanical student Conner Cameron, who remarked, "the new Heavy Mechanical Trades Facility will ben- efit me as a student in many ways: the extra space to accommodate a diverse collection of machinery will improve my hands-on training, help reduce my future apprenticeship wait lists, and make it more functional working along- side other students on projects." A 2:34 PM 10:58 AM 9:50 AM

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