Rising to the Challenge
Ball Finishes Stantec Demolition & Renovation Project
After a competitive RFP submission, Ball was awarded a construction management project by Stantec Inc. The scope of work required fit-out of the three-story building, including an initial interior demolition so that new layouts could be built. The project was not without its hurdles.
Stantec had been located on Frederick Street in Kitchener. However, in order to provide space for their growing team they moved operations to the David Johnston Research & Technology Park on the north campus of the University of Waterloo and now lease from The Cora Group Inc.
Fortunately, Ball was uniquely suited for the project because we built the original building for RIM back in 2008. We’ve also completed many other tenant retrofits over the course of our history, so Ball’s expertise came in handy.
Nevertheless, challenges were numerous. The fit-out consisted of drywall, carpet, extensive millwork, flooring, as well as mechanical and electrical work.
Conveniently, the building had access flooring for distribution of building services. However, this meant we spent a lot of time gaining access to complete the new mechanical, electrical and I.T. services installations. With just fifty percent of the third floor used by Stantec, we had to work around the other third floor tenants—which meant coordination with the landlord was a daily occurrence.
With an excellent group of on-site millwork installers, we were able to self-perform extensive millwork installations and also coordinate all client furniture installations from the third floor down. Stantec handled all engineering and technical issues that were beyond our scope.
It was necessary to structurally reinforce the existing floors to accommodate the client’s new high-density filing system.
Site superintendent, Barry Duncan, worked very efficiently with all trades on site as well as with Ball project manager, Andy O’Brien. At the same time, Barry and Andy worked closely with Stantec on a daily basis.
The move in date was Feb 8th. Despite a very tight time frame, we managed to successfully complete the work within budget and on time and obtained full city sign-off four days prior.
