PROJECTS

WOODWARD'S REDEVELOPMENT

Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, British Columbia

PROJECT FACTS

Height: 400 feet
Floors: 40
Size: 1,222,230 square feet
Concrete Volume: 60,000 cubic meters
Specialty Products: Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete, High-Flow® 

AWARDS

2010, Landmark Award, Vancouver Regional Construction Association

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Originally built as a department store in 1903, the Woodward’s Building is a historic site in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The Woodward’s Redevelopment Project was a major revitalization and renewal project for the area. All but the oldest part of the Woodward’s Building was demolished to create a new urban hub.

The new mixed-use buildings combine community housing, condominiums, government and nonprofit offices, a contemporary art school for Simon Fraser University (SFU), retailers, and a childcare centre. The conjoined towers total one million square feet and encircle a central courtyard. The project paved the way for the further development of Vancouver’s Gastown area.

Challenge

• Deliver a modern, acoustically insulated base for the SFU Contemporary Arts Facility
  
• Provide the technical expertise to meet design challenges for a variety of exposed feature walls
  

Solution

• Ocean Concrete’s self-consolidating High-Flow® thin topping concrete was used to create acoustically insulated slabs for the theatres, cinema halls and acoustic soundstage
  
• A variety of proprietary products were used to deliver the specified architectural performance characteristics
  
• More than 60,000 m3 of concrete was delivered to the project site. 18,800 m3 of Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete and 10,000 m3 of High-Flow® were used for areas requiring architectural concrete with or without heavily congested reinforcing steel
  

Results

• Numerous visually stunning and highly functionally rooms that plays hosts to artistic, student, entertainment and fundraising events every month
• Concrete is a key component in many of the building’s architectural details including soaring ceilings, unusual wall and roof angles, and polished concrete floors

Vancouver Convention Centre West

Vancouver, British Columbia

PROJECT FACTS

Size: 310,500 square feet
Concrete Volume: 14,000 cubic meters
Specialty Concrete Products: High-Flow®, CrackGuard®, Hard-Wear®

2011, Green Supplier Silver Award, IMEX
2011, Top 10 Green Project, American Institute of Architects
2010, Award of Excellence, Urban Land Institute
2010, SAB Green Building Award, Sustainable Architecture & Building Magazine
2009, LEED Platinum Certification
2008, World’s Best Congress Centre

PROJECT OVERVIEW

With the expansion of the West building, the Vancouver Convention Centre is now one of the largest structures in Canada. It is also widely recognized as one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly convention centres in the world. It extends four city blocks with a footprint of 1.1 million square feet. The facility has many sustainable features including a sea water heating and cooling system, a six-acre green roof and an on-site waste water treatment facility that has reduced potable water use by 72.6%.

Challenge

• Provide a highly durable concrete designed to withstand surrounding natural elements (salt water), topography (inlets) while satisfying the design life of the structure
  
• Provide a non-cracking concrete to accentuate a key interior architectural design element
  
• Provide sustainable building materials to enable LEED Platinum Certification
  
• Manage the supply, logistics, and schedule of a large-scale, complex pour
  

Solution

• To withstand the salt water and harsh topographical challenges, Ocean Concrete used more than 10,000 m3 of high durability concrete containing both silica fume and corrosion inhibitor
  
• To enhance the 30 foot tall architectural columns, Ocean Concrete’s High-Flow® was used
  
• In the 300 foot by 735 foot main exhibition hall slab, more than 4000 m3 of Ocean’s CrackGuard® and Hard-Wear ® was used to reduce cracking and improve abrasion resistance
  

Results

• Exhibition Hall slab exceeded architectural expectations for surface appearance and reduced cracking
  
• First convention centre to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The concrete supplied on this project had an overall post-industrial recycled content of 64% as per LEED NCv1.0
  
• A restored marine habitat was built into the foundation of the building
  
• Ocean Concrete maintained deliveries on time and within specification

The Erickson

Waterfront in False Creek in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia

PROJECT FACTS

Height: 200 feet
Floors: 21
Concrete Volume: 15,000 cubic meters
Specialty Products: Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete, High-Flow®, and WaterGuard
Project Overview: A building that bears its legendary designer’s name, The Erickson is located on the waterfront of False Creek in Downtown Vancouver. Connected by a series of battered and angled concrete columns, the design incorporates concrete slabs that twist as the building rises.

Challenge

• Ensure neighbouring False Creek did not penetrate the perimeter walls of the underground parking structure
  
• Unique, high end “Arthur Erickson Design” challenges such as requiring perfect flatness for high end finishes
  
• Standard topographical and natural element challenges with waterfront and seawater construction projects
  
• Meet all of the design and construction challenges in a cold weather environment
  

Solution

• The underground parking structure used more than 1,280 m3 of Ocean Concrete’s WaterGuard concrete with Kryton’s K.I.M. waterproofing admixture
  
• More than 1,200 cubic metres of our proprietary self-consolidation High-Flow® slab concrete was placed in the tower slabs to achieve the flatness required for high-end flooring
  
• Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete for optimal cold weather scheduling
  

Results

• The construction of this high-end residential tower surpassed the highest expectations of quality and craftsmanship set by Arthur Erickson’s design team
  
• The construction of this high-end residential tower surpassed the highest expectations of quality and craftsmanship set by Arthur Erickson’s design team
  
• 1,250 m3 of Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concretewas used to maintain the winter construction schedule

LIVING SHANGRI-LA

Vancouver, British Columbia

PROJECT FACTS

Height: 659 feet
Floors: 62
Concrete Volume: 47,000 cubic meters
Specialty Products: Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete, High-Flow®

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Living Shangri-La Vancouver, a mixed-use skyscraper, is the tallest building on the Vancouver skyline at 201 metres. It houses a five-star hotel, spa, offices, and condominium apartments. The building incorporates energy-conscious features and sustainable design approaches.

Challenge

• Leading technical expertise to manage one of the most complex and technically challenging buildings ever constructed in Vancouver
  
• Required high strength concrete, 70 MPa
  
• 200 metre vertical pump and placing boom
  
• 3,400 cubic meter continuous core footing pour
  
• Sustainable building materials to enable LEED Silver Certification
  
• Manage the supply, logistics, and schedule of a large-scale, complex pour
  

Solution

• Forty-nine (49) concrete mix designs were used and delivered to meet project requirements
  
• Ocean Concrete designed a specialty concrete suitable to be pumped 200 metres vertically
  
• Ocean Concrete’s fleet delivered more than 47,000 m3 of concrete, including over 8,000 m3 with a specified strength of 70 MPa to help keep the project on schedule
   
  Results
• Ocean’s Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete and High-Flow®, a proprietary self-consolidating concrete, provided the high-end quality required to achieve the tolerances demanded for this sophisticated architecture
• Concrete post-industrial recycled content was calculated at 64%, as per LEED Canada NCv1.0

CANADA LINE

Vancouver, British Columbia

PROJECT FACTS

Concrete Volume: 125,000 cubic meters
Specialty Product: Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete 

Challenge

• Given the impact on public infrastructure and local businesses, coinciding with the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, an expedited schedule was the main challenge of the project
  
• Transportation and logistical challenges of getting trucks to the project site, given the interruption in public infrastructure

Solution

• Utilize Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete to expedite curing and setting time
  
• Provide industry leading logistics and supply management services
  

Results

• More than 36,000 m3 of Ocean Concrete’s Tempo High-Early Age Strength Concrete was used to speed up the rate of construction