The Children’s Cottage Society in Calgary, Alberta, partnered with us to build an 11,000 sq. ft. Child and Family Centre that will annually serve 3000 families and children and provide short-term housing for children under eight, along with family resources. This three-story facility consists of a main floor with intake and community support services, a protected nursery including a commercial kitchen on the second level, and an office an administrative space on the top floor.
Within the new centre, there are 20 crisis nursery spaces, a family resource network area, an Indigenous ceremonial space, offices, and meeting spaces for collaboration between families and agencies. Our team self-performed the third-floor wood framing and truss installation, and used collaborative construction techniques to oversee subtrades that installed mechanical, electrical, and structural systems, along with metal cladding, EIFS, masonry, windows, and interior finishes.
To address parking, a below-grade parkade was built. We proactively communicated with our neighbours about planned road closures to minimize disruptions. We implemented temporary shoring to support the suspended slab above the parkade to facilitate man lift access around the site and to store materials on the slab until the exterior finishing was complete. Throughout construction, we utilized pull planning and sequencing to complete siding, parking stalls, landscaping, and children’s play areas.
Maintaining open communication helped us foster a strong relationship with the Children’s Cottage Society. This involved providing monthly reports, conducting biweekly meetings, offering construction updates, and organizing facilitated walk-throughs for potential donors.
We maintained strong relationships and communication with Children’s Cottage Society, including monthly reports, biweekly meetings, providing construction updates, and managing facilitated walk-throughs for potential donors.
The client identified that they wanted this centre to make an impact in the community, even throughout construction. Our team collaborated with them to implement a social procurement directive with zero premium capital costs to find meaningful employment opportunities for first-time youth craftspeople.