Client
Stantec Architecture

Building Type
New Construction

Building Info
Nineteen Three-Story, Wood-Framed Dormitory Buildings

Service Performance Date
2014

Challenge

Nineteen three-story, wood-framed dormitory buildings were planned to be built in Kitimat, with the intent to provide accommodations for 2146 people. Each dorm building will consist of several modules. These modules are manufactured in the Builder’s plant in Edmonton, Canada, and Colorado, United States, and then will be transported to Kitimat in British Columbia, where they will be assembled as a complete building.

The outdoor environmental conditions in Kitimat are wet for a good portion of the year: The measured depth of the annual rainwater is approximately 2000 mm. There is also a 20% probability that the wind driven rain pressure reaches or exceeds 200 Pa in a year. Snow loads can also become relatively high. Additionally, the amount of the direct sunlight reaching buildings can be quite low due to the cloudy condition of the sky for a good portion of the year. The combination of the above pose certain challenges for the building envelope detailing of the prefabricated buildings.

How Did We Help?

Hamid Design Build was retained to provide building envelope consultation during the design, and fabrication stages of the project. Given the prefabricated nature of the buildings, and challenging outdoor environmental condition of Kitimat, our team gave special attention to the building envelope detailing at the transitions between various assemblies, and assisted the design team in development of 3D details, demonstrating the step-by-step building envelope installation and control layers.

In addition, our team travelled to manufacturing plant in Edmonton at several occasions to:

• Collaborate with the design and construction teams in development of the design package
• Attend integrated and brainstorming sessions with the design and construction teams to discuss the practical aspects of the installation in Kitimat.
• Visit the manufacturing plant and in progress stages of the fabrication
• Perform window testing
• Review the mock-up of the key building envelope stages