Bird Construction is in the last stages of construction of the Saint John Law Courts building in New Brunswick. That project is next to construction projects for the police headquarters and parkade.
Construction of the Saint John Law Courts is challenging in ways not normally associated with the New Brunswick city.
The downtown site, for one, is too tight for materials lay-down so deliveries are scheduled on an as-needs basis, says Bruce Fillmore, project manager with Bird Construction, general contractor for the $40-million building.
The project is one of three big construction jobs within a stone’s throw of each other, he adds, pointing out that the $20-million police headquarters and adjacent parkade under construction make for a busy and congested area. Add to that the fact that the city is ripping up streets to upgrade infrastructure and you have a recipe for traffic nightmares.
It can also be a problem co-ordinating some of the large material deliveries, such as the large precast concrete panels trucked all the way from Tri-Crete Limited in Toronto, says Fillmore.
The 150,000-square-foot structural steel courthouse will be clad in a combination of the precast concrete panels and curtainwall when it is completed next June. Bird Construction is into the last of two stages of construction — the $33 million building envelope and interior finishes.
Fillmore says the interior features a three-storey atrium lobby complete with a replica façade of the 19th century St. John Jail demolished in the 1970s. The near three-storey-tall jail façade includes many original stones from the notorious old prison.
Considering the complexities of construction inside the new courthouse and the high end finishes including stained wood panelling and vaulted wood ceilings the construction schedule is tight, he says. “It will be a challenge just to get the building enclosed by this fall.”
During peak construction this summer, the site will have about 300 construction workers.
Bird also was GC for phase one, a $6.4-million excavation and foundations contract. Excavation required large rock-breaking equipment to deal with the granite base. To carry the unusually heavy load of the building, especially thick concrete foundation walls were specified. “The work involved a lot of co-ordination and multiple pours,” says Fillmore.
The new courthouse will contain 13 courtrooms and ancillary rooms. Space planning has been a key focus for building designer Murdock Boyd Architects because the building required three separate circulation routes: one for the public, one for the accused and another for judges and other legal personnel, says Michael Colpitts, one of the firm’s architects leading the project.
The building is aiming for a LEED Silver certification. High efficiency HVAC, upgraded insulation, Low E glazing and an ambitious construction waste-management system targeting a high recycled content will help to achieve that goal.
Using regional materials is also an important LEED objective, says Colpitts. The casewood and other wood finishes will all be Forest Stewardship Council Canada (FSC) certified, meaning the wood comes from renewable forests.
The design of the building’s exterior takes a page from traditional court houses, but with a modern take on classical entablature and concrete colonnades of the past.
The precast concrete and curtainwall façade will also feature metal siding, including copper panels and some brick, picking up on the theme of the vernacular building stock in the neighborhood, says Colpitts.
In effort to integrate into the neighborhood, the building is only three storeys on its east side and five storeys on the west. Slated for completion next June, the new law courts building is the second major court building development in New Brunswick. The Moncton Law Courts was completed recently.
Fillmore says it is a busy construction period in Saint John. Bird recently started construction on a $25 million, 100-bed nursing home and a multi million dollar residential apartment building.
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