Ground broken on Halifax RCMP headquarters

The federal government has broken ground on a new $59-million home in Nova Scotia for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Designed by Halifax’s Lydon Lynch Architects Ltd., in joint venture with Cohos Evamy, a firm with offices in Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto, the 24,000-square-metre project will accommodate the RCMP’s administrative and operational requirements.

General contractor PCL Constructors Canada Inc. is in the process of awarding subtrade contracts.

Located in the Burnside Business Park in Dartmouth, the new H Division headquarters includes a five-storey administration building and a large one-storey technical block.

In addition to housing various divisions and regional units, the project includes training and educational facilities.

Tiered classrooms can be combined by use of flexible walls.

Breakout spaces provide more informal settings.

Lydon Lynch said the emphasis on inter-departmental communication is further enhanced by the provision of a large staff mess room on the top floor that can be subdivided.

The public face of the building interior comprises a large circular glazed “parade” room, which also doubles as a media briefing space. Within this space is a small exhibition, which tells the story of the history of policing in the Atlantic region.

Other educational resources include large display cases that include historical exhibits, which Lydon Lynch said will further bring the story of the RCMP to life.

Externally, the heavily landscaped site includes a memorial garden and statue honouring fallen members of H Division.

Scheduled for occupancy by December 2013, the facility will accommodate 500 employees.

It will be built with the environment in mind.

The project has been designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Plans call for the installation of a green roof, use of dimming features that adjust to natural light and use of natural gas.

Features that will reduce water consumption include rainwater harvesting from roof areas, low-flow toilets and waterless urinals.

Emphasis is also being placed on recycled content in construction materials.

The Lydon Lynch/Cohos Evamy joint venture was selected from a short list of consultants to provide services that run the gamut from preliminary planning to post-warranty services.

The team is also acting as LEED consultants, as well as the project’s interior designers.

Project architect Marcus Leyland said Lydon Lynch currently has more than 500,000 square feet of LEED space either under construction or recently completed in the Halifax region.

To be built on property owned by the federal government, the project is being funded jointly by Public Works and Government Services Canada, and the RCMP.

Public Works Canada spokesman Bill Fioratos said the department does not foresee any significant challenges that will prevent delivery of the project on time and on budget.

Currently, the H division headquarters and Atlantic region offices are housed in 14 leased and two Crown-owned buildings in 10 different locations in the Halifax regional municipality.

Public Works Canada said the existing Crown-owned headquarters building is 35 years old and no longer meets the RCMP’s operational requirements.