One of the biggest projects in British Columbia, the $883 million expansion and upgrade of the Vancouver Convention Centre will be completed in late 2009 – in time to house the broadcast and print media centers for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. So far, 72 percent of the structural steel has been erected, the roof membrane is 25 percent complete, glazing started in September and the green roof construction is to begin in November. Interior work, such as mechanical, electrical and dry wall, is underway, says David Podmore, chair of the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project (VCCEP) Ltd.

“This project is truly unique from its very location on the waterfront of downtown Vancouver, to the construction practices being utilized, to the showcasing of many sustainability practices and techniques,” he says. “All which will be for future generations to see and benefit.”

To fulfill LEED Gold requirements, the new facility will have a 6.5-acre green roof, he says, the largest in Canada and one of the largest in the world. It will be irrigated with purified water recycled from the facility’s black water treatment plant.

The building will also utilize seawater for climate control. In this process, intake and discharge of cold seawater through heat exchange units provides a natural source of cooling for the building and allows heat from the building to be captured. “We wanted this building to be a demonstration of sustainability building practices and green technologies,” he says.

The interior walls will feature hemlock. “[British Columbia is] a major producer of this product and the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion is an opportunity to highlight and showcase some innovative uses of our province’s forest products,” he says.

Other green aspects include use of natural light and ventilation; on-site marine habitat creation; and increased efforts to recycle construction site waste. “The new convention center will raise the bar within the province and hopefully within the country on how to develop, construct and operate a building using creative green initiatives,” Podmore says.

Expanding Capabilities
The Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion project will expand the existing 278,000-square-foot convention centre into a 1.2-million-square-foot facility, and add features such as a 225,000-square-foot exhibition hall, equaling five football fields; 72 meeting room spaces, totaling 86,000 square feet; two kitchen areas, one at 6,500 and the other at 17,000 square feet; two ballrooms totaling 72,000 square feet; and 366,000 square feet for storage, support and staging.

After completion, the convention center will be able to host larger and more events, and in turn, increase revenue for the region, the corporation predicts. The expansion will increase the center’s annual delegate days from 150,000 to nearly 370,000 within the first five years. Estimates indicate that an average delegate will spend about $350 per day in Vancouver and the surrounding area.

Along with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the center is already more than 50 percent booked for the next six years. Podmore says he hopes the expansion will convince other organizations to host conferences and bring delegations to Vancouver.

The original facility opened in July 1987 after serving as the Canada Pavilion during EXPO ‘86. Ten years later, the center was at full capacity and needed additional space, the corporation says. “In fact, in 2003, some $100 million in delegate spending was lost because Vancouver did not have enough meeting space to accommodate groups wishing to hold conventions in the city,” it says. This Vancouver Convention Centre expansion will triple the center’s capacity and will generate an estimated $107 million annually.

The existing convention center is in use during construction, Podmore says, but so far, that has not impacted the project. “It hasn’t been difficult at all,” he says. “We are coordinating all of our work with the requirements of the clients using the facility.” The two facilities will be integrated with a glass-walled connector, which will also provide harbor views.

Part of the center is being built over Burrard Inlet adjacent to the building’s former rail yard site. After the rail yard was decommissioned, old equipment and debris were left in the harbor, he says. A total of 826 steel piles were driven in 18 months to provide durability. The foundation piling took six months longer than scheduled and added $12 million in cost because of the soil conditions, Podmore says.

The main problem the project has faced is price escalation – total costs rose from $565 million in 2003 to $883 million today. Rising costs of materials such as structural steel and metals used in the mechanical and electrical systems combined with heated competition for skilled labor account for more than $200 million of this increase. The projects’ cost includes $36.2 million for upgrades to the Canada Place, an existing federal owned cruise ship terminal, hotel and convention facilities, $38.6 million for an upgraded connection to the expanded building and $808.4 million for the new building.

“We are in a tight construction market,” Podmore says. “Alberta, especially, and British Columbia, have strong construction volumes and that results in higher prices.” The corporation negotiated a $499.5 million stipulated lump sum fixed-price contract with construction manager PCL Constructors Westcoast Ltd. as a way to control costs, he adds.

The Art of Superior Value
PCL family of companies is a group of independent firms that work in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. The companies focus on the building, infrastructure and heavy industrial sectors, and it “aspires to be [the] builders of choice.”