PCL is 100 percent employee owned and works in the high-rise residential, infrastructure and heavy industrial sectors.

Premier Business Partners:

The Henson Company CECO Concrete Construction LLC Stephens Enterprises Inc. Schnitzer West

PCL is a group of independent construction companies that work in nearly 30 locations across Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. The 100 percent employee-owned company has 3,000 full-time employees and an annual construction volume of more than $5 billion, the company says.

The company works in the high-rise building, infrastructure and heavy industrial sectors. It is currently building The Gallery Condominiums at 2nd and Board in Seattle. This development consists of a four-level, 84,747-square-foot, below-grade parking structure and a 13-story, 247,812-square-foot multi-use, post-tension, cast-in-place tower with a penthouse level.

The project is on schedule, PCL says. “The seventh vertical lift of concrete at the elevator core was recently completed,” the company says.

“The 10th elevated deck was recently completed and the next deck pour will follow in the near future.

“PCL continues with concrete placement of columns and shear walls as they become available,” it continues. “The forming of elevated decks and columns is currently underway. Rebar installation continues at elevated decks, columns, core and shear walls.

“[Mechanical, electrical, plumbing] trades continue with [their] rough-in at elevated decks.”

Project Scope
According to PCL, about 36,000 cubic yards of material was excavated for the Gallery Condominiums project. There is an existing facility nearby, so excavation walls were held in place with a soil nails/shotcrete operation, and solder piles were placed to enhance stability, it adds.

At the lowest point, excavation was about 36 feet deep, the company says.

“An additional excavation will be made for the underground detention tank at the P3 level,” the company says. “Temporary shoring will be installed so that it is not necessary to lay back this excavation and impact the digging of spread column footing in the same vicinity.”

The underground parking structure consists of a large pad and strip footings, cast-in-place columns and shear walls with post-tensioned slabs and beam, the company says. The cast-in-place columns and shear walls with post-tensioned slabs and beam run up through the residential tower, it adds.

The residential tower is clad in a variety of architectural finishes that will accentuate the vertical plane, which is dominated by brick and aluminum louver columns on all four elevations, the company says.

“An aluminum window wall system of glazing will complete the building envelope,” it describes. “At various floors, the building steps back to add some relief to the different elevations.

“Balconies and decks with hybrid steel and glass railing systems complete the exterior of the building.”

Site work includes new concrete sidewalks and accessible ramps that meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, the company says.

“Decorative stone pavers with a metal panel canopy are planned for the main lobby entrance,” it adds.

“New landscaping will be included in raised-wall and at-grade planters,” it adds. “There will also be landscaping at the 7th floor and rooftop decks.”
    
‘Premier Construction Organization’
Ernest Poole founded the company in 1906 in Stoughton, Saskatchewan, Canada. “Ernest, a shrewd businessman with a long-term vision, [laid] the groundwork for the PCL organization, based on the solid prairie ethics of excellent workmanship, fair business dealings and good value for one’s construction dollar,” the company says.

With more than 100 years in the industry, PCL has a lot of experience to look back on, it says.

“Throughout it all – past, present and future – we look to our clients and staff for the knowledge and the courage to make us what we are today: a premier construction organization in North America,” it says.

It also strenuously enforces its code of conduct. “[PCL] conducts its business with integrity and respect for candidness, truthfulness and high standards of business ethics, and requires that its employees and all business partners adhere to these high standards,” it says.

Adding Value
The company believes in bringing “superior value” to the construction process by:

• Using robust construction software, such as proprietary estimating and project management systems, industry-standard scheduling and 3-D and 4-D modeling;
• A construction database that contains cost information, schedules, personnel expertise, constructability analyses and methodologies; and
• Financial strength and stability that allows the company to carry up to $6 billion of backlog work.

• It has been in the top 100 of Fortune magazine’s 100 best companies to work for since 2006.
• Heavy Construction News On-Site magazine named it No.1 out of the top-40 Canadian contractors
• Engineering News-Record has named it in the top 25 in the top-400 general contractors since 1995.
• It has been a member of the 50 Best Managed Companies since 1994 and a Platinum Club member since 2004. The program is sponsored by Deloitte & Touche, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Queen’s School of Business and The National Post.
• It has been a member of Mediacorp Canada’s Top 100 Employers since 2001.
• Business Magazine has named it one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada every year since 2000.