Home Style Husky Lloydminster
Husky Lloydminster
Husky Energys new glass - walled regional administration building in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, is a sparkling addition to the cityscape, says Benjamin Tao, Huskys senior project manager of corporate projects. Husky Lloydminster is a new flagship building for a company that established a presence in the community in the 1940s. "There is nothing else like it here, and its time for the city to have a building like this," adds Tao. "Lloydminster deserves something like this; its an energy efficient building, and it fits our vision of the office of the future." The three - storey, 105,000 - square - foot office building features glass exterior walls, which gives it its distinctive glittering, contemporary look. Two atrium spaces serve as the main points of reference and focal points for the building. The atriums enable passers - by to look into the building, and staff and visitors have clear views of the garden and environs outside. The new building is double the size of the adjacent 1969 building that housed Huskys administrative staff. The six - storey building had reached the end of its service life, Tao says, and its configuration limited the staff count to 180. Husky Energy has expanded its operations in the region over the years to include heavy oil production, a heavy oil upgrader, ethanol plant, asphalt plant, a logistics centre and pipelines. As the companys activities expanded, some employees have been accommodated in other spaces. The new building will enable employees from some of these operations to move into a workspace that is state - of - the - art, with an airy feel, that encourages collaboration. It is also "IT intensive," Tao explains, featuring new technologies like enhanced videoconferencing, next generation telephony, wireless networking and virtual desktop capabilities. Faster and more reliable telecommunications services between Lloydminster and Huskys head office in Calgary will enhance work capabilities and long distance communications. Husky Energy hired Cana Management Ltd. as the general contractor for the project. Cana worked with Husky and architect Gibbs Gage from the early design and development stages, preparing budgets and providing construction expertise - particularly its experience in constructing curtain wall structures. When work began in March 2010, what confronted Tao and Joe Reynolds, construction manager for Cana Management, was not the beginnings of a flagship building but an excavation that became a huge swimming pool, caused by one of the wettest spring seasons on record. Tao describes the scene as, "waterworld." It took a lot of resources to overcome that, he adds, including a lot of pumping, and excavating the basement deeper than originally planned. Reynolds agrees. "The wet weather caused significant delay to the project schedule early on. The weather, combined with poor soil conditions, caused significant delays getting our foundations and structure completed." Once that hurdle was overcome, the project proceeded relatively smoothly. Because the project was a large one in relation to the size of the community, finding adequate numbers of tradespeople required importing skilled labour from Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary. Coordinating the arrival of the right trades on site at the right time and pre - planning the ordering and delivery of materials were the two biggest challenges, Reynolds notes.
Once the materials, trades and equipment were on site, space was not an issue, since the building is located on a 52 - acre parcel of land. The entire building envelope was constructed using a glass curtain wall system chosen for both its striking visual impact and energy - efficient qualities. Reynolds proudly points out other green features, such as highly efficient mechanical systems and solar panels on the roof that supply hot water for the lunch area, showers and washrooms. Rainwater is harvested for passive landscape irrigation, and plantings are drought tolerant and mostly indigenous to the area. An advanced lighting control system adjusts light levels to the natural light coming into the building, and the floor planning maximizes day lighting. Employee amenities include a lunch area and a fitness centre with showers and lockers for people who work out or walk, jog or cycle to work. Gibbs Gage architect and partner Rick Lewis says the "luxury of unconstrained space" allowed his firm to design the building and surrounding space without "the clamour for parking stalls" that is common with many projects. This enabled a design that includes and incorporates outdoor amenities, contributing to the feeling of openness and flexibility that characterizes the building interior. He describes the main atrium on the south side, which is also the main entrance and reception area, as a corporate space that promotes congregation. The space will be used for corporate and community functions. "We won this job because of our experience designing a lot of office buildings in downtown Calgary," Lewis observes. "Being able to apply that experience in a smaller urban centre gave us opportunities to stretch, in terms of design flexibility." Lewis stresses that Taos familiarity with architecture, and Huskys well - defined list of present and future needs for the new building, helped during the planning and design phases. "Its good to have that sophistication on the owners side," Lewis states. "It makes for a good dialogue and good results." Balancing the needs of the project with the approximately $25 - million budget, Lewis explains, the design team came up with building on a 30,000 - square - foot floor plate. From there, the design focused on developing a modern, flexible work space, with particular attention paid to optimizing natural light coming into it. The result, he adds, is a landmark building that reaffirms Huskys commitment to the community and the region. The move to consolidate Huskys administrative operations means the number of employees working together under one roof will grow from 180 to reach more than 300by the first quarter of 2012, according to Taos estimates.
< Prev   Next >
 

Last read