September 14, 2007

CANADA MASONRY DESIGN CENTRE

This rendering shows a unique look for the new Canada Masonry Design Centre.

Education

Canada Masonry Design Centre’s design showcases masonry materials

Centre hopes to break ground in spring 2008

DAN O’REILLY

CORRESPONDENT

MISSISSAUGA

Construction of a new signature Canada Masonry Design Centre in Mississauga is tentatively scheduled to get under way in the spring of 2008 and open a year later.

“It will speak to the future of masonry rather than the history of masonry,” says John Blair, executive director of the Ontario Masonry Contractors’ Association and the Canadian Masonry Contractors’ Association.

The approximately 15,000-square-foot building will feature a 120-seat lecture theatre, a computer lab, a resource library, a social room and administration offices on the second floor. It will be located immediately adjacent to the existing building which will be reconverted into classroom space for the Ontario Masonry Training Centre, says Blair.

Toronto-based Sievenpiper Associates Inc. are the architects. In a presentation to the Canada Masonry Centre board, principal Ted Sievenpiper suggested the new design should create a sense of awareness of the use of masonry materials. Design elements include a two-storey atrium with interior masonry elements consisting of a stair tower looking up to the second floor and an elevator, he said.

While the design still has to be finalized, the centre and its funding partners, which include the Ontario and Canadian masonry associations and the Metropolitan Industrial and Commercial Contractors Inc., are committed to making it a leading edge, technologically-advanced and environmentally-friendly building within a somewhat restricted $5 million budget. The goal is to seek LEED certification, says Blair.

Not only will it the allow the Canada Masonry Design Centre to expand and enhance the technical and education assistance it provides to masonry contractors and designers, the building will be used to showcase the environmental and design features of using masonry in construction, he says.

“We have to get the word out about that. I don’t think we’ve done a very good sales job of selling our product as a green one.”

No decision has been made on a construction delivery method, whether project management, construction management or general contracting. A unique contract condition is that award winner will have to use OMTC students in some phases of the construction, he says.

“We also want to work with the tile, terrazzo and marble contractors, as they are trowel trades.”

The new building will be a symbol of the evolution and achievements of the Canada Masonry Design Centre since it was started about seven years ago to promote the use of masonry as a building product to engineers, says Blair. “We weren’t engaging the engineering community.”

Its mandate includes providing education and technical assistance to contractors and designers in the proper design and construction of masonry structures, including code interpretations for CSA masonry standards. Other services include masonry research monitoring and preliminary site inspections for distressed masonry buildings and proper construction-related issues. Some of its achievements include partnering with McMaster University to offer a Certificate in Engineered Masonry Design and the publication of a Canadian edition of Masonry Structures, a textbook specifically written for this country’s design and construction markets.

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