July 3, 2008

VANDERWAL COMMERCIAL GROUP

The cold-formed steel cathedral truss system produced by the VanderWal Commercial Group will be installed next year in The Highlander condominium project, located in Langley, B.C.

VanderWal Commercial Group gains foothold in British Columbia’s steel-truss market

TERRY TINKESS

correspondent

A company based in the small Southern Ontario community of Petrolia has made it to the top, quite literally, on the West Coast.

The VanderWal Commercial Group has been selected to supply the cold-formed steel truss system that will sit atop a 17-storey condominium development in Langley, B.C.

By using the unique, cathedral trusses, The Highlander will be the highest building in North America to use a full structural cold-formed steel truss roof.

Alex McGillivray, sales and marketing co-ordinator for VanderWal Commercial Group, says securing the contract came as a result of a dedicated marketing effort combined with the company’s reputation for providing a superior product and service.

“We’ve been pretty prevalent in Ontario, specifically the GTA, since about 2001,” says McGillivray. “We’ve done quite a lot of work in Southern Ontario, out towards Ottawa and into Quebec. From doing research, I found that there had been very little promotion done on cold-formed steel trusses in western Canada. I started sending information in the form of a newsletter out to the West.

“As far as I know it was a referral from another contact of ours (Zeidler Partnership, Toronto and Victoria, B.C.) which led to the opportunity to explain what we had to offer. It wasn’t a long process at all — probably two-three weeks from us first hearing about it, to landing the contract. “

McGillivray says one of the key features of the steel truss system is the amount of time it can save when compared to a conventional structural steel rafter roof system, such as was used on an identical building on Vancouver Island which took almost eight months to install.

The VanderWal proposal for the 26,500 sq. ft. roof is expected to significantly reduce cost, and will cut the installation time by an estimated 50 per cent.

Another example of VanderWal Commercial Group’s cold-formed steel truss system.

“They want a return on investment as soon as possible,” says McGillivray,.

“If we can cut down on any kind of time, that means it’s going to open for them earlier, they can start making money on their investment.”

“It’s key, and it’s something that we can offer to a lot of projects because it is all pre-engineered and prebuilt.”

Construction on The Highlander has started, and the VanderWal trusses are scheduled to be delivered in the summer of 2009 with an estimated installation time of three to four months.

McGillivray says everyone at VanderWal is pleased at the opportunity to expand their market into western Canada, and expects that through the success of this project and a continued marketing presence, other opportunities will present themselves as well.

“While we were out west, we made a number of stops to speak with engineers and architects,” says McGillivray, “just to let everyone know it is there.

“It is still a niche product, and not everyone in the design-build community has heard of it. “

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