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It's a typical Wednesday afternoon in Calgary's East Village, but a group of onlookers are watching a construction project, some with keen interest and some out of curiosity. The centre of attention is Group Germain's ALT Hotel, a 155-room hotel designed by LEMAYMICHAUD Architecture that is currently under construction and is now entering its modular construction phase.
Modular construction, for those not familiar, is a method of construction which sees sections of the building pre-built off site and then shipped to the construction site where they are then installed. This method of construction is rare in Calgary, and relatively new to North America — a major reason it has drawn interest from local construction followers.
Calgary has had some previous exposure to modular construction. The washrooms in the Bow Tower were pre-constructed modules, but its application at this level is new to the city. With the exception of the elevator and stairwell core, the rest of the building above the second floor will be made up entirely of the pre-constructed sections. This video gives a brief look at the modules being moved into place.
According to Slawomir Grela, Modular Installation Director with Poland's Polcom Group, the modular sections are designed and fabricated in Poland by Polcom. Once they are built, they are shipped out to various construction sites worldwide, and are then installed locally at the site. For this particular project, the modules were transferred from Poland via ship to Thunder Bay and then brought to Calgary by truck.
The rate of installation for the modules is rapid, and it's what sets this type of construction apart from traditional methods. Noel Benoit of Marco Builders of Atlantic Canada, the general contractor for the ALT Hotel project, says they plan to install around six modules per day, and are expecting to have all modules in place by the end of November. In as little as six weeks, a new building will appear in the East Village cityscape.
We will continue to watch the progress of this project as it unfolds. Check into our main page at SkyriseCities Calgary or check in at our Forum thread for photo updates and discussion.
