Testing the Effectiveness of the Construction Managment Process
The first phase of Elmwood School’s overall plan for campus expansion stands as a testament to the effectiveness of the Construction Management process. The project involved challenges from many significant directions: budget, schedule, and community objection – not to mention the preservation of 100-year-old trees.
The pristine, heavily wooded site in the heart of Rockcliffe Park presented several interesting options for the development team. The School made it clear, however, that the massive trees that occupied the site in an irregular pattern were crucial to the identity of the school. In response, the two-storey building concept was converted to three storeys, thus shrinking the floor plate enough to nestle the building within meters of the hundred foot-high trees on all sides. A tower crane designed for a building four times the height of the Junior School was erected to ensure that hoisting operations did not damage the trees.