Q&A with James Cameron, Construction Manager at Gallery Condos + Lofts

Q: What does your Construction Manager role at Carriage Gate involve?
A: My role involves the on-going design coordination to satisfy municipal and code requirements. Together with our construction team, we recommend which Trade Contractors and Suppliers will be our partners in executing the work. Once work on site begins, we dictate our site plan and construction schedule to our trades, while constantly following up with them to ensure our goals are being met. I also ensure that there are exceptional measures in place to ensure the safety of the public and the individuals on site.

Q: What are the construction milestones we can look forward to?
A: The building is already demolished and we are looking forward to erecting a tower crane in summer of 2020, with the structure topping off in early 2021.

Q: The first step in construction is the demolition of the existing building on site, what are the important steps when demolishing a building?
A: Putting together the right people for the job is paramount. We have assembled the right Contractors and Engineers to ensure we are meeting the requirements of all the jurisdictional authorities. The demolition contactor is required to have a demo plan that addresses public safety concerns, environmental requirements and structural issues.

Q: Next up is excavation – how long does excavation take? How far down will you be digging? What are some challenges when excavating?
A: Our excavation is scheduled to take approximately 8 months, along with the shoring required to complete our 5-level underground structure. With a founding elevation approximately 20 meters (or 65 ft) deep, heavy equipment will be required to dig out the earth fill and to break & remove the underlying rock. We will utilize total station survey equipment and strive for a uniform precision vertical cut down the entire depth on all sides.

Q: How big is the construction site for Gallery Condos & Lofts?
A: The site is what we call a zero-lot line site, where the building is being constructed right to (or very near) its property boundaries. We have a plate of a little more than 2,000m2 or 21,500ft2, plus some additional area in the adjacent right of way as agreed with the City.

Q: How tall will the Gallery Condos & Lofts building be once completed?
A: Once completed the building will stand almost 82 meters or 270 feet tall, which is 23 storeys plus an upper service room.

Q: Approximately how many people will it take to build Gallery Condos & Lofts?
A: A project of this size requires a lot of coordinated manpower to execute. I would estimate that we will reach a peak of about 70 workers for a period of time.

Q: Do you have estimates as to how many tons of concrete, panes of glass, etc. used in building?
A: To put things into perspective we expect to use about 1,600 tons of rebar, 14,000 cubic meters of concrete, almost 100,000 SF of glass and over 30,000 sheets of drywall.

Stay tuned to future newsletters as we continue to check in with James on construction progress of the site and visit the construction page on our website for up-to-date photos.