Client: City of Brantford
Location: Brantford, Ontario
Size: 2,973 m2 (32,000 ft2)

Through a master planning study, the City of Brantford (City) identified a need to update several key administrative spaces to ensure that it could continue to provide modern delivery of corporate services and properly support area citizens. To this end, the City developed plans for a multiphase corporate administration accommodation project that involved several municipal building infrastructure renewal projects. The first phase of this plan involved constructing a new multipurpose facility on the City’s water treatment plant facility site located at 324 Grand River Avenue. The intention of this project was to create a purpose-built, primary home for the City’s Environmental Services Department, as well as an adaptable space that could house other departments in later stages of the municipal infrastructure renewal plan.

In the fall of 2015, the City retained JLR as the Prime Consultant for this project. Over the next three years, JLR provided structural, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering as well as architectural, planning, and contract administration services for the development of what is now the new City of Brantford Environmental Services Administration Building and Vehicle Storage Garage. This was the first major building project initiated by the City to address its growing corporate needs, and the first to incorporate the City’s new standards for space accommodations and accessibility.

The building is located on the same site as the City’s existing water treatment plant to facilitate an efficient workflow for specific groups of environmental services staff. The two-storey, 32,000 ft2 facility is split into three major components: a multipurpose administration building; a one-storey warehouse space; and a drive-through vehicle storage garage with seven vehicle bays, including a designated wash bay. Key building features include a reception area, offices, boardrooms, a lunchroom, locker rooms for outdoor-working staff, change rooms, mechanical and electrical services spaces, a pollution control laboratory, and various agile workspaces for diverse staff uses.

While this $11.9M capital project was not without its challenges and unique complexities, a collaborative approach involving the City, JLR, and the general contractor ensured steady progress from conception to completion.