King Road Business Park

Summarize the project's program, features and achievements.

Along King Road in Abbotsford, minutes from the Trans Canada Highway, you will find this two-building development that houses manufacturing, storage, and heavy motor repair companies. This project uses the natural topography of its surroundings to shape and design an efficient building form that appeals to all types of light industrial and commercial uses. The 98,802-square-foot project features concrete tilt panels with a total of 134 panels including reveals that create its unique presence in the community. King Road Business Park is composed of 2 buildings with 2-story tilt-up structures each. The buildings hold panels as tall as 35'9" and weigh over 124,535 lbs. Its 9 strata units provide multiple employment opportunities for the community. Historically the sites in this area have been mined over the years for the gravel on site. This site, in particular, had been stripped extensively, and as a result, the site was below the grade of the road and three of the neighboring sites by 4 meters. Due to existing grades, the front of building 1 has tilt panels installed on top of a cast in place lower wall component The Orion team was able to provide a creative approach to the development design that required minimal retaining and utilization of the site's topographic landscape to provide a premium product offering. The final product resembled a blasted rock wall face. In addition, rather than filling the entire site, Orion Construction proposed unique mezzanine access for the front building that allowed it to set the warehouse slab at the existing site grade. It was a huge hit with the purchasers of these units as it enabled them to present a commercial feel to their offices while maximizing the ground floor space for industrial uses. Construction on this project occurred during the early stages of the COVID pandemic with no policies for site inspections in place. As a result, Orion Construction worked with the city's authorities to establish a system for inspections using facetime and third-party consultant reviews and assurances. Finally, the City of Abbotsford requires 100% biofiltration in this aquifer catchment area. This is quite challenging with industrial designs as there are typically no landscaping areas in the loading areas of these buildings. On this site, Orion Construction was able to source an integrated single tree biofilter system with an underground take that would meet the requirements of Abbotsford and still work within the parameters of the industrial loading court.

What obstacles were overcome related to the schedule, budget, program, specification, site, etc. on this project?

Historically the sites in this area have been mined over the years for the gravel on site. This site, in particular, had been stripped extensively, and as a result, the site was below the grade of the road and three of the neighboring sites by 4 meters. The Orion team was able to provide a creative approach to the development design that required minimal retaining and utilization of the site's topographic landscape to provide a premium product offering. The final product resembled a blasted rock wall face. In addition, rather than filling the entire site, Orion Construction proposed unique mezzanine access for the front building that allowed it to set the warehouse slab at the existing site grade. It was a huge hit with the purchasers of these units as it enable them to present a commercial feel to their offices while maximizing the ground floor space for industrial uses. Finally, the City of Abbotsford requires 100% biofiltration in this aquifer catchment area. This is quite challenging with industrial designs as there are typically no landscaping areas in the loading areas of these buildings. On this site, Orion Construction was able to source an integrated single tree biofilter system with an underground take that would meet the requirements of Abbotsford and still work within the parameters of the industrial loading court.

Communicate any engineering complexities or unique features of the panel design for this project.

Due to existing grades, the front of building 1 has tilt panels installed on top of a cast-in-place lower wall component. As this project was constructed and delivered at the peak of the COVID pandemic, there were multiple lead time delays. Through a process-driven purchasing program, Orion Construction was able to order the materials for this site without any delay from suppliers/vendors, including the 13 tilt-up panels.

What is the potential for this project's impact on the community and/or environment?

Its 9 strata units provide multiple employment opportunities for the community while ensuring the area environment is protected by eco-friendly actions such as biofiltration.