Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre is the first acute care hospital in British Columbia to be built using the public-private partnership (P3) model. The healthcare facility is 645,000 sq. ft. with 300 beds. The facility provides MRI services, general surgery, nuclear medicine, renal dialysis, specialized obstetrics and nursery care, pediatric services, and other specialized services.
Houle was contracted to provide electrical construction for the hospital. Houle also constructed and integrated the hospital’s security system, data networks infrastructure, and lighting which consisted of 200+ types of fixtures. Houle prewired numerous pieces of medical imaging equipment.
Challenges
Since the main electrical room was housed on the second level, there was little margin of error for equipment delivery by crane. Much of the electrical design was not completed until after construction was underway. The massive electrical distribution project started with installation of 140km of (in slab) electrical conduit, prior to pouring of much of the concrete infrastructure. There was no on-site storage available for materials, requiring innovative off-site warehousing and just-in-time delivery by the Houle team. Previous hospital construction experience enabled Houle to successfully address the challenges.
Successes
Despite an aggressive construction schedule, a substantial increase in commodity prices during construction, and last minute design changes, Houle was a key player in bringing the project in on-time and on-budget.
View our project video.
