Park Place V is a five story office building situated in the heart of Burnside Industrial Park, Dartmouth, NS. Park Place V is not your standard project. Nestled among four brick office buildings and a brick hotel owned by the developer, Park Place V will be the first Architectural Precast thin set brick clad building for the Armour Group. Brick and layup prices are increasing. Regular brick construction requires a masonry or metal back-up support. Architectural precast concrete panels provide the benefits of speed, durability and low maintenance. Thin brick can be cast in the face of precast concrete wall panels. These were major factors in the owner’s decision to move away from regular brick construction and use architectural precast concrete for their building envelope needs.

Park Place V will be the latest addition to the already successful Park Place Corporate Campus located in the City of Lakes Business Park. This 5 storey 125,000 square foot office complex is being built to the exacting standards set by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). Park Place V is on target to be the first and largest multi tenant office building built to LEED® standards in the region.

Energy efficiency
Park Place V will deliver a 40 per cent reduction in energy use compared to the National Energy Code model. There is also a 40 per cent reduction in water usage, thanks to dual flush toilets, ultra low flow urinals, showerheads and faucets. The pulse-fired natural gas boilers are extremely efficient, further reducing ongoing costs for the finished project. Other environmentally-friendly aspects of the project include: minimal site disturbance with excavated rock crushed and reused on site; landscapes making use of native, drought-resistant vegetation (no potable water is needed to maintain); and changing rooms and showers for tenants that run or bicycle to work.

Most construction and design materials were produced or sourced locally to reduce transportation costs. Only low VOC emitting materials are permitted to help improve indoor air quality. The building utilizes 20 per cent recycled materials. In fact, fly ash, a waste byproduct of coal-powered generating, is used to strengthen the concrete. The building has full humidification control and constantly monitors the air for CO2 build up so it can be vented to the outside as needed.

The Armour Group believes organizations will see the value in leasing space in a building that protects the environment. Tenants will convey the message of their commitment to environmental responsibility. Organizations around the world are adopting socially responsible polices in an effort to be cutting edge by caring about the issues that are important to society and the people they employ.

Exterior cladding panelsThe exterior cladding for the office building consists of glass curtain walls together with a combination of architectural precast column covers, precast base, cap and architectural precast concrete/ thin brick faced spandrel panels.

The thin brick used on Park Place V is a blend of three brick colours: schoolhouse red, courtyard and brownstone. A rubber or plastic form liner is placed in the panel form. The thin bricks are installed face down in the liner. The joints between the brick will be the colour of the concrete placed in the form.

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) has a standard for thin brick that outlines material standards and specification criteria for qualifying thin brick manufacturers. Contact CPCI: info@cpci.ca for a copy. Thin bricks conforming to the PCI standard are actually tile and have lower water absorption than conventional brick to better resist freezing and thawing, spalling and efflorescence.

To get a true feel of the combined architectural precast concrete/ thin set spandrels, Strescon Limited created an electronic full size sample for the owner and the architect to review. Once approved, Strescon created a mock-up sample consisting of a full height section of the spandrel. Once the mock-up sample approved, the brick was ordered. Production started in early January 2008. The Architectural precast panels were installed in early May.

There are a total of 199 panels consisting of 60 precast column covers, 43 regular precast spandrels and 96 precast brick faced spandrel panels. The total precast square footage was 22,266 sq ft with 7568 sq ft containing thin brick facings. It only took 5 days to install the 199 precast panels. It would have taken brick layers months to cover the same area.

The warm tones of the architectural precast concrete walls in combination with the blended brick add a rich and elegant look to the building. "Our client was interested in a building aesthetic which was visually compatible with several previous brick buildings in his business park, but he wanted to avoid the long term maintenance issues which can occur with brick masonry. The use of the architectural thin brick system provided an opportunity to have the brick appearance in a durable wall system, and the wide range of colours and textures allowed a close match to the existing brick buildings," said Anthony Cook , President, Fowler Bauld & Mitchell architecture.

Owner/Builder: Armour Group
Architect: Fowler Bauld & Mitchell Ltd.
Engineer: Campbell Comeau Engineering Limited
Precast Supplier: Strescon Limited