Strescon Offers Complete Building Envelope with First Window Installation Project

In mid-February of 2020, Halifax Tower Hotel Ltd. and Strescon Limited finalized an agreement to supply and install 118 architectural precast concrete wall panels, complete with vinyl windows pre-installed at Strescon’s manufacturing plant in Bedford, Nova Scotia. This is a major step forward for Strescon as they are now able to offer a complete building envelope. Once the precast concrete panels have been installed and caulked, the exterior of the building will be watertight. Precast concrete provides significant advantages for the owner as it reduces the overall construction time and minimizes delays due to weather.

The new Halifax Tower Hotel will house a restaurant and lounge on the main level, banquet halls and conference room on the second level, along with a pool, gym, and common rooms on the third level. The upper levels will be comprised of 87 deluxe king and queen hotel rooms, along with 12 premier suites and 4 luxury suites. The new hotel is centrally located in the Bayer’s Lake Industrial Park, one of the largest business parks in Atlantic Canada, and a premier destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment.

Through late winter and early spring of 2020, Strescon’s Bedford plant worked with the architect, along with the window manufacturer, to develop the vinyl window installation details for the 220 windows to be installed in the 118 architectural precast concrete wall panels. A great deal of time and effort was taken to ensure the installation went smoothly and functioned well. The window configuration include: 100 - 4’w x 6’h fixed over fixed, 100 - 4’w x 6’h awning over fixed, 10 - 4’w x 5’h fixed over fixed, and 10 - 4’w x 5’h awning over fixed. All windows include triple glazing.

The precast concrete panel production began in late spring 2020 and went through the summer with window installation starting in July and completed in early fall. Phase one of the window installation process was to build a window buck, wrap it with a self-stick membrane, then seal and anchor the wood buck to the precast concrete panel. The second phase included installation of the vinyl window by anchoring it to the wood buck. Once the windows were installed, there were three lines of defense which prevented water from entering the assembly, resulting in a superior system.

The panel installation began in late February with the last panel being installed on the hotel in Mid-March. In a matter of a few weeks, the 15-storey Hotel was transformed from an open shell to a completely enclosed building. No other building envelope system can match the quality and speed of architectural precast concrete wall panels, a definite advantage for the owner, especially in the middle of winter when weather conditions can be quite harsh.