Charis Village is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to provide senior housing for faith-based residents in the City of Lacombe, Alberta. “Charis (pronounced Kar is) means “grace,” and we envision a community where seniors may “age with grace” in a residence where their social, spiritual, physical and emotional needs are addressed.” 1
Charis Village required a new structure to meet the growing demand for additional senior housing; therefore, finding a solution that could be designed and constructed quickly was paramount.
Beautifully located in central Alberta on the east side of Henner’s Pond, the Charis Village building comprises 46 units and a below-grade parking garage. All apartments are spacious, modern, functional and fitted with air conditioning units, balconies and storage units for residents to enjoy. The splash of colour adds brightness and vibrancy to the Lacombe community.
Eagle Builders LLP was responsible for designing, manufacturing and building the four-storey complex. Aside from the roof, the entire structure is fabricated using precast concrete elements, including the parking garage, walls and floors.
The Grubb Engineering team also helped to ensure that the well-thought-out design could safely and quickly be constructed while also ensuring the different functionalities could be achieved. The team provided their expertise on a wide range of precast concrete products, including columns, inverted tee beams, composite slabs and hollowcore.
Precast concrete was the optimal solution because of its added fire protection, accelerated construction and lower annual maintenance and operational costs. The project was completed in the summer of 2020.
Project highlights:
- 10 days to produce the precast concrete wall panels
- 24 days to produce the precast concrete hollowcore
- A total of 660 insulated precast concrete wall panels
- A total of 812 precast concrete hollowcore panels
- 45 days to erect the shell
- 8 months of construction time
Photos: Eagle Builders LLP and Grubb Engineering
Sources:
- https://www.charisvillage.ca/~chari835/files/3614/8795/6729/Charis_newsletter_feb2017.pdf
- https://www.eaglebuilders.ca/industries/projects/multi-residential/charis-village
- https://www.grubb-engineering.ca/projects/multi-family/charis-village