S.C. JOHNSON BUILDING
Location
Brantford ON
Client
Wilfred Laurier University
Type
Renovation
Status
Completed 2011
Size
19,000 sf
Team
In Partnership with Vicano Construction Limited
With intuitive vision and much planning to envision the conversion of four distinct vintage buildings which were former banks into a singular university lecture hall and office facility
in the heart of downtown Brantford. Each of the buildings having different floor levels and constructions. After many months of intense interior demolition and alterations, TRA and Vicano Construction Limited were able to create an extraordinarily functional university facility for Wilfrid Laurier University with all the modern amenities required within a WLU building construction challenges included slicing through 3 ft. thick concrete and steel plate walls to create openings into bank safes, creating mezzanine levels with minimum floor thicknesses to achieve proper ceiling heights and maneuvering in a basement which could only be described as a maze. A 131 person multi-media lecture theatre was created, a five level elevator was installed, private offices, fire stairwells, and IT rooms created all while maintaining the integrity of the existing interior structures such as an impressive chauffeured ceiling in the main hall. The building was re-roofed and the exterior granite and limestone facade of the building was re-furbished to unify the look of each of the four vintages.