An image of the Site Entrance Building blends model and photograph, showing the accuracy inherent in working with an IPD process and prefabricated mass timber. Image by Kevin Belanger and HDR
PROJECTS Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) Site Entrance Building, Support and Maintenance Facility, and Science Collaboration Centre, Chalk River, Ontario
ARCHITECT HDR, as part of CNL IPD NB Poly Party Team
PHOTOS © 2020 Kevin Belanger, courtesy CNL IPD NB Poly Party Team, unless otherwise noted
In February 2020?during simpler pre-pandemic times?I had the rare opportunity to visit the construction sites for a series of three projects by HDR at the Chalk River Laboratories Campus, about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. The innovation taking place at Chalk River relates not only to nuclear energy, but also, surprisingly, to two trends in architecture: mass timber construction and integrated project delivery (IPD) team processes. Science of Tomorrow
The Chalk River campus sits on unceded Algonquin Anishinabek territory, on a picturesque 3,700-hectare plot at the edge of the Ottawa River. The site is relatively remote?a choice that was likely strategic when the facility was established in 1944. Today, security remains a critical concern, given the sensitive nature of work and material on site. Chalk River Laboratories has had a rich and complex history of nuclear research since its establishment under the purview of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a federal Crown corporati...