Using lean principles and a modular kit-of-parts approach, the design-build team delivered Lakeridge Gardens, a 273,000-sq-ft long-term care facility, in just 13 months on a tight hospital-adjacent site while dealing with COVID-19 safety restrictions. Infrastructure Ontario needed to move patients into the 320-bed facility on time so lockdowns and subsequent supply chain challenges—including 35 extreme weather days during construction—could not delay its opening.

An in-depth preconstruction strategy helped the team deliver the project on schedule with inspections taking place on time. Since the pandemic did not allow team co-location before construction, all stakeholders, including government owner entities and regulators, as well as specialty contractors adapted and collaborated virtually via Microsoft Teams messaging, workspaces and shared documents. A preconstruction Revit model was created through online collaboration to create one source of truth for project information.

Photo courtesy PCL Construction

Work was coordinated using Revit and Autodesk BIM docs for the models and a modular manufacturing tracking system to track component fabrication, transportation and deliveries.

The systems used to deliver the fast-track project helped, but design and construction team members agreed that having project managers from all disciplines in constant communication on every aspect of the process was key.

Lakeridge Gardens’ hospital adjacent site required separate circulation for workers and prefabricated components.
Photo courtesy PCL Construction

“As crazy as it sounds, a phone conversation did better to coordinate than any other method, even if it was to let the other party know that a critical email or update was posted to the model space,” says Andre Bohren, construction manager on Lakeridge Gardens for PCL.

Contributors to the model also included consultants and trade partners. The distributed team even coordinated rapid mockups to test fit and installation.