APRIL 2014
H
business elite canada
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new high-tech blood processing facility within
the 100 year old shell of an abandoned build-
ing in downtown Toronto. Last year the build-
ing was awarded the BOMA “Building of the
Year” for its maintainability and operational
efficiencies. “The building has robust materi-
als, is easy to maintain, and has only required
one paint refresh in the last 20 years. Parkin
has been stressing ‘sustainability’ long before
it became a trendy thing to do.”
EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE
“We’ve designed the Woodstock General Hos-
pital which is one of the first LEED silver hos-
pitals in the province and across the country.
That’s not easy to do because hospitals are
inherently really high energy users, but we’ve
figured out ways to do it while keeping the
spaces filled with natural light,” adds Driscoll.
“LEED is about more than water-saving and
low energy use. It’s also about how people use
the facilities. In the case of hospitals, we’re try-
ing to design facilities that relieve stress and
promote successful clinical outcomes from pa-
tient treatments by providing a healing envi-
ronment.”
The company firmly believes in keeping cur-
rent with the latest technological innovations
to remain efficient and effective. The archi-
tects stay at the forefront of Building Informa-
tionModelling (BIM) technologies to maximize
productivity and give the best product to their
clients. “These tools are also desirable from
a contractor’s point of view because he can
get an exact list of all the components in the
building. When we are making a plan change,
it shows up in real time right on the schedule
so he knows exactly what the building will cost
as opposed to estimating,” says Nyman. “Auto-
Cadwas the standard in the past, but that’s just
