Thinkspace Architecture® Planning Interior Design (Kelowna, BC) with Northern Front Studio from Whitehorse have been awarded the facility consultant service contract. The facility consultant will develop the project’s detailed design, including all trade requirements to support the plan.
https://yukonhospitals.ca/contracts-awarded-detailed-design-phase-new-mental-health-unit
Our project is featured in the Canada Green Building Association BC Focus this month!
Image from Yukon News
Multi-use classrooms outfitted with sitting and standing desks, plenty of windows, moveable walls and garage-style doors.
A library with a larger digital collection of literature than physical books.
The first cohort of students at Whitehorse’s first dedicated French high school will be walking into a modern building designed for learning in the 21st century, officials say, one with theatre, commercial kitchen and office facilities that can also be used by the community.
“It’s a bit surreal, to be honest,” Marc Champagne, the executive director of the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon (CSFY), said following a media tour of le Centre scolaire secondaire communautaire Paul-Émile Mercier (Paul-Émile Mercier Secondary School Community Centre, or CSSC Mercier) on Nov. 9.
“We’ve been working on this project for so long now… For me, the biggest thing is going to be seeing our students finally have a space where they can do all the things they need to do in high school, so that’s really exciting, but it’s also really exciting for the francophone community and for the broader community here in Whitehorse to have these new spaces that are going to allow a lot of great events and great things to happen.
“It’s a real, beautiful addition to our community.”
CSSC Mercier, which was completed in September and sits next to F.H. Collins Secondary School, will welcome its first 85 students on Nov. 13. The building can accommodate up to 150 students and cost approximately $35 million, $7.5 million of which was covered by the federal Canadian Heritage department’s minority language education program. That federal money was specifically earmarked for the building’s multi-use community spaces.
The opening comes after a long battle over the availability of French-language education in the Yukon, an issue that made its way up to the Supreme Court of Canada before eventually being settled outside of court with the current Yukon government.
The incoming Grades 7 to 12 students are currently split between École Émilie-Tremblay and a rented space at NVD Place where, for example, they don’t have room for things like music or home economic classes.
By contrast, CSSC Mercier will give students access to classrooms dedicated to those subjects, as well as facilities such as a recording studio where they can record songs, podcasts and radio programs; a commercial kitchen that Champagne said will hopefully result in the establishment of a culinary and hot meal program, as well as eventually be used for community events; and a flexible theatre space with a moveable stage, varying layers of curtains and a pull-down green screen for video projects; a science lab; and a slightly-smaller-than-regulation gym.
There are windows everywhere — an intentional choice, Champagne said, so students walking through the building can see, can get interested in what’s happening in other classrooms, and to allow in as much natural light as possible.
There are also several garage-style doors that teachers can open to make their classrooms larger and allow students to spread out to common areas for individual or group work.
As well, the building’s washrooms and change rooms are gender-neutral, with individual rooms for each toilet or shower.
Champagne said the French education commission was “a bit sad that we can’t celebrate” the opening of CSSC Mercier “the way we’d like to” due to COVID-19 restrictions, but added that there will “absolutely” be a larger celebration once restrictions ease.
For now, there will just be a smaller celebration with students on Nov. 13, and discussions about how to safely allow community access to the space are ongoing (community events will only be allowed outside of school hours).
In a press release, CSFY president Jean-Sébastien Blais described the entry of students to the school as “a historic and exciting moment for the entire francophone community and for French First Language education programs in the Yukon.”
“The opening of CSSC Mercier demonstrates the respect accorded by the territorial government to our language rights and the provision of an equivalent infrastructure to our students,” he said.
“…The sustainability of a language and a culture is ensured, among other things, by the institutions dedicated to them.”
Contact Jackie Hong at jackie.hong@yukon-news.com
A firs of its kind in several decades, the Raven Inn & Suites features 39 units with 1 and 2 bedroom condo apartments on the top two floors.
Read MoreNorthern Front Studio provided interior design services for this project including floor plans with extensive security considerations, millwork design, point of sale unit selection and much more.
Read MoreHawkins Project: New one-of-a-kind condominium under construction downtown
Rendering by Northern Front Studio
A Yukon company, spearheaded by a group of Yukoners, has broken ground and, over the next 15 months, will be constructing a one-of-a-kind condominium living opportunity in the heart of downtown. It will be known as Third & Hawkins.
This 20-unit, six storey condo at the corner of Third Avenue and Hawkins Street will feature outstanding views, with great natural light, aging-in-place features, thoughtful amenities, and exceptional energy efficiency with renewable technology.
Spokesperson Peter Long, “A group of Yukoners has taken matters into our own hands to build a new choice of housing for active living, flexibility with exceptional features and a sense of community. This is a brand new choice that will help to fill a gap in the housing market.”
Ten units have been pre-sold leaving 10 units still available. For nine units, there are four different layouts to choose from, ranging from 1030 square feet to 1425 square feet. These units feature two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The 10th unit, at 879 square feet on the top floor, is one bedroom, one bathroom. All units include good-sized balconies, quiet, high-level soundproofing, extra storage dedicated to each unit (on the same floor for most units), a ground floor social room, an elevator that will be serviced locally, heated indoor or covered outdoor parking, bike storage and more.
There are four units on each floor, named for their mountain views. Each unit will enjoy at least two distinct views and some three, all with extraordinary light. They are Grey Mountain (to the east), Golden Horn (to the south), Haeckel Hill (to the west) and Pilot Mountain (to the north). Third & Hawkins is conveniently located in the quiet, friendly south end of downtown with easy, walkable access to Main Street, nearby transit and the Millennium, riverfront and other walking trails.
Third & Hawkins has been designed and engineered with environmental objectives and low cost operations and maintenance top of mind. Peter Long said, “We believe it is the most energy efficient multi-residential building ever built in the Yukon, with custom on-demand heating and cooling in every unit, powered in part by the largest solar/PV installation for a building of this kind in the territory.
To design and build Third & Hawkins, the company retained Yukon architect Mary Ellen Read of Northern Front Studio and the territory’s most experienced condo developer Doug Gilday of NGC Builders Ltd., together with an exceptional team of Yukon and national engineers including special expertise in sustainable buildings, integrated energy systems and acoustics.
Mary Ellen Read said, “This project is exceptional in that it truly is a sustainable building, not just “green washing.” The client, from the very start, knew that the long-term benefit of investing in the best technologies, like solar/PV renewable energy, and passive house building principles, would make this a better building, that the owners/developers would benefit from living in.”
NGC has brought a considerable number of multi-residential buildings and condominiums to the Yukon, and downtown Whitehorse in particular, including many highly regarded ones such as Hawkins on Fourth, The Ledge, Ogilvie Station, Alexander Street Apartments and the Salvation Army building.
A public “Showcase” on Third & Hawkins is being held Thursday, September 27, 5 - 7 pm, 4th Floor Nuvo Building, Strickland at corner of Fourth Avenue. There will be presentations by the architect, builder and others, along with detailed information on site and floor plans, kitchens, bathrooms, appliances and finishings.
For more information contact:
Peter Long, President, 536261 Yukon Inc.
Phone: (867) 334 -2958
Email: pjl@whitehorsewalks.com
Other contacts:
Architect, Mary Ellen Read, Northern Front Studio
Phone: (867) 393-3048
Email: maryellen@northernfront.ca
Builder, Doug Gilday, NGC Builders Ltd.:
Phone: (867) 334-5021
Email: doug@narrowgauge.ca
The city is poised to gain a major new 57-room hotel.
Kurt Mehnert, a partner in Raven Inn Whitehorse Inc., will be bringing a premier mixed-use boutique hotel to Whitehorse over the next 14 months.
The hotel, to be built on the vacant property near the Second Avenue-Keish Street intersection, is scheduled to open in 2019.
Its cost is not being made public.
“This is an exciting new development for the Whitehorse waterfront area,” Mehnert said Tuesday.
The hotel will be the first brand new major hotel development to be built downtown since as far back as 1971, when the Yukon Inn was originally constructed, Mehnert said.
(Other local hotels have had major renovations or expansions since that time, and the Family Hotel has been built.)
The project announced Tuesday is also the Yukon’s first mixed-use hotel project supported by investors looking to include their residential units in the hotel as rooms.
“The innovative concept of investing in hotel units is becoming increasingly popular in other regions,” said Doug Gilday, the president of NGC Builders – also known as Narrow Gauge – and a hotel partner and general contractor.
“A number of units presold with spacious decks, river views and full kitchens will support the Yukon’s first premier hotel with an outdoor hot tub and cedar sauna.”
NGC has brought several notable condominium developments to the Yukon.
The company also has hotel experience in the Gertie’s Wing for the expansion of the Westmark Dawson Hotel in 2002 and earlier an addition to the 202 Elite Hotel Whitehorse in 1999.
“Northern Front Studio is proud to work together with NGC Builders on this project,” said chief architect Mary Ellen Read.
“Our relationship with NGC is founded on mutual respect, and bringing that collaborative energy to the client is always a great experience.
“This building design is inspired by historic Klondike Gold Rush architecture that is regionally appropriate and unique only to Yukon.”
Support and development from the local branches of Business Development Canada and the Royal Bank of Canada also made the project possible along with what was land of the former White Pass shipyards.
The ground floor of the hotel will welcome both hotel guests and visitors.
“This will be a new cultural and social hub for Whitehorse, serving drinks and light entrées, bringing an exciting new establishment to the riverfront area of downtown,” the proponents said in a statement.
The hotel also looks to welcome tour traffic from Skagway and along the Alaska Highway.
“The prime location on Second Avenue near the Yukon River and nearby Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre should also attract those looking to stay downtown among the natural beauty of Whitehorse known by its official motto as The Wilderness City,” the statement said.
The partnership in ownership between the builder and the hotel enables a locally owned and operated hotel company to share experience throughout the build process and beyond, the statement said.
The statement said initial interest has been positive, and the hotel plans to take advanced booking interest by this fall for some reservations beginning in January 2020 and allow for more 2019 dates as construction progresses.
- Whitehorse Star
Whitehorse's "makerspace" will soon have a new, bigger home — a new "innovation hub" in the city's downtown.
The government of Yukon has budgeted up to $1.9 million for the project, while the Canadian government is contributing a further $1.5 million, to help YuKonstruct convert a long-vacant building into the Yukon Innovation Hub. It will be located in the former Super Valu grocery store on Second Avenue.
Northern Vision Development, the company that owns the building, is also chipping in $1.3 million over several years.
Jaret Slipp, executive director of YuKonstruct, says innovation thrives when people can easily collaborate. (Claudiane Samson/Radio-Canada)
"We've outgrown our spaces," said Jaret Slipp, referring to both YuKonstruct and (co)space. Slipp is the executive director of YuKonstruct.
The new 20,000-square foot space will also house the Yukon Development Corporation and Yukon College's Cold Climate Innovation Centre.
According to Yukon Economic Development Minister Ranj Pillai, it's about a creating a place to foster new ideas and entrepreneurship.
"This is the time to do it," Pillai said. "We have a phenomenal boom right now in the commodities market, and that is the time to continue to focus on how we will diversify."
Pillai said that the new facility will also signal to outside inventors and investors that Yukon supports people with good ideas.
"Time spent by our entrepreneurs searching out support and knocking on doors is time not spent developing their ideas and building their businesses," he said.
Slipp agreed, saying that innovation thrives when people can easily collaborate and support each other.
"Ultimately, this place will bring together the brightest and most creative minds of the Yukon, and show the world that a small remote community can be a global leader," he said.
The new facility is expected to open this summer.
- CBC News
