Perched in the heart of downtown Edmonton, ATB Place overlooks the city’s vast river valley. The 26-storey tower is surrounded by pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles hurriedly moving to their destinations.

At the top of ATB Place, the building’s exterior signage needed replacement. ATB had engaged a signage contractor to build the new signs and install them, but the complexity of the installation required additional expertise.

PCL’s small contractor services team known as Special Projects, enjoyed a longstanding relationship with ATB based on our continued reliable service under a Master Services Agreement dating back to 2021. This relationship of trust gave ATB the peace of mind to ask for our technical expertise to ensure the complex and high-risk elevated installation would be completed on schedule. The Special Projects team, which excels at complex, compact, quick and competitive projects, came on as construction manager during pre-construction to oversee the fast-track project.

PCL’s early engagement in preconstruction was critical to the success of the project. Our experts focused on schedule optimization, execution and logistics.

The Special Projects team considered two options for the installation at extreme height — scaffold or swing stage. After consultations with the signage company, partners within the industry, and subject matter experts within PCL, our Special Projects team chose a swing stage approach for the installation, with budget, scheduling and safety being the primary drivers.

Safety is at the core of everything we do. In fact, PCL was recently awarded the prestigious CCA National Safety Award. Using enhanced safety protocols, our teams ensured commuters below were completely protected before work on the roof began. Overhead protection shielding the sidewalks was regularly checked, materials on the roof were properly secured, and control zones were in place to keep workers on the roof away from the edge of the building.

With the proper planning during preconstruction, the team faced very few unexpected challenges during the accelerated six-month install. They accounted for wind and rain by building contingencies into the fast-track schedule and maximized scheduling by strategically phasing the swing stage work on the building’s perimeter. The biggest challenge the team faced once on site was the discovery of a raven’s nest in the existing signage on the south wall. Under federal legislation, the team was not allowed to disturb the nest, requiring them to wait until the hatchlings had fled the nest before they could remove the existing sign.

When it was time to install the signage, the team had to work quickly: Facing minimum temperature requirements to stretch a canvas wrap over a 2,700-pound frame without risk of the canvas tearing or cracking.

Our Special Projects team delivered the project two weeks ahead of schedule, under budget, and with zero safety incidents, building on the trust we have cultivated with our partners at ATB.