SPECIAL APPLICATIONS TECHNICAL MERITChrist Church Cathedral
Address: 690 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC
Owner: Christ Church Parish Vancouver
Architects: Iredale Group Architecture / Proscenium Architecture
Structural Engineer: Iredale Group Architecture
General Contractor: Scott Construction Management Ltd.
Ready-Mix Supplier: Rempel Bros. Concrete Ltd.
Engineering, teamwork and a commitment to preserve Vancouver’s architectural history are the drivers behind this project.
Built in two stages between 1885 and 1897, Christ Church Cathedral had withstood many seismic events, but at the turn of this century, a restoration and renewal project was deemed necessary in order to ensure another hundred years of life, for Vancouver’s oldest stone building.
Concrete played the lead role in two main areas of this important project: a seismic upgrade of the existing stone church, and a cast-in-place organ gallery structure, which included foundations, supporting walls and columns, and a suspended slab.
A shear wall system was used, replacing the existing plaster and lathe on 2 by 4 framing of the exterior walls with the same thickness in concrete.
By adding connection plates and bolts, the construction company was able to use the existing north-south wood trusses to transfer the loads to these shear walls.
The only visible indications of the seismic upgrade are the connector plates and bolts, which are painted the same colour as the wood and tie together the wood trusses at the ceiling level.
A benefit provided by the cast-in-place organ gallery structure, which supports a new one million dollar pipe organ imported from Ireland, is the increased acoustical damping it provides.
Concrete made this project possible for present and future generations to enjoy the strength and beauty our parents and grandparents enjoyed in bygone eras, and to take pride in the classic architecture of Vancouver.
