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New RCMP headquarters takes shape in Burnside
Green structure designed to last a century
By KELLY SHIERS Staff Reporter
Mon, Feb 14 - 4:54 AM

The Mounties are finally getting their building.

Rising on a piece of property in Burnside Park, the new five-storey RCMP "H" Division headquarters is taking shape. The fourth floor is about 25 per cent complete and the second and third floors are in various stages of progress.

"If you’ve been by the site, you can well and truly see it above the treeline now and, very shortly, you’ll see it as a fixture on the skyline of Halifax," says project director Bill Fioratos.

Construction on the Garland Avenue headquarters began this summer with the awarding of a $59-million contract to PCL Constructors Canada Inc. It continues through the winter, with completion expected in 2013.

The final price tag will be about $100 million, funded by Public Works and Government Services Canada and the RCMP.

Sometime later that year, about 500 administrative and operational staff will move into the 24,000-square-

metre, state-of-the-art facility.

The building includes a five-storey administration building and a one-storey technical block. The public face of the arc-shaped building includes a mostly glass rotunda. Its back will be built of brick and its arc-shaped design and centre-corridor plan will allow sunlight to reach into almost all of the building’s workspaces.

"I think it will be quite attractive," Fioratos said.

But the building isn’t just about being nice to look at or to work in. Careful consideration has been given to ensure the building is built with the environment in mind and ensure it meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green standards, he said. Plans include the largest green roof in Atlantic Canada, the use of dimming fixtures that adjust to natural light and the use of natural gas. Rainwater will be used for landscape maintenance and for low-flow toilets.

And it is designed to be durable, with officials hoping it will be the first building in Canada to meet the green standard of having an expected lifespan of a century.

The building will replace the existing but outdated RCMP headquarters which Public Works says is now 35 years old and no longer meets the force’s needs.

Initially, the federal government hoped to begin construction in 2009 but Ottawa was unable to find a developer to tackle the project.