Hexagon Office Building, Calgary, Canada
Novatel, a subsidiary of Hexagon, is one of the leading providers of GPS tracking devices as well as GPS and navigation systems. At the Calgary site, the company is creating office space for 600 employees. The entire building complex covers almost 30,000 m², which includes research and development facilities, production and logistics areas, office and recreation space together with conference and training facilities.
High-quality concrete surfaces realized in the shortest time possible
For the concrete frame construction, PERI engineers, along with management team members from the contractor Perma-Cast Concrete Contracting Ltd, developed a comprehensive overall concept in order to accelerate construction progress, while simultaneously minimizing the usage of the crane.
For realizing the reinforced concrete walls, the construction team used the MAXIMO Panel Formwork System. Through the use of MX tie technology whereby the MX ties are inserted and fixed from one side, valuable working time was saved on the job site. With the MAXIMO Panel Formwork, the MX wingnuts are pre-fixed just once to the primary formwork; the MX Tie can be subsequently screwed into the MX Wingnut through the closing formwork during each formwork operation by only one person. The MX Tie Rod is conically shaped so that neither spacer tubes nor cones are required – in Calgary, this facilitated savings on materials as well as minimizing labour requirements. In addition, MAXIMO requires up to 40 % fewer ties than panel formwork systems using conventional tie anchor technology.
Last but not least, the wall formwork system guaranteed a clean concrete surface without leaving any impressions from unused tie points. Furthermore, the centrally-arranged anchor points resulted in a regular joint and tie pattern both horizontally and vertically. Thus, the construction team was able to comfortably meet the high requirements placed on the concrete surfaces.
Reinforced concrete cores formed with the MAXIMO Shaft Corner
The construction team used two MAXIMO shaft units to realize a total of six multi-storey building cores. Internal formwork was assembled using MAXIMO elements complete with matching shaft corners. This provides an advantage whereby the MXSE Shaft Corners function as 90° inside corners and as striking panels. Thanks to the ingenious PERI technology, a striking clearance of 35 mm is created on all sides when the shaft corners are struck and pulled upwards by means of a lever, so that striking the entire internal formwork can be carried out quickly as a complete unit, which can then be lifted out by crane ready for the next concreting section. Shaft platforms on BR Platform Beams served to support the internal core formwork, which safely and reliably transferred formwork and live loads into the structure.
For the external formwork of the core, PERI planned a total of 12 units which consisted of CB Climbing Brackets and MAXIMO Panel Formwork. These units were designed so that they could easily be adapted requiring only very minor changes to suit the different core dimensions. In addition, the generously-sized working platforms were free of any tripping hazards, thus ensuring safe working conditions throughout the numerous concreting cycles. The use of the CB Climbing System, with its easy handling and fast moving procedure, proved to be the optimum solution in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness for realizing the six multi-storey cores. Furthermore, the high utilization of the rental formwork solution greatly contributed to optimizing the costs of the project.
Efficient work thanks to many years of partnership and cooperation
The individual formwork solution, which was specifically tailored to match project requirements, made a valuable contribution to ensure that the construction site team was able to maintain the very tight construction schedule. Just as important for achieving the high level of productivity, was the fact that the team could benefit from their previous experience of using the PERI systems, so it was possible to work quickly from the start. Last but not least, the close and trust-based cooperation between the two companies was an important factor in the project's success.
