Bird replaced the aging skylights at the City of Edmonton’s landmark Convention Centre, which is built on a slope into the bank of the North Saskatchewan River in downtown Edmonton. The City of Edmonton is committed to sustainably managing its buildings through the use of renewable energy and made a conscious decision to replace the Convention Centre skylights with brand new green technology – photovoltaic-integrated, insulated glazing units. These innovative glazing units are produced in Spain and required long lead ordering. To make sure the quality of this unique product met the client’s expectations and requirements, Bird’s pre-construction team travelled to Montreal to conduct thermal testing on the glazing units, ensuring that they would be able to withstand the city’s harsh winter temperatures. 

The installation of the glazing units was quite challenging due to the design of the building. Scaffolding was set up on both the interior and the exterior of the building to best manage the removal and installation of the glazing, as well as to facilitate steel reinforcing of the interior trusses, which was needed to support the new glazing system.

The facility remained operational during the entire renovation. Public safety, and the safety of facility staff, was of paramount concern. Bird instituted a range of safeguards, including limiting accessibility to dangerous areas through barricades, erecting highly visible signage to safely direct traffic flow, and meticulously securing all scaffolding.