Addressing School Construction Challenges in Ontario: Tilt-Up Construction Delivers A+ Solutions
Educational institutions across the province face the ongoing challenge of optimizing budgets while guaranteeing the construction of high-quality buildings that meet everyone’s needs.
Tilt Wall Ontario offers school boards new ways to address budget cuts while also providing superior facilities that exceed the needs of students and staff. Tilt-up construction involves casting wall panels horizontally on concrete slabs and then tilting them into place.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the reasons why tilt-up is the superior construction method for schools across Ontario.
Cost-Effectiveness:
Traditional construction methods often involve labour-intensive processes, lengthy timelines, and substantial material transportation costs. Think of the time it takes to create concrete block walls, then add interior stick frames, followed by laborious mechanical, insulation, and drywall. By casting wall panels at ground level on-site, transportation costs are minimized, and labour expenses are reduced due to efficient installation processes.
With tilt-up construction, all wall components, from the interior face to insulation to exterior finish, can be efficiently installed at ground level, and tilting an entire school can take as little as just a few days. This efficiency leads to significant cost savings in the construction process without compromising quality.
The independent school Grace Christian School in Dundas needed a new facility to handle its growing student body, but the charity needed to cut costs while retaining many of the other benefits of new building construction. Tilt Wall worked with the school to save approximately 15% over traditional construction methods.
Long-term Energy Efficiency:
As schools strive to reduce their environmental footprint and operating costs, being more efficient is a top priority. Tilt-up construction’s combination of insulation and two layers of concrete creates an excellent thermal barrier, helping to minimize heating and cooling costs over the long term.
Tilt Wall Ontario ensures that schools benefit from improved indoor comfort and lower utility bills for decades to come!
In the case of King Christian School in Gwillimbury, the 17,000 square feet of insulated tilt-up concrete panels reduced their projected energy consumption by approximately 30%. This proved to be a significant operational cost reduction that will continue far beyond the graduation of the current students.
Design Flexibility:
Every school in Ontario wants to be unique in the ways it looks and acts. Tilt-up construction offers exciting design flexibility, allowing architects to unleash their creativity and bring innovative visions to life.
Tilt Wall Ontario works with architects to add stylized panels, unique angles, and interesting wall placements to allow the school’s architecture to be representative of the people who use it. From intricate exterior facades to colourful structural elements, tilt-up construction offers endless possibilities for creating inspiring learning environments.
Broadview Public School in Ottawa took advantage of the concrete exterior to feature unique artistic hand imprints and embedded brick patterns on the exterior of the insulated walls. Tilt-up construction also helped construction proceed throughout the winter, with additional panel casting slabs and portable heaters. Even with the additional artistic work done on the exterior, the school was ready for opening 11 months after construction began.
Durability and Resilience:
School buildings must endure daily wear and tear from students and staff. Tilt-up construction safeguards its insulation by sandwiching it between reinforced concrete exterior and interior, which creates solid, strong, and highly durable surfaces.
Concrete wall panels are also resistant to fire, rodents, and weather conditions, delivering maximum protection for those inside. By choosing Tilt Wall Ontario, school boards will know that their facilities are built with the highest standards of durability and longevity in mind.
Accelerated Learning; Speedy Construction
Time is of the essence in school construction projects. One of the most significant advantages of tilt-up construction for schools is its speed. Unlike traditional construction methods that require extensive and complex assembly, tilt-up panels can be built quickly – even in winter months – and erecting an entire school can take as little as a week, with steel erection able to start instantly.
This process reduces construction schedules, allowing schools to open their doors to students and faculty in as little as 12 months from start to finish.
Your Next Step
Tilt Wall Ontario is committed to empowering school boards across Ontario with cost-effective, energy-efficient, and resilient building solutions tailored to their unique requirements.
Reach out to Tilt Wall Ontario for a free lunch and learn or use our online form to ask questions about your specific project. We look forward to building concrete relationships and creating exceptional educational environments together!