The need to update and upgrade a major gateway to Canada is being realized. The planning and implementation of this work for Lester B. Pearson International Airport was undertaken by the Greater Toronto Airport Authority. The GTAA was incorporated in 1993 with a mandate to provide the Greater Toronto Area with a regional system of airports that meet the current and future demands for air services. The following projects and their descriptions although grand on their own scale, are but small parts of the overall airport development.

GTAA - Infield Development Project
Air Canada Cargo Facility
Consolidated Cargo Building
Freight Forwarders Building
Canadian Inspection Service Office Building
Passenger Holdroom Terminal
Three Bay Hanger Facility
Equipment Maintenance Building

Consolidated Cargo Building

The GTAA - Infield Development Project is comprised of six buildings.
Design Build Contractor: PCL Constructors Inc.
Architect: Bregman + Hamann
Compliance Architect: WZMH
Precast Concrete: Res Precast

Freight Forwarders Building

Insulated precast concrete panels provide functional and aesthetic value for exterior wall systems. All these buildings make use of insulated precast concrete sandwich wall panels. Insulated precast sandwich wall panels consist of two reinforced or prestressed concrete wythes with a continuous layer of rigid insulation sandwiched in between. The Passenger Holdroom Terminal and the Canadian Inspection Service Building took the design of insulated wall panels one step further by using precast concrete rainscreen panel assemblies. Rainscreen systems incorporate a second line of defence behind the weather barrier by incorporating a 12 mm continuous air gap between the exterior concrete wythe and the rigid insulation.

Canadian Inspection Service Office Building

An off-white medium and light sandblast texture exterior finish was used on the precast panels. The interior concrete surfaces where smooth steel trowel suitable for painting on site. The balance of the building envelopes made use of grey and blue profiled metal siding and curtain wall.

GTAA Central Utilities Plant (CUP)
Contractor: Vanbots Construction
Architect: Rounthwaite Dick & Hadley
Precast Concrete: Res Precast

GTAA Central Utilities Plant (CUP)

This facility is several blocks away from the airport property which will provided all heating and cooling requirements for the new Terminal facility and surrounding support buildings. Several smaller support building are located on the same site.

Precast insulated panels with a white exposed aggregate stone with white matrix where used in conjunction with a grey metal curtain wall panel and a main glass curtain wall feature on the street elevation.

GTAA Airside Maintenance Facility
Contractor: Lisgar Construction
Architect: Sievenpiper Associates Inc.
Precast Concrete: Res Precast

GTAA Airside Maintenance Facility

This is one of the early GTAA buildings to be constructed. The building was completely surrounded by landside roads and buildings. This facility will not become airside until demolition of existing roads and buildings are complete, allowing access to aprons and runways.

This building complex makes use of R12 insulated precast panels on the storage side and R16 insulated wall panels on the maintenance side of the facility. The precast is finished with a white exposed aggregate finish.

All three projects made use of over 1/4 million square feet of precast concrete insulated wall panels. Precast was selected for reasons of durability due to high traffic from airport equipment both outside and inside the buildings, aesthetics, speed of construction and economies. All panels were manufactured with Dow Styrofoam insulation.

Precast insulated sandwich wall panels are available in a wide range of widths, lengths, thickness and exterior finishes. Standard modular panels provide speed and economy. Custom panels can be produced for a variety of special applications. Insulated sandwich wall panels offer many benefits because of their unique construction.