Cambridge, Ontario

Riverbank Lofts is a 10-storey total precast luxury apartment building located in historic downtown Hespeler. Its location on the Speed River provides expansive views of Mill Pond and the surrounding community, while providing residents of the 152 units with close proximity to parks and shops within the village.

 

 

This total precast building contains large balconies supported off of wing walls and wrapped balconies on the corners supported on columns to act as an extension from the interior suite to the outdoor space and surrounding views.  Connections were required to be hidden from the balconies so the wing walls extend to the interior of the building while still providing a thermal break to the interior shear walls.  This provides continuity of the thermal barrier for an improved functionality of the building while maintaining a clean finish on the exterior.

 

 

The wing walls also came down over drive aisles and parking areas in a few locations so large precast beams were introduced to transfer the loads to the adjacent shear walls.  A mobile crane was used for installation of the beams due to the weight restrictions of the tower crane.  The beams were located on the underside of the ground floor balconies while cladding walls were provided in adjacent bays, matching the beam depth, in order to merge them into the building elevation.

 

 

Total precast concrete construction was the optimal solution for this project for the quality of finishes and speed of installation. One entire level (20,000 square feet of precast concrete balconies and hollowcore floors & 14,500 square feet of precast concrete walls) was erected in just eight working days.

 

 

Project at a glance: