News & Updates

Grand Opening of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Science Collaboration Centre

On September 7, 2023, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories celebrated the grand opening of their newly constructed Science Collaboration Centre with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at their Chalk River Laboratories in Chalk River, ON. This building, one of three CNL projects LEA has been involved in, serves as the central planning and collaboration space for the CNL’s science and technology program.

LEA provided structural engineering services for the new six-storey, 9,500 m² facility that was designed with sustainably sourced mass timber from Canada. The majority of the suspended floors and roofs were constructed with mass timber consisting of glue-laminated timber (Glulam) columns, beams, and joists supporting cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs. The advancements in wood product technology, coupled with the high accessibility of this renewable resource in North America, have spearheaded a resurgence in the use of mass timber and with it, comes a great number of benefits, including sustainability, speed of construction, strength to weight, inherent fire resistance, biophilia, and reduced need for finishings.

The CNL projects were a major endeavor that included the design and construction of three new buildings on campus, which were completed using the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model. Special thanks to our IPD project partners: CNL, HDR Architecture, Nordic Structures, Introba (formerly Integral Group), Jp2g Consultants, Chandos, M. Sullivan & Son, J.M.R. Electric, Marcantonio Constructors, Flynn Canada, Siemens Canada, and Advanced Business Interiors.
LEA is a proud member of the Integrated Project Delivery Alliance (IPDA) with John Ford, LEA’s Vice President of Building Structures, as an active member of the Board of Directors. John has been serving as a Director of the IPDA for the past six years and Secretary for the past four years, supporting the Board of Directors, who are elected by the active members of the alliance. IPDA is a not-for-profit organization to support the construction industry using the Integrated Project Delivery model. It has grown to include support for new and alternative project delivery and collaboration practices. Ultimately, their mission is to enhance communication and collective success in the construction industry.