Located in midtown Toronto, The St. Clement’s Anglican Church was built between 1891 and 1958 as a collection of eight buildings in several styles.
Our Construction Management mandate for this seven-phase project involved extensive interior as well as exterior renovations and restoration, all the while ensuring the Church remained operational with the goal of continuing to serve the needs of its parish with minimal disruption.
The nave and narthex areas were entirely stripped to allow for a more flexible, open, accessible and interactive design. The Old Parish Hall was restored back to its former exposed timber truss structure and ceiling. Adjacent additions were renovated, restored and repurposed. All existing woodwork and furniture was reused in the new design.
While each phase of the project was unique, they all shared several common elements. Exterior work including slate roofing, copper flashings, extensive stone restoration work, new custom manufactured entrance systems and windows detailed to match the original, structural modifications, custom woodwork matched to the original details, barrier free upgrades and the upgrade of the mechanical, electrical and life safety systems are just some of the common features of each phase.
Compass took an active role during design development. Through collaborative participation in design and co-ordination meetings we provided leadership in the areas of construction budgets, schedule, buildability and inter-trade synchronization.
During construction, issues such as the material deliveries, scheduled events in different parts of the Church, life safety system shut downs, etc, necessitated daily communication between our staff and the facility managers. Construction activities which affected normal operations of the building during construction such as mechanical and electrical system tie-ins, public access, the closing of certain areas or rooms and building system alterations were addressed on a regular basis with the design team and project stakeholders.
The project was a success and the newly finished church was ready for the congregation to enjoy as scheduled. It was an Award of Excellence recipient by Heritage Toronto.
