1. Are there other examples of vertically phased office buildings besides Bentall 5?
2. How does Bentall 5 compare to other vertically phased buildings?
3. Where will the crane be placed?
4. How long will the construction of Phase II take?
5. When will the Restaurant Pavilion be available?
6. How will the construction of Phase II impact the outlook from the low-rise floors?
7. What will happen to the plaza adjacent to the building during the construction of Phase II?
8. How will construction personnel access the site and the high-rise floors of the building during the construction of Phase II?
9. How will tenants and visitors access the building during the construction of Phase II?
10. How will tenants and visitors be protected from the overhead activity during the construction of Phase II?
11. How will construction activities and related noises affect tenants during the construction of Phase II?
12. What will happen to the existing crown structure on the roof of Phase I during the construction of Phase II?
13. How will the Phase I mechanical, electrical and elevator systems be impacted during the construction of Phase II?
14. Will Phase I tenants pay any additional costs as a result of the construction of Phase II?
15. Can the existing building support another 13 floors?
16. Will contractors be walking through the main lobby or existing Tenant space?
17. When the crane is lifting materials from the Construction Staging Area, what is the chance that the materials could hit the building?
18. Will the Phase II construction include an underground tunnel to link Bentall 5 to Bentall Centre?

Are there other examples of vertically phased office buildings besides Bentall 5?

Before finalizing the design for Bentall 5, we reviewed a number of vertically phased office buildings in cities around the world including Chicago, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and even Montreal and Toronto. We studied the Swedish Medical Centre, the largest private hospital in Seattle, who completed several vertically phased projects while the hospital remained in operation 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

A hospital in Quebec is currently adding several floors to its existing operational facility and an office building in Edmonton is currently adding one floor to an existing, occupied building.

Bentall is currently completing a building through phased construction in Bellevue, Washington.

How does Bentall 5 compare to other vertically phased buildings?

Essentially, we found two types of vertically phased buildings, those that were designed to be phased from the start and those where the second phase was designed after the original phase had already been completed. As expected, those that were designed in advance to be phased have been the most successful.

Prior to commencing construction, Bentall 5 was designed to be built on a vertically phased basis. The City of Vancouver approved of Bentall 5 being built on a phased basis in the Development Permit.

Other key factors for success are having a generous area on the site to stage the second phase construction activity, suitable access to the site from streets and lanes, a well planned overhead protection strategy, a comprehensive communication plan and restricted crane access.

Bentall 5 has a well established criteria for each of these elements.

Where will the crane be placed?

A construction crane will be erected when the construction of Phase II commences. The Phase II construction crane will be erected on a platform affixed to the transition floors on top of Phase I. The Phase II construction crane will not penetrate through the low-rise portion of the building.

There will be no exterior jump elevators attached to the outside of the building during the construction of Phase II.

How long will the construction of Phase II take?

The construction of Phase II will commence approximately April 2005 until approximately September 2007. The final 11 high-rise floors comprising Phase II will be poured during the first half of the construction period. The glass curtain wall, high-rise elevators and other mechanical systems will be installed during the remaining construction period. High-rise tenants will have possession of their premises for fixturing during the final 3 to 4 months of the Phase II construction period.

When will the Restaurant Pavilion be available?

Construction of the Restaurant Pavilion will be complete by the end of 2007 or early 2008.

How will the construction of Phase II impact the outlook from the low-rise floors?

There will be no exterior jump elevators attached to the building during the construction of Phase II. All construction materials will be lifted to the high-rise floors of the building using the construction crane and the construction hoists to be located in the high-rise elevator bank.

The majority of the construction materials will be taken by the construction crane from a picking area on the northeast corner of the adjacent plaza.

What will happen to the plaza adjacent to the building during the construction of Phase II?

A portion of the plaza will be hoarded off and used as a staging area during the construction of Phase II.

How will construction personnel access the site and the high-rise floors of the building during the construction of Phase II?

Construction personnel will access the site off Burrard Street or the lane between the YWCA and Le Soliel at the southeast corner of the building. They will enter the building through a corridor adjacent to the YWCA, which will lead them to the back of the high-rise elevator lobby. Interim “jump ” elevators will be set up in the high-rise elevator bank to bring construction personnel to the upper floors of the building.

The front of the high-rise elevator lobby will remain closed off to the main floor lobby. As a result, there will be no construction personnel using the main lobby of the building during the construction of Phase II.

How will tenants and visitors access the building during the construction of Phase II?

The main lobby entrance to the building will remain open during the construction of Phase II. Periodically access to the main lobby entrance will be restricted. During these periods, alternate access to the main lobby of the building will be available through the Burrard Street retail entrance located just north of the main entrance.

How will tenants and visitors be protected from the overhead activity during the construction of Phase II?

All Phase II construction activities will be performed in accordance with applicable Workers Compensation Board ( “WCB ”) safety regulations.

Access to the construction staging area on the adjacent plaza will be restricted by hoarding. A small area within the construction staging area will serve as a picking area for the construction crane and a strict communication plan will govern swings outside this area.

A cable fence with a vertical debris infill net will be installed around the perimeter of each floor to prevent construction material from falling off the edge of the floor. Each fence will remain in place until the permanent glass curtain wall panels are installed on that floor. This method was employed during construction of Phase I.

A secondary debris net will be erected around the perimeter of the floor being constructed. This net will project out from the edge of the building approximately 20 ’ to catch any debris in the unlikely event that it gets past the perimeter fences on each floor. This method was employed during construction of Phase I.

A plywood and steel “skirt ” that extends 15 ’ outward from the building will be constructed at the 23 rd floor and will surround the building.

Overhead protection will be placed over portions of the YWCA rooftop as occurred in Phase I construction.

In addition, an architecturally designed canopy will be erected over the main lobby entrance doors and above the Burrard Street sidewalk. The canopy will project out from the main lobby entrance doors to the sidewalk on Burrard Street.

How will construction activities and related noises affect tenants during the construction of Phase II?

The most disruptive phase of commercial construction occurs during the initial excavation of a site for the construction of the Parkade. Save for the removal of the landscape elements of the existing plaza, there will be no additional excavation work required during the construction of Phase II as this work was completed in Phase I.

The impact of other construction related noises will be controlled in a number of different ways as follows:

1. The potential of phasing Bentall 5 Phase II has been planned from the start. Wherever possible quieter construction methods have been chosen. In addition, the major components of Phase II have been designed to be installed with minimal disruption to existing Phase I tenants.
2. Any construction activities which create excessively loud noises, such as core drilling, will be prohibited during regular office hours.
3. During the construction of Phase I two additional floors were constructed which remain vacant. These two “construction transition ” floors will serve a number of functions during the construction of Phase II, including forming a sound buffer zone between the existing low-rise floors and the high-rise floors being constructed above.

What will happen to the existing crown structure on the roof of Phase I during the construction of Phase II?

The Phase I crown structure will be dismantled and removed prior to commencing construction of Phase II. Upon the completion of Phase II, the crown structure will be reassembled on top of the high-rise of Bentall 5.

How will the Phase I mechanical, electrical and elevator systems be impacted during the construction of Phase II?

The Phase I mechanical, electrical and elevator systems will not be impacted during regular office hours during the construction of Phase II. The Phase I and Phase II mechanical, electrical and elevator systems operate independently until completion. Once Phase II is complete, the controls for both systems will be integrated as required.

Will Phase I tenants pay any additional costs as a result of the construction of Phase II?

All costs related to the construction of Phase II will be paid for by the landlord. Phase I tenants will not pay any additional basic rent, operating expenses or property taxes as a result of the construction of Phase II.

Can the existing building support another 13 floors?

The structure of Bentall 5 Phase I was constructed to accommodate a 34 storey building.

Will contractors be walking through the main lobby or existing Tenant space?

Contractors will not have access to these areas.

When the crane is lifting materials from the Construction Staging Area, what is the chance that the materials could hit the building?

There is very little chance. The crane rules are set up such that the longest edge of any material will be 20 feet or more from the building. There are also rules in place around the use of cranes on windy days. If there is any risk of wind increasing the risk to the building or people underneath, then the crane use will be suspended.

Will the Phase II construction include an underground tunnel to link Bentall 5 to Bentall Centre?

No, unfortunately there will not be an underground connection between Bentall 5 and Bentall Centre.  Burrard Street is an active traffic and truck route.  To support the heavy load capacities of Burrard Street would require far too deep a tunnel to make the short crossing feasible.