Darlington Nuclear Generating Station
Additional Info
Award Winner : Black Diamond Group
Architectural Excellence : Our client needed a Construction Change Room to accommodate workers at its Nuclear Generating Station. This bldg. was designed to accommodate 650 personnel 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. The change rooms are capable of handling 500 male and 150 female personnel, and it has a lunchroom with a capacity of 225 people.
We worked hard during the design stage to ensure the flow of occupants was well-managed due to the high volume of people in the bldg. It was also crucial to ensure workers were not able to accidentally enter a clean area with a uniform possibly contaminated with radiation. The facility’s exterior was designed to blend in with surrounding service bldgs.
Occupant safety and comfort was a prime concern in design and construction. The bldg. is outfitted with panic buttons in all the change rooms. Drainage systems in the male shower area minimize slipping hazards. Security features protect the privacy of female staff. The bldg. was designed for barrier-free accessibility.
Cost Energy Effectiveness : Our customer, Ontario Power Generation, had a very short production timeline for this building. It had to be built quickly prior to a major planned outage of one of their nuclear reactors. They estimate that constructing the building onsite would have taken double - if not triple - the time we took using our modular approach. Had this building not been installed and commissioned on the target date, Ontario Power Generation estimates costs of a minimum of million dollars per day to delay their outage.
Further due to nuclear safety regulations and a unionized labor pool, they say that building the change room using traditional construction methods would have cost considerably more money.
Design Firm Name : Wardrop Engineering Inc with Grella and Gabriel En
Occupied Date : 1/3/2009
Production Start Date : 1/5/2008
Project Location City : Bowmanville
Project Location State Name : ON
Technical Innovation : This project has many innovations, including an integrated fall arrest tie-off system for roof maintenance. Three highlights are: the high traffic/low maintenance finishes, the building’s mechanical systems, and ensuring the privacy of the women’s change room. The walls and floor of the women’s change room are lined with sheet-steel to prevent anyone from opening a hole through assemblies. Custom-made tiles with sheet-steel backing were devised to prevent punctures or holes through the ceiling finish.
The HVAC system runs in two separate zones, as the entry and locker areas of the facility must be maintained at a lower air-pressure than the rest of the building. This difference in air pressure prevents air-borne contaminates from migrating from the ‘construction’ side of the facility to the ‘street’ side.
The factory-built plumbing system can support washrooms and showers for 500 people daily. The system was designed so it could be connected to adjoining modular units.
Total Square Feet : 18720