Award-winning project uses innovative techniques for a heritage building seismic upgrade

The Vancouver School Board embarked on a 15-year seismic upgrade program of all its schools. The Vancouver Technical School (VanTech), a four-storey heritage building built in two separate adjacent blocks in 1928 and 1955 respectively, required extensive upgrades. Ausenco Sandwell developed a cost-effective, environmentally friendly solution by retrofitting existing elements and adding new seismic safety components, while preserving the buildings' heritage elements.

This project is the largest in Canada to use an innovative upgrade technique combining concrete infills of unused wall cavities and Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) involving flexural design and shear, and thin external steel plates to meet heritage preservation code requirements.