Featured Case Studies

CLIENT – Tesla Flagship By Beedie Development

LOCATION – 850 Raymur Avenue in East Vancouver

SERVICES – Fire Suppression Design & Engineering

MARKETS – Industrial / Factory

Fire Sprinkler Design & Coordination for Tesla’s Vancouver Flagship Facility

Northwest Sprinkler Design is proud to provide our fire sprinkler design and coordination services for Tesla’s flagship Vancouver facility at Raymur Avenue, a major development by Beedie that is the largest purpose-built Tesla service facility in North America.

The project represents another opportunity for our team to contribute to a large-scale commercial development where careful planning, technical expertise, and coordination between building systems are essential.

A Major New Tesla Facility in Vancouver

Located in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood, the new Tesla facility has been designed to bring several important operations together within a single purpose-built location.

The development will support Tesla’s service, vehicle preparation, delivery, and customer-facing operations, creating a significant new facility for the company in Western Canada.

Developments of this scale introduce a different level of complexity for the consultants and contractors involved. Building systems need to work together efficiently while supporting the unique operational requirements of the facility and maintaining the architectural intent of the project.

Fire protection design is an extremely important part of that process.

Fire Sprinkler Design for a Large-Scale Commercial Environment

Northwest Sprinkler Design was brought onto the project to provide our fire sprinkler design and coordination expertise, helping ensure that the fire protection system could be effectively integrated within the complex overall building design.

On a large commercial project, sprinkler design involves much more than determining where sprinkler heads will be located.

The system must be carefully coordinated around structural elements, mechanical and electrical services, ceiling conditions, architectural features, and the different functional areas throughout the building.

As designs progress, changes made by one discipline can also have an impact on others. Maintaining clear coordination throughout the process helps identify potential conflicts earlier and allows the sprinkler system to be incorporated into the building as efficiently as possible.

For a facility of this size and importance, that level of coordination is critical.

Coordination From Design Through Construction

Large commercial developments also involve numerous consultants, contractors, and building systems working within the same spaces. Our role is to provide sprinkler designs that not only satisfy fire protection requirements, but also consider the practical realities of how those systems will ultimately be installed.

That means continuously evaluating routing, available space, surrounding building services, and evolving project information as the development moves forward.

This combination of technical design and interdisciplinary coordination helps reduce conflicts during construction while providing contractors with clear, practical sprinkler drawings they can work from in the field.

Supporting Complex Commercial Projects

The Tesla Vancouver facility is an exciting addition to a growing portfolio of complex commercial and large-scale developments supported by Northwest Sprinkler Design.

Projects like this demonstrate the importance of bringing experienced fire protection designers into the coordination process early and maintaining that involvement as the building develops.

As commercial facilities continue to become larger and more technically sophisticated, dependable fire sprinkler design must integrate seamlessly alongside increasingly complex architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical systems.

Northwest Sprinkler Design is proud to be trusted with that responsibility and to contribute our expertise to a landmark development for Tesla, Beedie, and the City of Vancouver.

We look forward to seeing the facility continue to take shape and serving another major project right here in British Columbia.

Need experienced fire sprinkler design and coordination for your next commercial project? Contact Northwest Sprinkler Design to learn more about our fire protection design and engineering capabilities.

CLIENT – Lacovia

LOCATION – Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

SERVICES – Fire Suppression Design & Engineering

MARKETS – Multi-Family Residential / Luxury Residential

Fire Suppression Systems Design Services international.

Background

Northwest Sprinkler is proud to provide fire suppression design and engineering services for Lacovia, a major luxury residential development currently under construction on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach.

The redevelopment consists of three residential buildings with 88 residences, along with a dedicated amenity building supporting the wider property.

With multiple buildings, a variety of residential layouts and extensive amenity spaces. Lacovia represents a significant coordinated fire suppression design project and an exciting international milestone for Northwest Sprinkler.

Fire Suppression Design Across a Multi-Building Development:

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Northwest Sprinkler’s scope encompasses the three residential buildings and amenity building, requiring fire suppression design to be coordinated across a range of different spaces and building conditions.

On a project of this scale, sprinkler design must work as part of the overall building design. Accordingly, Sprinkler coverage, system routing and equipment locations all need to be developed while accounting for architectural layouts and coordination with other building systems.

Our work includes developing the fire suppression design and engineering documentation required to move the project from design through construction, while maintaining a practical and coordinated approach across each building.

Our Approach:

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Large residential developments require continual coordination as architectural and building-service designs evolve.

Our approach is to identify potential conflicts early, maintain clear communication with the wider project team. Particularly, we develop fire suppression systems that balance life-safety requirements, constructability and the architectural intent of the project.

Lacovia also represents an important milestone for Northwest Sprinkler as we bring the experience developed through complex projects in British Columbia to an international development. Team members traveled internationally to ensure that the project was completed smoothly and effectively.

So, whether we’re working in Vancouver or Grand Cayman, our focus remains the same: thoughtful engineering, strong coordination and reliable fire protection design.

Safety doesn’t have borders.

Take advantage of our Fire Suppression Design and Engineering service experience for your next building project in Vancouver, across Canada, or the United States.

CLIENT – Titan Fire Protection Ltd. / Bosa Development

LOCATION – 320 Granville Street, Vancouver, B.C.

SERVICES – Fire Suppression Design & Engineering

MARKETS – Office Tower

Fire Suppression Systems Design Services in Vancouver, BC

Background

A beautiful new addition to the Vancouver water front skyline, we’re proud to have provided fire suppression systems design services for the Bosa Waterfront development. Thirty storeys of office space on top of eight storeys of parking, the project footprint was approximately 16,000 square feet. As this is an office building with multiple spaces, we worked with each new tenant to design their unfinished unit. It was necessary for each one of these spaces to go through their own permit process (PITA) and not negatively impact the existing alternate solutions, so we were the only fire suppression engineers allowed on the job.

The notable challenges we encountered on this project:

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• An ongoing challenge with sprinkler design in Vancouver is the extremely difficult permitting process. Permits often take more than 6 months to obtain, usually being issued far into the construction process. This is an issue because the installer is not able to begin any work on site until the permit is issued, and that can lead to delays or liquidated damages.
• Due to the close proximity of the neighbouring buildings, the project had a few alternate solutions to the sprinkler system. This required closely spaced sprinklers, and redundancy features such as dual zone controls and a backup fire pump complete with a back-up water supply (water storage tank).
• Since property in downtown Vancouver is so limited, everything needs to be squeezed into a small footprint. That meant the emergency generator engine exhaust and intake are in areas which required additional sprinkler protection. Those heads need to be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures of an engine exhaust, while also supplying 30 us gallons per minute.

Our solution:

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• We’ve been working closely with the City of Vancouver regarding fire suppression systems design for almost 20 years, and although there is still a long way to go with the permitting process, we’ve gotten it down to the fastest time possible in the current state. We also have a good working relationship with the building review branch and are always notified of new city bulletins or fire suppression requirements put in place or checked for internally. This has saved our clients time in the past, occasionally getting a permit in one review with zero deficiencies. For this project in particular, we had to call a meeting with the City and all of the project team to discuss what needed to be done in order to achieve a fire sprinkler permit, as the project was in danger of falling behind due to minor coordination issues. The permit ended up being released shortly after and the project maintained its critical path.
• We designed a back-up fire pump which was fed with a ~20,000 gallon water tank in the parkade, responsible for feeding all of the sprinkler systems in the entire building in case the city water supply fails. This tank was carefully coordinated with the architect, structural and mechanical engineers in order to ensure all the requirements of the local codes and bylaws were satisfied. Redundant zone controls on each floor were also provided to avoid a scenario where one was shut down by a tenant to avoid compromising the sprinkler system.
• Closely spaced sprinklers were provided within the exhaust and intake shafts with extremely high temperature ratings, and hydraulically designed with separate feeds to avoid over taxing the floor area sprinkler system. This was also coordinated with the HVAC consultant and installers to fit the sprinklers within the duct.

Take advantage of our Fire Suppression Design and Engineering service experience for your next building project in Vancouver, across Canada, or the United States.

CLIENT – Rize Alliance Properties Ltd.

LOCATION – King George Blvd, Surrey, B.C.

SERVICES – Fire Suppression Design & Engineering

MARKETS – Residential Highrise + Commercial Building

Fire Suppression Systems Design Services

Background

Located on King George Blvd in Surrey, BC, this project consisted of a 40-storey tower, market, and 392 rental residential units. In addition, the site included a stand-alone commercial office building with retail units on the first floor. Altogether, the project encompassed approximately ~52,000 square feet, with the entire development sitting on top of four levels of parking.

The notable challenges we encountered on this project:

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• We were brought on very late in the project, replacing another engineering firm that had made fundamental errors throughout and had come to a standstill with the permit process. Connecting through a mutual recommendation, this was our first time working with the developer, Rize Alliance Properties Ltd. We were hired to completely re-design the project and get a sprinkler permit with a tight turn-around of less than a month. And that’s exactly what we did. Since then, we have continued work with the developer and have started building a relationship.
• The commercial building featured a quadruple high ceiling with glazing from the other levels looking down into the lobby. This glazing has to be provided with a 2 hour rating.
• A new requirement by the City of Surrey is to require an alternate means of supply to the system for the upper storeys which are out of reach by the fire department. Their devices and fire trucks can’t pump over 250 psi.

Our solution:

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• In order to meet this strict timeline, we worked overtime and brought on additional staff to assist with drafting and to deliver drawings and calculations for submission to the City of Surrey. We met with the City to clear up discrepancies with the previous design, and met with the code consultant to discuss these problems.
• For the upper two levels of the commercial building we utilized two rows of Tyco WS sprinklers. Installing these systems can be difficult, as they require a detailed hydraulic analysis and also some experience to make the system flow properly without oversizing the pipe.
• To satisfy the City’s requirements, we included a redundant fire pump in the mechanical room which operates purely as a back-up if the main pump fails, a tornatech dual fire pump controller was also installed to ensure the pumps do not operate at the same time.

Our Fire Suppression Design and Engineering service will ensure a smooth project, whether you’re building in Surrey or across Canada and the United States. Reach out to request a quote now.

CLIENT – Titan Fire Protection / Onni Group Ltd.

LOCATION – Port Moody, BC

SERVICES – Fire Suppression Design & Engineering

MARKETS – Residential Highrise & Low Rise

Fire Suppression Systems Design Services

Background

The Grande at Suterbook Village consists of 512 residential units on top of a project site that totals approximately 116,000 square feet. One of the largest tower developments in Port Moody at the time of construction, the site includes two 26-storey towers and a six storey wood frame rental building overtop of three large parking levels.

The notable challenges we encountered on this project:

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• This project was one of the largest residential developments our team has taken on, it had a condensed design schedule as we were brought on after the issuance of the building permit.
• There is a specific bylaw in Port Moody which this project fell under that required all balconies to be sprinklered regardless of the requirements of the code. This was out of the ordinary as it is not required for non-combustible building construction under NFPA 13 and the BCBC.
• The parking was also an issue as it surpassed the maximum area allowed to be served from a dry sprinkler system.
• As is common with high-rise projects, city water pressure is unable to reach the top of the building.

Our solution:

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• A condensed timeline is always a challenge regardless of what project you take on, so we arranged extra manpower to help speed up the design process as well as coordinate with the contractor to avoid delays after design completion.
• The bylaw presented a unique challenge as the chosen windows did not have a space for the sprinklers to attach too, as they can’t mount to glass. We coordinated with the architect and builder to mark-up window drawings, allocating a spandrel panel for both towers on each unit where the sprinkler heads would be installed.
• The large parking size required two dry sprinkler systems to be used for each level. We also included accelerators on the dry valves to ensure the systems tripped within the time allotted by NFPA 13.
• The entire site was provided with a single fire pump capable of serving the standpipe hose valve in the hydraulically most demanding area, per the local codes.

Our Fire Suppression Design and Engineering expertise will get your project done right in Port Moody or across Canada and the United States. Get in touch to request a quote now.