Installing large-format ceramic tile and stone

Today, the ceramic and natural stone tiles used for floors and walls are bigger and heavier than ever before. Gone are the days of floors routinely set with 304 x 304-mm (12 x 12-in.) units. Architects, designers, and end-users now appreciate the clean, monolithic look of large-format tile on building projects.

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Sustainable design goes underground

The Environmental Science and Chemistry building is the newest addition to the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTS) north campus, across from the original 1960s-era grounds. Joining the Instructional Centre, which opened in 2011, the two facilities will be connected by a green space, tentatively referred to as the Earth Tube Plaza.

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Parking garage defies convention with mesh

The Carlisle Street Parking Garage in St. Catharines, Ont., is unlike other traditional parking structures. More than just a place to keep cars, this architectural gem stands out as an attractive, safe, sustainable building, while providing excellent ventilation and visual appeal to the community’s downtown.

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Dawn of the ‘super contract’

Over the years, the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) has developed and kept current a series of standard construction contracts for use across the country. Is there potential for ‘super contracts’ to make processes more efficient?

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Team Touch takes CSC’s student design competition

At the CSC Conference in Kitchener last month, a student competition to renovate the Galt Post Office (an actual heritage building) with a hypothetical restaurant let emerging design professionals to show their skills with architecture, building materials, and construction documentation. Hosted by the association’s Grand Valley, Hamilton/Niagara, and Toronto Chapters, the contest was won by ‘Touch’—the team of Sheldon Froc, Evelyn (Shuang) Wang, and Emma Kamermans.

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Designations and certifications

Last week, at the CSC-DCC National Conference in Kitchener, Ont., members from across the country assembled for a few days of networking and technical education. The event also enabled a means of honouring some of Canada’s brightest emerging construction professionals and decorated design veterans. In some cases, this meant presenting awards to volunteers whose work has improved the nation’s building community; in others, it allowed those who have earned new professional designations to be recognized in front of their peers.

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