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In November 2021, Rossclair embarked on a technically challenging project to expand the Brunswick
Bierworks facility located at 25 Curity Avenue, in Scarborough.
In this post we discuss the challenges of the build and how they were overcome by the Rossclair Team, with our President, Sean Richardson, who led the project personally from inception.
Q: What is the scope of the Brunswick Bierworks Project?
A: It’s a brand new 90,000 Sq ft production facility. The client is contract brewing most of the craft beers sold in the LCBO and once complete the brewery will have the capacity to produce 1120 Tallboy Cans PER MINUTE!
Q: I believe there was an extremely shortened timeline for this project?
A: Normally, a project of this size and scope would take around 16 months from start to finish but we had extremely tight time constraints imposed by the client to have the building ready for hand-over to the client in 5 months.
Q: What have been the biggest challenges of this project?
A: Timing. In todays climate, the nature of this project makes things extremely difficult. For example, the building is over 100 feet so procuring steel beams of that size is a challenge in itself but due to material shortages, we were very lucky to circumvent that through proper planning. Rossclair are coming up on 50 years in business and as a result we have developed incredible relationships with our suppliers and sub trades. It’s because of these relationships and our experience that we have been able to complete this this project in what is, in my experience, and incredibly short timeframe.
Q: Knowing the tight timelines and challenges facing the industry currently, did you approach this project any differently than you normally would?
A: Being innovate and flexible has been key to our success and this is particulalrly evident on this project. For example, we had to come up with solutions for issues like the steel. We knew we couldn’t get open web steel Joists so we researched other products and went to a patented system called a Sim Beam. Because of this kind of forward thinking from the Team here at Rossclair, we got on with the Job and haven’t missed a day.
Q: Why do you believe Rossclair was the best suited organization for a job like this?
A: Not only do we have experience in this sector, having built the original Brunswick Bierwork facility and other breweries, we are somewhat unique with our ability to self-perform when required, and this has been a key feature of the project.
Q: Were there any major surprises that came up during the project?
A: Like all projects, the brewery expansion gave rise to challenges but due to our experience in this area (mentioned above) we were constantly checking in with suppliers and partners and were able to mitigate any identified issues before they became problems.
Q: Last Question. With subsequent phases of the project still on-going will it be completed on time?
A: That's what we do!