Turner’s Vancouver Business Unit Takes Home Gold

Generally a TI is a change made to the interior of a commercial or industrial property to accommodate the needs of a tenant or owner, and encompasses floor and wall coverings, ceilings, partitions, air conditioning, fire protection, and security, but can also include more complex building systems. “Feedback from the awards committee suggested that they made the new category because projects, such as the Miller Thomson TI, were award-worthy… a significant accomplishment and a contribution to construction despite not being a ground-up project - which the VRCA project awards have historically been reserved for,” stated Libby Rowe, Turner project manager on the Miller Thomson TI.

 


At the Awards of Excellence held on Wednesday October 25, 2017 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Turner was one of 95 nominees within a community of contractors who completed $1.1 billion in construction revenue in the last two years. To put this in perspective, “this award is as close to an Academy Award as you can get in the industry,” said Fiona Femulak, President of the VRCA in her opening remarks. Turner was awarded gold in the General Contractors TI category for the Miller Thomson LLP project. This project took up an entire acre (50,000 sq. ft.) on the fourth floor of the old Sears building in downtown Vancouver. The innovative design and implementation process was collaboratively developed by renowned architect  Bill Dowzer of BVN in Sydney, Australia, and designers Marc Hine (BVN) and Elise Cunco based in New York, and Turner. By using virtual design technology and digital communications, the team was able to work remotely and problem solve efficiently. Turner is at the forefront of virtual design utilization in the construction industry within Canada, and is consistently challenging and changing the way tenant improvements are delivered. 

 

Turner was also the recipient of the VRCA 2017 Safety Award, sponsored by the BC Construction Safety Alliance for achieving a zero frequency injury rate. “Receiving this award can only strengthen our company-wide mandate of Living Injury Free Every Day (L.I.F.E.),” said Karl Kinsella, Canada’s Safety Director.

 

Turner Construction Company is five years young in Vancouver. Whilst still a new player to the industry locally, the company has made its name as one of the top tenant improvement contractors. Turner has also been building on its core and shell experience with its first ground up project, the Towne Millwork Warehouse in Abbotsford, which is due to complete later this year. Turner’s Vancouver office has experienced extreme growth in the past year with the number of employees increasing from 35 to 68.