Laval-sur-le-Lac | ELEMA - Structural Engineering Firm

Client :Groupe Quorum + Groupe Marsan
Architecture :Lemay
Photos Credits :David Boyer

The Laval-sur-le-Lac development project aims to offer a luxury line of waterside condominiums. It was built in four phases and will total 120 units once completed. The four residential buildings promise a modern and peaceful environment, and offer balconied units spread over 7 floors, as well as two storeys of parking below grade, indoor pool, terraces and views of the Mille-Îles River. The structural aspects of this project include overhanging slabs surrounding each building’s perimeter, an underground parking garage slab able to support the weight of firetrucks, and waterproof raft construction anchored to rock enabling the project to resist hydrostatic thrust.

CONSTRUCTION SITE PHOTOS :

Please visit this link on our Facebook page for site photos…

Technical challenges :

The main challenge of this project was its location. Indeed, the Laval-Sur-Le-Lac complex is located in the centennial flood zone. The 4-tower, 2-phase project includes two levels of underground parking topped by a shallow exterior slab designed to withstand fire truck loads, which connect all buildings.
Being a high-end project, requests for structural changes from condominium owners also had to be taken into account in the design and construction of this project.

Notable solutions and innovations :

Being located in the centennial flood zone, the building required waterproof foundations. These were composed of a 500 mm (20 in) thick raft foundation with rock anchors to support the hydrostatic thrust.
In order to link the parking lots and the exterior slab of the two phases, special details made of concrete reinforcement and structural steel were developed and executed.
Requests for structural alterations in condominiums included the elimination of a top-floor column (which required thickening a portion of the slab to limit deflections) and the addition of a pool on the top floor.