The Zibi Block 7 project is part of the master-planned development of Ontario developers Dream and Theia on the shores of the Ottawa River spanning a 34-acre territory between Ottawa and Gatineau. Block 7 of this new community will have a commercial purpose.

Located on the Gatineau side, this new building will house a grocery store on its ground floor and offices on the upper floors. This project has 6 floors above ground and 3 underground floors for a total of more than 26,387 m2 (284,000 ft2). One of its more prominent architectural features will be the northeast facade with an overhang of just over 5.5 m (18 ft) reinforcing the building’s presence in this new business hub.

Technical challenges :

• 9 m (30 ft) structural grid and 3 m (10 ft) overhang.
• Single central core for building bracing.
• Significant loads and constraints for the grocery store located on the ground floor.
• Loading dock clearances requiring several column transfers.

Notable solutions and innovations :

• Design of a hanger column for the northeast facade resulting in an overhang of just over 5.5 m (18 ft).
• Gradual displacement of the columns to avoid large transfer beams in the loading dock ceiling.
• Optimization of structural slabs and drop panels in regards to the formwork systems used.