The wait for a new, consolidated office is finally over for WalterFedy. After 18 months of searching for the perfect space, and several weeks of intensive renovations, our Hamilton team has settled into the tower at 20 Hughson, complete with soaring windows and panoramic views of the city.

The move is a direct result of the remarkable reception we have received in the Hamilton-Halton-Niagara area. “Our team has grown at an unprecedented pace,” said Dave Thompson, General Manager of the Hamilton team. “We started with one room in somebody else’s office in fall of 2015. That turned into a smaller office in the Port Authority Building. Then two floors. Then an additional space in the Hamilton Technology Centre.”

As our team grew, we recognized we wanted to become part of the core fabric of Hamilton, and support the amazing things happening in the community – the redevelopment, downtown expansions, and the future LRT. Having the entire integrated team together in the heart of the city will help us continue to grow our presence in the area and offer value to the community.

Finding an ideal space for a rapidly growing team is no small feat. The acquisition team evaluated several buildings in the core before settling on 20 Hughson.

“Location was crucial in our evaluation matrix,” said Chief Operating Officer Mark Christensen. “We wanted our staff to have access to amenities and transit, and to be in the core of Hamilton. This space is culturally aligned with the sense of community that the company values.”

WalterFedy is known for its collaborative approach to projects, and the new office was no exception. The mechanical and electrical engineering elements were driven by the Hamilton team, and AEC Developments, WalterFedy’s sister company, served as the Construction Manager. “A lot of the design principles we used here we use with our clients, like open concept office space, breakout areas, and a combination of small and large meeting rooms,” said Mark.

The Hamilton team is looking forward to taking advantage of all the benefits this new space has to offer. “I’m really happy to be together with everyone now,” said Shelby Johnson of our Asset and Facilities Management group. “My work touches on a lot of fields. It’s going to be great to be around every single department and share knowledge together.”

While plans for an official open house are still underway, clients are invited to reach out for a tour of the office space in the meantime. We couldn’t be more thrilled with our new home in Hamilton and look forward to strengthening our roots in the community.

(CINCINNATI, OH and KITCHENER, ONTARIO; November 28, 2018) – Cincinnati-based Hixson Architecture & Engineering and Ontario-based WalterFedy announced today that they are working together to create a new $660 million value-added fresh poultry facility in London, Ontario for Maple Leaf Foods.  Hixson is serving as the lead firm to design and engineer the 640,000 square foot facility, with WalterFedy collaborating to provide architecture and engineering services in Canada. The plant is expected to be one of the most technologically advanced poultry-processing plants in the world, incorporating leading-edge food safety, environmental, and animal welfare processes and technologies.  Construction at the London site is expected to begin in the spring of 2019, with start-up planned for the second quarter of 2021.

According to Michael H. McCain, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, the new, world-class facility “will enable Maple Leaf to meet the steadily growing consumer demand for premium, value-added poultry products, and strengthen Canada's food system." In addition, said McCain, this will be “the largest single-site investment ever made in the Canadian food sector.”

Greg Hammond, President and CEO of Hixson, also offered his thoughts on the project. “For 70 years, Hixson has been working with companies throughout North America to design and engineer facilities that can stand the test of time while meeting our clients’ needs for food safety, employee safety, and productivity,” said Hammond. “We are proud to have been selected by Maple Leaf Foods to design this historic project.”

“We are excited to be partnering with an organization like Hixson,” said Paul Reitzel, CEO of WalterFedy. “They have a long history of doing excellent work in the food industry. Our firms have the same commitment to values and talented professionals that deliver meaningful and functional projects to our clients.”

Read more about this project, including its economic impacts. 

ABOUT HIXSON

Hixson is an architecture, engineering and interior design firm specializing in projects for corporate office environments, retail projects and industrial processing facilities. Listed as one of the top firms in North America, Hixson delivers insight and advocacy leading to intelligent project execution through 16 integrated technical disciplines. To learn more, please visit www.hixson-inc.com.

ABOUT WALTERFEDY

WalterFedy is a dynamic, integrated design firm of architects, engineers and construction management professionals. With over 65 years of experience, WalterFedy excels at delivering creative solutions and practical built environments that enrich communities.

On November 2, our sister company AEC Developments attended the Ontario General Contractors Association Safety Awards Breakfast. At the event, they received two prestigious health and safety awards: a Distinguished Achievement in Health and Safety award for achieving a Zero Injury Frequency in recognition of a three-year period between 2015 and 2017, in which we accumulated 101,273 hours without a lost time injury; and a Recognition of Our Commitment to Workplace Health and Safety award presented by The Honourable Laurie Scott, Minister of Labour.

Safety is a core value at AEC and WalterFedy. We are committed to the health and safety of all members on our project teams including staff, trade contractors, consultants, and customers. As an active company in the construction industry, AEC Developments is dedicated to the ongoing objective of reducing the risk of injury, and take every reasonable precaution to provide a safe and healthy construction environment. Their commitment to health and safety forms an integral part of their organization and we are proud that they have been recognized for their efforts.

Congratulations to team 43|40 on winning first place at the 2018 ASHRAE LowDown Showdown modeling competition at the end of September. The team of WalterFedy employees, Cory Rosa, Qinyu Lu, Patrick Darby, Maria Melo, Josh Gibbins, and Matthew Woods, competed against 8 other teams to model a 60,000 SF net-zero, all electric museum building in Denver, Colorado.

The teams presented their projects at the 2018 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild, co-organized by ASHRAE and IBPSA-USA and were evaluated on the following six categories: energy use, teamwork, innovative approach, creativity, workflow, and presentation. A large focus was placed on adopting new techniques and workflows to advance modeling and simulation to meet the growing challenges faced by today’s designers and modelers. 

“One of the most exciting things was learning what other experts were doing.  We were impressed by the high level and diversity of innovation” – Cory Rosa, Team Captain

While the competition was fierce, Team WalterFedy was victorious. Congratulations to everyone involved, and a special thanks to the LowDown Showdown hosts for organizing a fantastic event. 

View the winning submission here, as well as the competitor's designs. 

On September 4, Janet Metcalfe Public School officially opened its doors to students. Located in southwest Kitchener the school is the City’s newest and largest public elementary school, currently accommodating over 550 students.

Equipped with new technology and innovative spaces, the space offers a variety of ways to address students’ unique needs. Children can find work spaces that best facilitate their learning within every classroom, whether that be individual work stations, collaborative tables, standing desks, or ‘comfy corners’. The site also includes a 6,800 SF day care facility and 5,100 SF family centre.

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Waterloo Region District School Board on this key space in our community.

For more information about the school opening, please see this article from CTV Kitchener News.

For over three years, the site of the former Mayfair Hotel has sat empty. This spring, the site will finally see a new development.

After receiving a total of 30 design proposals from various architects, Bernie Nimer, the developer behind the project, decided, “It was WalterFedy who delivered.”

The One Young Street development will stand in the heart of downtown Kitchener. The new structure will function as an office building with a highly-anticipated rooftop restaurant and retail outlets on the ground floor.

Congratulations to Ben Gregory, Fei Wei, and Victor Poon for bringing the design to life! We are excited for this great addition to the downtown core.

To read more about new development, see the original article featured in the Record.

It’s the time of year where a group of architects, engineers, techs and support staff get together to build something beautiful out of cans for The Food Bank of Waterloo’s CANstruction Event. 2018 was one of our most ambitious builds to date, both in the number of cans and cost. Our CANstruction team fundraised for two months and the design team worked for even longer perfecting the design for us to build and show off at Conestoga Mall from May 6-13.

Our build took hours (and hours and hours…), but we finally finished our CANmeleon after six hours and one partial tail redesign. We think our sign description of why we chose this design says it all – “Hunger isn’t always visible to the naked eye, like the beauty of a Chameleon. People you work with and talk to daily might be users of the Food Bank and you’d never know. We want to encourage people to support the community members you can’t always see, but are all around you. Show your true colours and support the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and this year’s CANstruction efforts!”

Congratulations to the Food Bank on yet another fantastic CANstruction event!