Student housing that's durable and attractive
- Project NSCC Ivany Residence
- Location Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
- Type of Precast CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels, Graphic Concrete
- CarbonCast Surface Area 55,000 square feet
- Architect FBM Architecture
- Contractor Bird Construction
- Owner Nova Scotia Community College
- Precaster Strescon Limited
The Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Student Housing project at their Ivany Campus on the Dartmouth waterfront is a 5-story structure that will house around 200 students each year.
Strescon Limited began production of the roughly 55,000 square feet of CarbonCast High Performance Insulated Wall Panels back in August 2023. To help keep the project schedule moving along, Strescon Atlantic installed the panels in multiple phases. This allowed the general contractor, Bird Construction, to have other trades begin their work in these areas. In total, it took Strescon Atlantic 20 working days to have all 215 insulated precast concrete panels installed on the structure.
Insulated precast concrete panels enjoy many of the same benefits as architectural precast concrete panels (aesthetic versatility, fast installation, durability, etc..) while also providing additional benefits. With insulated panels, you are able to achieve continuous insulation around the full exterior of the building, minus window and door openings. The continuous insulation aids in making the building more energy efficient by reducing thermal bridges, thus allowing less heat to escape.
Another benefit of insulated precast concrete panels is the ability to have a durable, finished face on the back side of the panel. This makes insulated panels ideal for warehouses, schools,
and in the case of NSCC, dormitories. For the Ivany Campus Student Housing, Strescon provided a power trowelled finish on the back face of the panels, resulting in a smooth, high-quality finish that is ready for use as is, or to be painted on site.
The architect, FBM Architecture, designed the building to use a mixture of off-white and charcoal panels. Both panel types have a light sandblasted finish, while reveals and areas of exposed aggregate will add additional interest and help break up the mass of the structure. The architect also added Graphic Concrete® to four panels on this project. Graphic Concrete® allows durable images and patterns to be added to the surface of precast panels.
