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Tilt Wall Ontario Takes Lead on Massive Muskoka Bay Resort Expansion

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New five-story condominium requires 381 panels, 13.4 million pounds of concrete, and one of Ontario’s largest cranes

When it comes to premium accommodations, Muskoka Bay Resort is Ontario’s resident expert. The sprawling vacation property is well known for its luxurious private villas and lofts, as well as being known for its championship 18-hole golf course. With a reputation as one of Canada’s premier resort communities, growth is inevitable; and for its expansion, Muskoka Bay Resort needed a construction subcontractor who could help execute its vision while maintaining the high standards its guests expect. That partner was Tilt Wall Ontario.

Since 2002, Tilt Wall has erected more than 50 buildings of all sizes and scopes. Across these projects, the company has used 1,000,000 square feet of panels. And along the way, the Tilt Wall team has developed a reputation for creating concrete structures that are not only durable and economically advantageous, but also visually striking. Thus, the opportunity to work with Muskoka Bay Resort on its new five-story, multi-unit residential condominium was right in line with Tilt Wall’s already impressive portfolio of work.

A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING

Though Tilt Wall has extensive experience with a diverse array of projects, the Muskoka Bay Resort condominium was an especially large undertaking.

The five-story building required a sixth story on each of its three staircases for roof access. In total, approximately 13.4 million pounds of concrete were used to create the floor and wall slabs, resulting in 381 pieces. The building’s panels totaled 111,928 square feet, with 51,769 square feet for the walls and 60,159 square feet for the floors. The total height of the building, from the footing to the top of the walls, was 86 feet 9 inches.

Due to the size of the project, Tilt Wall had to adjust some elements of its normal process. A typical Tilt Wall build involves installing panels that are the full height of the entire structure. However, in this case, that would have meant pouring and erecting panels that were nearly 87 feet tall. To overcome this difficulty, the team took a different approach.

“We did panels one floor at a time,” said Len Overbeek, Tilt Wall’s head of business development. “And, each panel was the height of a single floor.” In total, Tilt Wall was responsible for all walls, base slabs and floor slabs. So, this floor-by-floor installation came together like a gigantic puzzle, with the team stacking walls on top of each floor that was poured and also lifting floor panels on top of walls.

This unique tweak to their method allowed the Tilt Wall team to execute the build in the safest and most efficient way possible, and their willingness to make these adjustments spoke to the
company’s flexibility and tilt-up construction expertise. It was this kind of problem solving that enabled them to deliver the project quickly.

Tilt Wall also needed some major lifting power to handle the building’s walls and slabs. The largest floor slab weighed in at 144,720 pounds and spanned 890.15 square feet. The largest wall, located on the fifth story, weighed in at 123,500 pounds and broke a company record for the widest wall installed at 60 feet 10 inches wide, though it is only the record holder by a few feet. Even the lightest wall totaled 1,700 pounds.

To handle the enormity of these panels, Tilt Wall used the Liebherr LG 1750 lattice boom from Sure Span, which is one of the largest cranes available in Ontario. Its maximum load capacity is 750 tons, making it the perfect fit for a project of this size. Additionally, the team used the Booster crane, a 350-ton mobile crane, to move panels close enough to the LG 1750 for seamless installation.

During this stage of the process, the LG 1750 lifted the panels to the required heights. Then workers braced the panels in place.

MUSKOKA BAY GETS UNDERWAY

The Muskoka Bay Resort condominium project first got underway in May 2018. Before Tilt Wall Ontario got involved, the building was originally designed as a cast-in-place concrete building.
But due to the unique demands of the site, as well as the pricing and timeline expectations of the Muskoka Bay Resort owners, tilt-up was eyed as a more viable solution.

Overall, tilt-up construction is more cost-effective, energy-efficient and durable than
cast-in-place concrete or other types of construction. It also provides unmatched architectural versatility and appeal, lending itself to a variety of purposes and creating buildings that are aesthetically stunning. With these factors in mind, tilt-up construction quickly became the frontrunner as Muskoka Bay Resort explored its options.

Tilt Wall received the contract on October 24, 2018. Panel construction was underway by the first week of March 2019 – and then things moved fast. The foundation was complete by the end of April, and all underground and floor slabs were completed at the end of May. The team started erecting panels on June 3, with the last one installed by July 18.

Though tilt-up construction was originally eyed as an alternative method, it emerged as the superior choice, savvier and more beneficial to Muskoka Bay Resort’s objectives.

“We ended up being more economical,” Overbeek said. The tilt-up approach saved time on the construction schedule, and Tilt Wall was able to offer sandwich panels, which provided Muskoka Bay Resort with a fully insulated building right away.

UNIQUE CHALLENGES

Due to the project’s location, there were some unique issues to solve. Some stages of panel construction happened during the winter months. Typical Ontario winters can be quite frigid, with temperatures bottoming out around -20-30°C, and cold weather can significantly impact the strength and quality of concrete. Consequently, Tilt Wall had to use numerous ground heaters to cure and protect its concrete.

Also, the Muskoka Bay condominium was built in the middle of the Canadian Shield, which required some tweaks to Tilt Wall’s process. This meant the structure was centered in the middle of a tight site with limited space that was surrounded by rock outcroppings. To overcome this, Tilt Wall had to stack cast panels, with the highest stack reaching 9 feet. The conditions caused by the Canadian Shield also limited crane access to one point of the building – another reason the LG 1750, with its flexibility and mobility, was the ideal crane choice.

But these challenges did not slow Tilt Wall’s process or present the team with any difficulties they did not know how to handle. Instead, it offered them yet another opportunity to demonstrate their construction prowess, expand their accomplished portfolio, and solidify their status as Ontario’s premier tilt-up construction subcontractor. Regardless of a project’s size or purpose, Tilt Wall can handle it.

Muskoka Bay Resort is now another satisfied client. With its new multi-unit condominium and expansion scheduled for completion in 2020, the resort will be able to accommodate more guests and maintain its reputation as a top vacation destination and one of the highest ranked golf courses in the country.

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