That the whole is greater than the sum of its parts has never rung truer for Govan Brown (GB) than when they came together with CIBC, one of Canada’s “Big 5” banks, to build a new, 1.7Msf corporate campus in the heart of downtown Toronto. Hailed as the largest private-sector commercial project Toronto has seen in a generation, CIBC SQUARE presented an opportunity to build a partnership in an equally ambitious fashion—bringing together firms traditionally in competition with one another to construct a landmark development that would transform the city.
Rumblings of the commercial complex began in 2013, and joint developers Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines partnered early with EllisDon (ED), a leading base building contractor, to construct the two commercial towers. With a goal of delivering a workplace of the future for its anchor tenant, CIBC, the developers understood the critical importance of partnering with a construction advocate to champion the vision for the project. CIBC SQUARE’s timeline overlapped with a global pandemic, exacerbating already volatile market conditions. Govan Brown identified an opportunity to deliver a partnership that would divest some of the risk to a partner, CIBC, that would value a risk-averse solution.
Govan Brown engaged in discussions with EllisDon to propose a joint-venture partnership that would leverage the best of each firm’s specializations to deliver certainty to CIBC.
“Our 30-year leadership in the Canadian interiors market was the perfect pairing to EllisDon’s base building concentration and created synergies that would empower both of us to function at our respective bests,” says Colin Gray, president of Govan Brown. “Through a competitive process, EDGB’s joint-venture, design-build partnership spoke to CIBC’s appetite for a risk-averse solution in a landscape fraught with unknowns and instability.”
ALL FOR ONE
Ambitious projects necessitate partners able to realize them. With CIBC selecting Gensler as its design partner, the progressive design-build model created a relationship between contractor and designer that was conducive to producing a single, executable solution. Now, as the prime consultant, EDGB managed all the consultant subcontracts and was the single point of accountability, taking ultimate ownership of any and all project risk. With CIBC’s shoulders unburdened, EDGB needed to make sure there would be no cost escalations throughout the project’s lifespan. Key to this was converting the contract to a stipulated lump sum prior to tender. “By having a line of sight into all design activities as they progressed, EDGB and the broader team could develop a procurement strategy that was as much informed by the design as it was informing it,” says Gray. Now, CIBC had a partner that could provide cost and schedule certainty and allow communication between the two parties to be direct, unfiltered, and ultimately productive as all potential points of stress were no longer sources of tension.
ONE FOR ALL
Given the time CIBC had invested early on into developing not just a new workspace but an innovative workplace model, it was critical that EDGB be able to execute the client’s vision and work symbiotically with the Gensler team. Not wanting anything to get lost in translation, the EDGB team built a team of design advocacy professionals who knew how to speak both the designers’ and contractors’ languages, helping to build a relationship between contractor and designer that was based on mutual understanding.
Champions of CIBC’s vision, the design advocacy team—comprised of director, design advocacy, and QA/QC manager roles—muddled the distinct and isolated function of the design and construction teams in the best possible way and ensured an interdisciplinary approach to the build. Lending support to the constructability review process and devising a roadmap for seeing the design through as drawn, the design advocacy team not only helped provide cost and schedule certainty but their early engagement instilled trust in what was being said was what would be delivered.
The partnership between CIBC and EDGB has now lasted seven years and continues to this day, with the interior fit-out of the second tower having recently commenced. How a partnership is formalized can make all the difference, and the relationship between the two organizations is one that has come to embody the definition of success for Govan Brown.
“This project is one of the most collaborative experiences in our firm’s history—between client and contractor as well as contractor and subs,” says Gray. “It has changed the way we see our role as construction manager and has set a new standard for our approach to partnership and working collaboratively.”
PROJECT DETAILS
Location: Toronto, ON
Size: 1.7Msf
Client: CIBC/Ivanhoé Cambridge/Hines
Architect: Gensler
Sector: Commercial
Certifications: LEED Platinum, WELL Health Safety, SmartScore Platinum