Five P3 Design Build Schools

History

Alberta Infrastructure elected to use the P3 model (Public-Private Partnership) to build five educational institutions in Alberta. Together, these schools span a total of 630,000 square feet of roof and floor area—and make room for over 6,900 students. Collins Steel was awarded the competitive design-build tender and was selected to construct all five schools:

• Iron Ridge Secondary Campus in Blackfalds, Wolf Creek Public Schools
• Elder Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack School in Edmonton, Edmonton Public Schools
• Father Michael McCaffery Catholic High School in Edmonton, Edmonton Catholic Schools
• Horseshoe Crossing High School in Langdon, Rocky View Schools
• Ohpaho Secondary School in Leduc, Black Gold School Division

Processes & Outcomes

Collins Steel employed a proactive, collaborative approach to coordinate, manage, and execute the construction of all five schools—all with similar timelines. We worked closely with the builder and other trade partners to economize the design, maintain or exceed schedules, and meet all budgets. Key strategies to achieve success included:

• Early project involvement to identify and address challenges proactively.
• Pull-planning, which was started early in the project, to ensure that priorities and milestones were aligned, taking the differing schedules and requirements into account.
• Target value design to ensure that the designers were working within the budget; all design changes were undertaken with rapid budget feedback.
• Partnering with consultants to secure materials early, helping manage both material and labour costs.
• Collaborating with other trades to reduce the need for secondary steel in the walls, floors, and roofs.
• Strategic coordination across five projects, which required tight scheduling and resource management.

Following this contract model, Alberta’s government saved $114.5 million to deliver these much-needed high schools located in Blackfalds, Langdon, Leduc and two in Edmonton.