BC Cancer Agency for the North

Plenary Health partnered with the BC Cancer Agency to deliver a new 54,300 ft² regional cancer centre in Prince George. Through this new centre, the BC Cancer Agency will deliver quality cancer care and bring cancer services closer to home for patients and families living in northern BC.

The centre includes two linear accelerators used in the delivery of radiation therapy, a CT simulator, a chemotherapy treatment unit, a pharmacy, general outpatient clinics, professional staff offices, and a parkade.

“We believe that Plenary Health is well positioned to deliver an exceptional facility that is in keeping with our cancer agency’s requirements.”

Karim Karmali, Chief Operating Officer and Vice-President, Management & Operations, BCCA; and Executive Lead for the Northern Cancer Control Strategy

The construction of the parkade began in February 2010 and was completed in July 2010. The construction of the facility itself began in July 2010. The facility achieved Substantial Completion in September, 2012.

Design features

Green design

The building has achieved LEED® Gold certification and is also designed to reduce energy use by 38%. The facility features Prince George’s first green roof.

Use of wood supports local forestry industry

Wood has been showcased in both the interior and the exterior of the building in structural, acoustic, decorative, millwork, doors, and exterior cladding elements to respond to the cultural context of BC’s North and to support BC’s forestry industry.

Cultural heritage

The facility highlights the cultural context of the region by reflecting traditional First Nations architecture in the main entry’s post and beam structure. There is a medicinal healing garden, a spiritual care room, and local First Nations artwork throughout the facility. Plenary facilitated a First Nations consultation to assist in the selection of finishes and art and to assist in the layout of waiting areas and landscaping.

Innovations

This project was Plenary’s first experience with the affordability ceiling evaluation concept (where price is fixed and scope is variable). With this new and clearly defined financial target, Plenary gained a new perspective on the interrelationship of finance, design and construction. Working with the ceiling concept gave Plenary the freedom to focus on providing the BCCA with functionality while remaining within their fiscal envelope.

This project required Plenary to adapt to a new, “wide equity” financial structure, where financing was provided via a combination of contributions from the BCCA and equity from Plenary. While no third-party senior debt was required an ‘investment grade’ security package was developed to give the client comfort that the risk transfer was robustly supported. Plenary’s $13.6 million equity investment was deposited, in full, into the project accounts just prior to Financial Close.

Local economic impacts

On average, approximately 130 workers were on site daily. Ninety-three per cent of the total man-hours expended at the construction site to date were from local workers.

In addition, many local trades were hired as subcontractors on the project, providing hundreds of jobs for local tradesmen and construction workers.