Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital

The Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital is a 10-storey, 680,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility for the treatment of complex chronic diseases. The 472-bed facility also includes the Christine Sinclair Ambulatory Care Centre and is a centre of excellence for complex care learning and promotion. The facility relieves the congestion of the previous building and will provide an improved patient experience for generations to come.

A special feature of this project is the restoration and adaptive reuse of the old Don Jail, a 5-level, 84,000 square-foot architectural landmark and heritage site in the heart of Toronto, which houses the hospital’s administrative building, as well as education, and support facilities.

The project also included the demolition of the previous hospital, a clinic building and the Toronto Prison, as well as subsequent redevelopment of the surrounding street and landscapes.

Following the facility’s official opening in March 2013, Plenary Health now provides hard and some ancillary facility management services at the hospital and renovated Don Jail.

“The Plenary Health team was thoughtful, professional, and very engaged throughout the process. You also added creative energy and challenged us to rethink some important elements of the project. Because of all of those things, and because of the relationship that we developed with you through the RFP, we are delighted to have you as partners.”

Marian Walsh, President & CEO, Bridgepoint Health

Design features

Historic Don Jail

Through the renovations of the facility, the exterior of the Jail (originally built in 1864) was preserved and linked to the hospital by a modern glass bridge. On the interior, the main focal point of the building, the rotunda, was restored to its original architectural beauty. The glass floor was uncovered and restored, and the skylight, which was tiled over, has been re-exposed allowing natural light to pour into the rotunda.

To communicate the significance and heritage value of the historic Don Jail building, interpretive displays and educational devices are prominently located within the building. These include photographic and textual interpretive displays of actual artifacts retrieved from the building or site. These elements are prominently displayed at the building’s main entrance and throughout the interior of the building.

Green design

The hospital has achieved LEED® Silver certification by the Canada Green Building Council and incorporated the following environmentally-friendly features:

• Storm-water runoff from the roof is used for landscape irrigation;
• The use of potable water has been reduced by 20%;
• Preferred parking is provided for carpools;
• The design reduces energy use by 29% and maximizes use of natural light; and
• 75% of construction waste was diverted from landfills through a recycling and salvage program.

Energy conservation efforts included: high efficiency equipment; low flow fixtures, heat recovery on air handling units and flue gases; and cistern for rain water re-use.

Innovations

Late in the RFP process, responsibility for achieving site plan approval (“SPA”) was transferred to Project Co. Due to the heritage status of the Don Jail, the approval requirements were complicated and required a significant amount of analysis to ensure a complete understanding of Project Co’s obligations (timing and nature of task). Plenary worked through all the documentation provided by the client in a short period of time and developed a clear and comprehensive responsibility matrix to guide the team through the RFP period and into delivery.

The RFP phase for this project concluded in the wake of the global financial crisis and financial markets were still very unsettled. Plenary worked with its financial advisor to structure a fully committed funding solution for the Project and developed commercial agreements with its consortium partners to allow for a fast Financial Close. Plenary developed a detailed Financial Close protocol that included a detailed plan and schedule for reaching Financial Close within 60 days of being named Preferred Proponent.

Despite the original project requirement being only to achieve LEED® certification from the Canada Green Building Council, the project team was able to achieve LEED® Silver certification. The project achieved all 35 credits applied for, two of which were above the minimum for LEED® Silver certification.

Local economic impacts

Job creation

The construction project was a significant boost to the local and provincial economies by directly and indirectly creating and supporting thousands of jobs. At the peak of construction, between 500 and 600 workers were on site daily. This number fluctuated during the different phases of the project. The majority of the labour was sourced from the Greater Toronto Area.

Philanthropy

Plenary’s fundraising activities and corporate donations also contributed to the Bridgepoint Health Foundation in support of the hospital’s local share.