Before

Storage conditions at the museum prior to the construction of the new
facility.

The building is coming!

We expect the delivery of the pre-engineered building on November 30th. For visitors to the museum, that will mean some disruption to the parking facilities as the trucks arrive and unload. By the first week of December, we will start to see the new facility take shape!

November construction schedule

The trees in the woods beside the museum have lost their leaves as the Thames Valley prepares to hunker down for the winter. But things are moving full-steam-ahead on the construction site of the new Sustainable Archaeology facility.

The building that is being erected here is pre-fabricated, so once the pieces start to arrive it won't take very long to put it all together. Tonda Construction Ltd. is the General Contractor working on preparing the site for the new building and its construction. Spriet Associates are the architectural and engineering firm we have been working with for months now to get us to this point. They have helped us select a building style, secured permits, and drafted both the site plans and the building blueprints. The architects at Spriet have been instrumental in securing permission from the Upper Thames Conservation Authority and the City of London to allow us to build on the property, and have ensured we are complying with environmental regulations that minimize the impact of the new construction on the local ecosystem.

The construction schedule for November has included a hydro relocation - which was completed on the 3rd of this month - and the installation of site services. What that has meant here is that a couple of hydro poles have had to come down and Tonda has had to coordinate with London Hydro to re-route the electricity feed to the museum and prepare the feed for the new facility.That meant a day without power here at the museum - but things were back up and running by the next business day. This week we'll see another service re-route, as the sewer and water mains are redirected onto the site to feed the new facility. The trench they dig for the new services will cut across the main entrance to the parking lot - so the museum will not be accessible for most of the day on NOVEMBER 11th. They are laying in the supports for the concrete foundations now - they should be poured and completed by the end of the month, when the pre-fab building is due to arrive.

Sustainable Archaeology at McMaster University

 

As our new building is being constructed here in London, renovations will soon be underway at the  Sustainable Archaeology facility at our partner institution, McMaster University. The new storage and laboratories will be located in McMaster Innovation Park on Longwood Drive in Hamilton, Ontario - which locals will recognize as the old Camco (and before that, Westinghouse) building.

Colours

 

Here is a sampling of some of the colours that will be used in the Sustainable Archaeology facility. For the most part, we're sticking with a neutral, earthy palate - with accents in mustard orange and goldenrod to help brighten things up.

Concrete Foundations

 

Tonda Contruction prepares to pour the new concrete foundations for the Sustainable Archaeology facility.

Concrete foundations

With electricity for the new facility now in place, the pace of construction has picked up considerably. This week has seen a lot of fill removal and trenches dug to prepare for pouring the concrete of the new foundation. And just in the nick of time! The first snow flakes of the season were falling on the site this morning.