Renaissance – ROM 

Sayers & Associates takes a page out of history

Renaissance ROM is one of the most important architectural commissions today. It is a project that will simultaneously restore one of Canada’s historic landmarks to its original splendour and create a new signature building for the city of Toronto. At the heart of the project is a desire to create a more modern, open and accessible public space that better reflects the ROM’s status as the people’s museum and, at the same time, respects the original architecture of the Museum.

Sayers & Associates Limited is the mechanical contractor responsible for breathing life into this landmark facility. The Renaissance ROM mechanical contract consists of all new HVAC, plumbing and fire protection systems for each of the additional gallery spaces added in the new Crystal complex.

“Specifically, each gallery has a dedicated air handling system designed to maintain precise temperature and humidity control for the artifacts,” said Darrell Rees, project manager, Sayers & Associates.

Founded in 1962, Sayers & Associates Limited is a commercial, industrial, institutional and entertainment multi-trade contractor with offices in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. With a unique blend of trades including mechanical, HVAC, plumbing, refrigeration, sheet metal, electrical, millwrighting, rigging, structural steel and air quality, Sayers has the ability to participate in all facets of the building process, drawing on their expertise as required.

Located at 100 Queen’s Park, in downtown Toronto, Renaissance ROM is one of the largest museum projects in the world and perhaps one of the most significant cultural projects in Canada, today. The project aims to fully restore the Royal Ontario Museum’s (ROM) heritage buildings and galleries, add a remarkable landmark building to its vibrant city scape, and spark a wider cultural renaissance in the city.

Through heritage restoration and the construction of the new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, a stunning structure of interlocking prismatic forms, Renaissance ROM will generate 300,000 sq. feet of new and renovated space. This area will allow the museum to almost double the amount of collections on display, showcase these holdings in more comprehensive and dynamic ways, host larger travelling exhibitions, increase accessibility, expand education and community programming, and develop new ways to enhance the museum experience.

Once completed, Renaissance ROM will present 27 new, refurbished and re-designed galleries. For the first time in history, every major ROM collection will have its own permanent gallery. The exhibit areas will be richer and more accessible, providing visitors with broader and better access to artifacts, many of which will be entirely new to the Canadian public.

According to Rees, most of the installation was pre-planned utilizing CAD to detail the duct and piping installations. Sayers’ 2D CAD files were then sent to a 3D modeller to incorporate the layout into a 3D model. This process was done in order to ensure that the mechanical systems didn’t conflict with any of the building structure.

“If the 3D modeller found any conflicts, we were able to view these ‘collisions’ with a viewer over the Internet,” Rees said. “The use of 3D modelling has given us a glimpse of where the future of construction design and coordination is headed.”

Unlike typical office buildings, special consideration had to be given to the methods of jointing certain systems. For instance, the standpipe and sprinkler systems had to be welded over areas where artifacts were located, he said.

Expected to be completed by the end of this year, Sayers has seen its share of challenges over the course of work at Renaissance ROM.

During construction in the B1 mechanical room (located within the existing ROM structure), Rees said that particular attention had to be made to routing of the air handling equipment. The equipment had to be broken down into pieces that could fit through structural steel and other openings within the existing building. Once the equipment was landed and brought into the mechanical room, a gantry crane was utilized to assemble the air handlers. This was required as the existing building was not capable of bearing the point loads to lift the section of air handling equipment into place.

“The major challenges arose with construction in the new Crystal complex,” Rees said. “Due to the unique shape of the building, the mechanical services are installed in shafts that are not straight. In fact, the risers often off-set in more than one direction (north/south and east/west) and rise following the angle of the sloped walls.”

According to Rees, further challenges were faced with the installation of the storm piping in the “Orthogonal” walls. These walls are geometric shapes with precise locations where the storm piping must be located between the outside face of the structural steel and the inside face of the wall system.

Faced with multiple installation challenges, Sayers has applied its extensive knowledge and industry experience to be part of the metamorphosis of this historic facility. 

For more information, contact Sayers & Associates Limited at (905) 821-4500, or     e-mail:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or visit the company’s web site at www.sayers.ca.

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