Changes are afoot for the Guy Metro building on the SGW campus.
The building, located at 1550 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., will primarily undergo modifications to its envelope. Other work to be completed includes changes to the building’s entrance lobby, the elevator cabins and the heating and cooling systems.
The project is expected to cost $14 million and will be funded by the Quebec government, which has a specific infrastructure fund in place for when the province’s universities are in need of renovations and upkeep.
Work is slated to begin in the spring of 2011. For the multitude of administration employees whose offices are located in the building, this means temporarily relocating until the renovations are complete. However, access to the metro and to Concordia’s underground tunnel will not be affected.
Along with the GM building, the Faubourg Tower’s building envelope will also undergo changes; however, operations there will not be affected by the work as significantly as at the GM building.
“The GM is going to be a bit more of a challenge because people who work in the building will have to be, in some cases, moved elsewhere temporarily,” said Concordia spokeswoman Chris Mota. “In some cases, the work will involve removing windows and other things that do not make for a work environment.”
Despite these disruptions, Mota said that operations should nonetheless continue as normal.
Facilities management, which made the decision to undertake the renovations, stated that the changes to the heating and cooling systems in the GM building will increase energy efficiency, as well as provide more comfortable and healthier environments for those working in the building.
Mota said of the decision that “[Facilities Management] does periodic inspections of all of our buildings and when they feel that some kind of preventative, proactive steps need to be taken they will start the process.”
Once completed by December 2012, the GM building will have the same look as the adjacent EV and JMSB buildings.
