South Pointe Toyota, which is nearing completion near the Deerfoot Trail and Barlow Trail SE, is a brand new type of project for Penta Protective Coatings Ltd.
“We’ve never handled a car dealership before,” said Denny James, Penta’s project manager. “We had up to 10 guys working on this one and had to double up crews to meet the general contractor’s tight schedule of a planned March opening.”
After successfully bidding on the project, Penta handled the fireproofing using a standard density material, while the insulation involved using 2 lb Walltite spray foam. Over 5 semi trailers of Grace MK-6 cementitious fireproofing material will go into this project.
“Lots of people don’t realize how important fireproofing is to a building, or even know that it’s there” states Joe Wedge, Penta’s President. “The purpose of a fireproofing material is to prevent structural steel from deforming in the event of a fire long enough for the occupants to safely exit the structure. When you hear people talk about a 1 hour rating or 2 hour rating it refers to the amount of time a floor or wall assembly has to resist a fire before a structural failure”
A tragic example of the roll of fireproofing in a building is evidenced by the events of 9/11. All the structural steel in the building was protected by sprayed fireproofing. The tragic truth is that it was designed to withstand a typical fire that may happen in an office tower, not an impact from a jet airplane and the resulting fire fueled by thousands of gallons of jet fuel. Even so, the fireproofing likely allowed hundreds if not thousands of people to escape the buildings before they collapsed.
The $15M project includes a showroom to display the full line up of Toyota vehicles as well as a state of the art parts and service facility. The dealership is aimed at the serving the growing south Calgary market.
An interesting design feature involves the glass tower, where cars will be visible from the Deerfoot Trail.
