The three floors they were taking over had been built with DIRTT by the previous tenant. A prefabricated, modular construction system, DIRTT has the innate ability to be easily reused, recycled, and reconfigured. The facilities team at Northland Power knew that managing change was a large part of their portfolio. Renovating rooms to accommodate their team was a drain on their resources. They were looking for a way to create a space that was easier to adapt than drywall.

Knowing DIRTT is designed for disassembly and reconfiguration, Bullock + Wood Design saw an opportunity to reduce project budget and timeline for building Northland Power’s new office.

As Northlanders worked with Bullock + Wood Design and DIRTT Construction Partner, POI, the clock was ticking. Northland acquired three new floors while still occupying their old office. Doubling up on rent isn’t ideal, but they had a solution.  

Using the existing DIRTT meant that construction lead times could be greatly reduced. Instead of waiting for the product to travel great distances to site, it was already there or being stored in a warehouse a few miles away ready for deployment.

“We were designing it as they were demoing, so design didn’t have to be complete,” says Shannon Boe, project manager at POI. “We could work with what we have.”

“We already had most of the product here,” says Boe. “So, it was just a matter of coordinating where things were going to fit within the design and then bring the product back and put it in the right spot.”

The other schedule benefit of using DIRTT came from its modular nature. Instead of the dust, debris and noise that comes with studs and drywall, DIRTT wall assemblies simply tip up into place and easily connect to each other and the base building. In this high rise, building management usually won’t allow construction to occur during office hours due to noise. Since DIRTT quietly zips together with a patented connection interface, technicians could work during the week without disrupting other tenants and improving schedule efficiency

"The sustainability aspect played a big part here,” says Donna Wood, owner and president of Bullock + Wood Design. “We were working with a renewable energy company.”

“When you think about reconfiguration, you’re not processing raw materials, you’re not transporting product across the globe,” says Boe. “The carbon footprint of extraction and shipping is greatly reduced. And then there is a reduction in landfill because the existing product is being reused instead of disposed of.”

That included the aluminum in the assemblies, the glass in the walls, and the copper wire in the electrical system.

DIRTT also played into green building certification for Northland. “For our project, we wanted to achieve LEED certification,” says Kisielewski. “We were going into these floors knowing that they were LEED Certified by the previous tenant, and the client wished to maintain that. DIRTT played a key role in having us utilize the systems within the space and diverting that from the landfill.” At the time of writing, the LEED Certification application is still under review.