Extra measures are required to deal with the challenging climate for the six months that Winnipeg isn’t a summer paradise on the prairies and feels more like a suburb of Santa’s workshop.
The onset of colder temperatures means that concrete has to be protected so that the moisture in the concrete does not freeze and become a weak point in the structure. The best means of reducing this possibility is to shroud the work area around the concrete and to heat the interior environment.
You may have been by the Glasshouse Skylofts site lately and wondered about the recent spectacular installation. Perhaps it felt like a Roald Dahl moment and there was an expectation that James would emerge from this giant, distorted peach but in fact the massive hoarding has been erected for virtually the entire length of the site to allow complete weather protection while the three concrete cores (two stairs and the elevator shaft) are constructed. This large orange bubble will rise a floor approximately every two to three weeks for the next year while the building climbs skyward.
Inside the hoarding there are work platforms running the entire perimeter surface of the cores allowing work crews to continue framing the next floor while stripping forms from the previous floor as it completes the required curing period. The sloped roof opens when required to allow concrete pours to take place.
Maybe it isn’t so much “James and the Giant Peach” and more “Charlie and the Concrete Factory”….