Snaw-Naw-As Marketplace: Nanoose First Nation's first major commercial project

By Samantha Sommerfield

The first shovel broke soil in May of 2018 to start construction of Nanoose First Nation’s first major commercial project, the Snaw- Naw-As Marketplace. However, even though construction just started, this project has been a vision for many years for the Nanoose First Nation.

“We had an official ground-breaking ceremony at the start of the project. There was an impressive turnout from the community; it was quite the eyeopener,” says Drew Fisher of Ecklundson Construction Ltd. “We are dealing with an ownership group who is very invested in the project and organized. It feels good to see their response as things start coming together.”

The team joining Ecklundson in the project has become an effective group consisting of Nanoose Economic Development Corporation, Snaw-Naw- As First Nation, Iredale Architecture, Fraser Wood Industries, Fenrick Construction, Osprey Electric, Western Oil Services, Corgan Mechanical, Atlas Truss, Insulpro Insulation, McGregor & Thompson Hardware, Mid Island Glass, Van Berg Painting, AME Consulting Group, McElhanney, Muir Engineering and AME Consulting Group.

“Getting to work with this group has been very rewarding. For Snaw-Naw-As, it has been 25 years of getting things in motion, so to see it happening and be able to play a role is great,” says Fisher. The Snaw-Naw-As Marketplace is located on a main transportation vessel in the community, and is something that will positively represent the community, and will cater to upwards of 30,000 motorists who pass by every day. It will provide motorists a stop that includes shopping, a restaurant, gas fillup, electric vehicle charging, pumpout for RVs and outdoor seating with a children’s play area next to the restaurant. With such a high-profile area, and something for every motorist passing by, a main goal of this project was to complement the natural surrounding area.

Some of the ways to achieve this natural “West Coast” look was by utilizing a lot of wood in the project. The project team was able to design a clean look through Pitzl fasteners and the use of 3D modelling and precision cutting with a CNC machine.

“The original design had a lot of steel that was exposed at the wood connections, so if you can imagine a window wall, each individual section would have had four big black steel brackets,” says Fisher. “We thought we could find some efficiencies here with the Pitzl connections. So now it reflects that clean wood line for that overall “West Coast” look.”

The Pitzl connections are two-part anodized aluminum connections that work by being fastened to the end of each member you are working with, and then allow for the members to slide in with typical “male and female” piece. They go together similar to how a dove-tail joint would. This creates a clean appearance with all hidden connections.

Making the connections seamless was one way to achieve the “West Coast” feel to the building, but to make sure the design and unique aspects to the building had a smooth installation the use of the 3D modelling and precision cutting with a CNC machine proved to be beneficial.

“The entire structure was shop fabricated by Fraserwood Industries. We 3D-modelled the entire project so we were able to see how different members were going to interact with one another. Then the package was cut and detailed by using a CNC machine,” says Fisher. “It was basically created in a controlled area, so when the pieces show up on site they are able to get sorted off the truck immediately and get placed properly without any worry of being a fraction of an inch off.”

“It is definitely going to be the most beautiful gas station on the island. It is pretty impressive.”

On the surface, innovative technology was used to achieve the overall look and feel of the building. This continued below the surface with a different approach to the project’s gas pumps, with the goal being to save on cost without losing any quality.

“We asked on many projects to look for those cost savings approaches in partnership with consulting team without losing design intent, and we were able to get them the same product but with a slightly different approach,” says Tyler Cody, general manager at Osprey Electric. “It is definitely going to be the most beautiful gas station on the island. It is pretty impressive.”

Overall, not only has the Snaw-Naw-As Marketplace been an important piece of continuing the trend of thinking in an innovative way within the construction industry, but also, it’s innovative for the surrounding community.

“This has been an investment for the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation,” says Fisher. “This is their corner piece and a keystone project to their economic development and something that Ecklundson is very proud to be a part of.”

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