Grand Touring Automobiles has opened a new state of the art retail and service facility, just east of the Don Valley Pkwy, that is more than five times its previous location.
The new, 141,000 sq. ft., five-storey facility has been constructed by Fieldgate Construction Management and designed by Plaston Architect. ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems Canada Inc. provided its expertise to the project as well.
The dealership includes six separate showrooms to accommodate the distinct luxury brands, 39 service bays, retail, rooftop parking and space for customer parking.
Robert Alonso, Fieldgate’s director of construction, says the modern building has been clad in aluminum panels and siding for a sleek look. It uses interior finishes from around the globe, including flooring imported from Italy.
The multi-brand dealership has also been designed to be very environmentally friendly and includes a water reclamation system that will use rainwater to wash cars.
The biggest challenge, he says, related to constructing separate dealerships within one building. “Every dealer had its own requirements and design criteria that needed to be implemented into one general aesthetic and building design. It was challenging letting each brand stand out, while at the same time fusing them all into one cohesive design.”
“Having Jaguar, Landrover, Bentley, Lamborguini, Aston Marton, Bugatti and Rolls Royce exist seamlessly in one building was one of the most unique aspects. The brands weave in and out from one another harmoniously but at the same time they have their own identity under one roof.”
Other challenges included poor soil bearing capacity which required the foundation to be built on approx. 450 steel piles driven into the bedrock, in some cases more than 100 ft. below the ground floor of the building. “As well, there are concrete grade beams and structural slabs for the ground floor construction of the building.”
Bob Burke, ASSA ABLOY sales representative pedestrian door solutions, says his team installed nine different automatic sliding doors and six automatic swing door applications. “Two of these: a unique automatic sliding door system that is surface applied with reverse breakout to meet egress codes and an integrated overhead door to meet barrier-free codes, were especially challenging.”
He says the company, also provided OBC compliant universal washroom system. Assa Abloy was well represented by project manager Glenn McFadden, project coordinator Chanel Halleran and procurement specialist Edul Buhariwalla who “worked tirelessly during the many design changes that were requested”
He says his company worked closely with Fieldgate over a two-year period as the design evolved and changes were adopted. “The flexibility of our sales team and operations group and the strong leadership from Fieldgate in co-ordinating this project has made this a great success.”
Alonso says there was great co-operation between the project’s consultants, the construction team and all of the brands, which was required given the complicated nature of the building.
