Alberta Hospital Edmonton Greenhouse

Alberta Hospital Edmonton is a sprawling health complex located in northeast Edmonton. In March 2016, a fire destroyed the hospital’s greenhouse – home to its Horticultural Therapy Program which helps patients struggling with mental illness by putting them to work with flowers, produce and plants.
Having a solid working relationship with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the insurance adjuster, JEN COL Construction was able to provide design options and budgeting on how to rebuild the greenhouse. Once these were finalized, JEN COL was awarded the construction management contract to build the new greenhouse which also included a support building and a sales area open to the public to purchase plants grown by patients of Alberta Hospital Edmonton.
JEN COL worked with the architect as well as a greenhouse consultant to design a building that is more functional and efficient than the original greenhouse, with less exterior walls and an open floor plan that provides better connectivity between spaces and users. About two-thirds of the floor area is dedicated to the greenhouse, including a secondary tropical greenhouse within.
Fun Fact: At the time of the fire, a banana tree (the only one in Alberta) survived the greenhouse blaze. JEN COL helped ensure the banana tree survived and could be transplanted to the new facility.

St. Mary’s Catholic School

St. Mary’s Catholic School resides within the Elk Island Catholic Schools district and provides quality Catholic education to students in Grades 7 to 12.
The modernization of the existing school included renovations to their theatre, chapel, cafeteria, administration spaces and staff work room. This consisted of new paint, ceiling, flooring and mechanical and electrical upgrades. The front entrance of the school was also given a complete upgrade which comprised a remote-controlled LED lighted cross, new storefront glazing, paint and flooring.
In addition to the modernizations JEN COL Construction built an addition to make room for the school’s new Career and Technology Studies (CTS) programs – this included a woodwork shop and an athletics lab with a climbing wall. A large addition was made to the existing gymnasium to accommodate regulation sized basketball and volleyball courts, and two new change rooms were added with lockers, showers and washroom facilities.
This project was completed ahead of schedule and combined with the concurrent Our Lady of Mount Pleasant School modernization project in Camrose, AB, was about $1 million below budget. Elk Island Catholic Schools used these savings to further upgrade the aging school, including roof repairs, new flooring to the entire school and painting upgrades to many of the classrooms.

Clairmont Community School & Wellington Resource Centre

The Clairmont Community School and Wellington Resource Centre is the cornerstone of the small community of Clairmont, Alberta, just 10 minutes north of Grande Prairie. The facility brings together a technology-rich school and community centre that supports playschool, daycare and other community programs. The facility is a joint capital project between the Peace Wapiti Public School Division and the County of Grande Prairie. Prior to the school opening, many Clairmont students attended Robert W. Zahara Public School in nearby Sexsmith (a JEN COL project completed in 2016).
Sustainable features in the school and resource centre include, innovative daylight harvesting design with solar oriented roof forms to the inside of classrooms, on-site stormwater management and retention, a displacement ventilation system to maintain air quality, and reduced water use with low or no water plumbing fixtures. This project successfully achieved LEED® Silver Certification. Canada Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design New Construction (LEED-NC) Silver-rating-certified buildings reduce waste, conserve energy, decrease water consumption and drive innovation through better air ventilation, more natural daylight and several other innovative techniques.
The Clairmont Community School and Wellington Resource Centre was honored with the 2010 Best New School Facility Award by the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (Alberta and International Chapters).