McNaughton Building Laboratory Upgrades (University of Guelph)

Upgrading the MacNaughton Building at The University of Guelph.

In 2016, The University of Guelph received $30 million from the federal and provincial governments for new spaces and lab upgrades to enhance research and innovation facilities. $13.75 million was set aside for the renewal and renovation of research spaces in the MacNaughton Building which is home to the department of chemistry, physics, mathematics and statistics.

Mattina Mechanical Limited (MML) was brought in to conduct the total renovation for the McNaughton Building Laboratory at the University which consisted of four floors of the existing occupied building. The work consisted of new plumbing, HVAC, controls and smoke hood installation. Additionally, MML installed acid resistance piping used for the lab drainage and fusion welded piping used for DI water.

Field coordination was crucial to manage the scale and pace of the project. In order to accomplish this MML brought in a dedicated site coordinator to assist the project crew. MML worked with a general contractor and other specialists to bring this job to a successful completion. MML also worked closely with temp agencies for manpower assistance. The reason for all the partnering and team work was to finish this project within a very tight schedule. The main challenges in this DB project were due to specialty piping and timing. Everything needed to be fast tracked with accelerated completion schedules to ensure that the laboratories would be ready to be used for the new school year.

Some interesting background about the MacNaughton Building is that it was built in 1969 for the study of physics, chemistry and mathematics. It was named after Earl B. MacNaughton who was born in Maple, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in Physics and then joined the Department of Physics in 1948. MacNaughton was iconic in redesigning the physics curriculum and promoting research. He became the Head of Physics in 1956 and Dean, College of Physical Science from 1970 until 1981.

Sources:

• https://www.uoguelph.ca/campus/map/macnaughton/
• University of Guelph: Student Budget Committee Minutes – November 15, 2016
• https://news.uoguelph.ca/2016/08/u-g-gets-30-million-new-spaces-laboratory-upgrades/
• http://www.woori.ca/en/schools/university-of-guelph/