Nottawasaga Resort, Alliston, Ontario

The Nottawasaga Resort is a project that VE has been working on since the company formed. The project is the refurbishment and expansion of an Inn into a Hotel and the construction of townhouses and condominiums to develop the resort. Over the past 10 years, our senior project manager and structural engineer has worked closely with the owner of the Nottawasaga Inn in all major expansion phases of the Hotel. VIRTUAL managed and consulted with the owner from the design to constructions management phase. Also, in 1998 VIRTUAL consulted in the Hotel East Wing expansion of a three (3) storey addition to the Nottawasaga Inn from design to field inspections and construction support dealing with issues such as mediation of extras from steel contractors. The Lobby was later expanded and renovated and then an extension added above the lobby and the West Wing Expansion. Completed an expansion to the Nottawasaga Inn hotel, with increased main lobby heating and cooling. VIRTUAL project managed and engineered the structural and mechanical HVAC for the project. The mechanical part of the west wing expansion included approximately 1 km of piping for central heating and cooling, new 350 ton chiller and distribution piping to over 120 rooms and banquet areas, re-circulation pipe for domestic hot water service and upgrade of controls for 4th floor exhaust ventilation of the Electrical room.

Sports and Leisure Dome

From October 2001 to July 2002, the Hotel added the Sports and Leisure Dome, a sports and recreational complex of which VIRTUAL managed and engineered. The 70,000 ft2 Sports & Leisure Dome is designed to thrill kids and adults of any age. The excitement begins on a gigantic scale at our 25 metre tropical pool with beach entry and wheelchair accessibility. Zoom down the 100 foot water slide, kids will love the wading area and water umbrella. Rock waterfalls, palm trees, tropical murals, aquafit, whirlpools and sauna. Work out in the accredited 3,000 ft2 first-class health and fitness centre, fully equipped with all the latest cardiovascular and strength stations. There are 3 indoor tennis courts, 3 international squash courts, racquetball, and a professional studio offering a full range of aerobic and step classes. VIRTUAL provided structural and HVAC design, Plumbing investigation and retrofit design, Piping Layout design, Hydronic calculations, Control valve sizing, Mechanical Equipment selection and specifications, Shop drawing approval, Mechanical design for tennis court cooling system, Inspection. Project Completed 2003. From September 2003 to 2004 we redesigned the Domestic Hot water system for the expanded East Wing, West Wing and Sports and Leisure Dome Complex. We performed air balancing test and analysis for the Lobby.

Briar Hill Homes

In July 1998, the owner added the first phase of the Briar Hill Condominium with construction in 1999. In 2001 similar work was done for a second condominium complex called Briar Hill No. 2. The project involved evaluating alternative designs. We also consulted with the technical audit of Briar Hill No.1. In 2003 VIRTUAL performed an audit of the Condominiums and assisted in the renovation refurbishing of the ProShop in conducting and preparing an evaluation report. The hotel also includes four (4) 18-holes golf course and several townhouses and condominium buildings. VIRTUAL has consulted with the owner on the clubhouse and the design of the apartment/condominium buildings.

The Renaissance I & II

In 2004 we consulted in the design and construction of Briar Hill Homes and started the designs of Briar Hill Renaissance I & II.

New Centre Ice Rink

VIRTUAL’s consistent excellent job performed at Nottawasaga earned it a new request from this prestigious client. In June 2007 VIRTUAL was asked to carry out the design for the New Ice Rink of 30,895 sq.ft.with a capacity for 657 persons. The Ice Rink design included Heat Recovery Ventilators for the Rink’s dressing rooms and HVAC for the main lobby areas. The HVAC system was designed to operate along with the in-floor hydronic heating loops of the lobby area which save energy by reducing the heating required for the lobby space. Noise considerations for exhaust fans were a special request from the client. VIRTUAL ensured that the exhaust system provided the least disturbance to neighbors in the area by providing special noise insulators to the HVAC system. The project also included the design of the boiler and tank system that would provide heat to the hot water and in-floor hydronic heating, as well as the tempered air requirement for the Rink. VIRTUAL used two high efficiency wall mounted boilers (92%) of ethylene glycol mixture for these systems. The hot water system consisted of two indirect natural gas fired glycol heaters connected to one of the boilers. The hydronic infloor heating loops was also connected to this same boiler controlled by a prioritized sequence of operation that will exchange priority between the hot water and the infloor heating based on the requirements. Air was tempered for the Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV) with the use of the second boiler. This system design offered greater efficiency than traditional storage water heater tanks and instant tempered water to the showers and sinks. Electrical design was also part of the requirement for this project. VIRTUAL designed lighting and power distribution using energy efficient components. VIRTUAL conducted an assessment of the present power distribution at the existing Rink and ensured that all load requirements for the new Rink were properly satisfied through the addition of new electrical panels while carefully maintaining and managing the sourcing of power from the existing panels. Plumbing and drainage were also part of VIRTUAL’s work.