Project aims to achieve highest LEED Platinum certification
Special to Ottawa Construction News
Canadian renovation television show host Mike Holmes recently visited Ottawa for a private tour of the new OakWood headquarters showroom building the company expects will achieve one of, if not the highest LEED Platinum rankings for any commercial building in Canada.
Holmes’ arrival at any location is often a frenzied spotlight event that attracts crowds and paparazzi on a scale usually reserved for movie icons, the company said in a news release. In contrast, this was a low key affair with a small group quietly following the popular Holmes on Homes contractor as he made his way slowly through the new building that is rapidly nearing completion in Ottawa with several grand openings scheduled next spring.
Holmes was invited by OakWood’s president and CEO John Liptak. OakWood joined Mike Holmes’ Approved Homes Program in 2013, becoming “the first renovator in Canada to meet Mike’s high standards for home improvement,” the OakWood news release said. “That distinction has seen the relationship between OakWood and Mike’s Holmes Approved Homes Program – and Liptak and Holmes, in particular—deepen. The two companies are now involved in a range of projects across Ottawa.”
The center of attention on this occasion was the new 22,700 sq. ft. building on Taylor Creek Blvd at Hwy. 174 in the city’s east end. When completed, the new building will feature a massive showroom, seminar rooms, a 3D virtual display room and other innovative features.
“We have designed the building to provide Ottawa customers a unique, one-stop shop renovation experience,” Liptak said. “We wanted this building to be a testament to what is possible in terms of high-quality construction and building green,” he said.
Holmes took advantage of the building walk through to address the Oak Wood team and remarked on the importance of ventilation and filtration systems to achieve important health benefits. “Why do we have so many respiratory problems, like asthma and other lung related diseases? Because so-called modern, air tight buildings recirculate the same bad air that can contain bacteria, aerosols, dust and fumes.”
The new OakWood corporate headquarters is expected to officially open by November with the two-storey showroom completed inspring 2015.
