2010 VANOC WHISTLER ATHLETES
VILLAGE / CHEAKAMUS CROSSING
Description: Murphy Construction was awarded 85 units in the Whistler Athletes Village in September 2007. The Village accommodated 2,400 athletes, coaches and officials with 450 beds made especially for wheelchair access. These units were constructed under the LEED neighbourhood (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) program as required by the developer.
Project Value: $28,000,000
Completion date: 2009
Client: VANOC
Consultant: AKA Architecture & Design, Howard Bingham Hill Architects, Murdoch Architecture
Murphy Construction was also the contractor of choice for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games - Whistler Athletes Village Maintenance Service Providers (MSP). Our crew was responsible for responding for completing all maintenance requirements (24 hours/7 days week) to permanent or temporary buildings in the Athletes Village. A work order system was developed and maintained for managing all work in conjunction with VANOC.
KIND WORDS
In order to provide some context for this letter, I was VANOC’s Project Director responsible for the delivery of the Athletes Village projects and worked very closely with VANOC’s development partner teams and facility maintenance teams during both the capital construction and operations phases of these projects.
Through this role I worked closely with Murphy Construction Corporation (MCC). MCC played a significant role in the capital construction of the Whistler Athletes Village, delivering a large proportion of the town home units (87 of a total of 174) used to house international athletes in this village. As a result of the quality of this work and the skills and enthusiasm demonstrated by MCC, VANOC subsequently engaged MCC to become the Facility Manager for the entire Whistler Athletes Village facility throughout the duration of VANOC’s use period, from November 2009 until May 2010.
MCC was engaged by VANOC in two phases: phase one was to plan, in consultation with VANOC, the Facility Management program and appropriately resource the agreed plan, and phase two was to subsequently execute the facility works. The works primarily involved preventative maintenance works to numerous building types, including wood, steel and concrete structure, and the timely maintenance response to daily issues that emanate in a facility occupied by 4,000 people.
MCC performed its responsibilities to an excellent standard for VANOC. MCC personnel demonstrated a solid technical competency in dealing with building and building maintenance matters, showed a strong commitment to safety management and initiative in securing the most cost effective sub-contracting arrangement for VANOC. Importantly, MCC approached their role with a proactive and partnering mindset, communicated very well with VANOC and always offered advice and solutions that represented VANOC’s best interests.
I would unreservedly recommend MCC to any owner or contractor as a company that is highly capable of managing large construction projects and a company that will work effectively within a team environment to deliver the best solution for the project sponsor.
Mark Cutler, Director of Villages Development, VANOC