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Buildings Sector
edition 2 | Spring 2025
Why Choosing the right Construction Delivery Method Is Key to a Project’s Success
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“Our clients are in the business of moving freight such as mined minerals, food products, and building materials that communities depend on. Our number one success metric is safely minimizing disruption to the train schedules, and we gear all of our operations toward that goal.”
Jim Holtje
Civil Area Manager, PCL Construction
Building Small with Big Value: Meet PCL Construction's Special Projects Team!
Market insight
Beyond Lump Sum for Smaller Scale Projects Data centers are critical infrastructure in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem. While often thought of as large mega projects, data center infrastructure also includes smaller-scale edge, micro, colocation or regional facilities with compact designs serving localized needs. Speed to market (without compromising quality) is piority one, pushing the data center sector to modernize its infrastructure to meet global demand. For its Minneapolis expansion, data center and IT solution provider Flexential sought PCL’s small contractor services, knowing that its Special Projects teams excel at project delivery in an operational mission-critical workspace, and typically on a fast-track schedule. With speed to market critical to the client, the project delivery model is a key factor to consider. Traditional lump sum tenders are common for smaller scale projects but can hinder fast-track delivery. The CMAR delivery model chosen by Flexential allowed PCL to begin construction work on early scope packages, even while the design was still not fully complete. The CMAR framework enables contractors to be involved early in preconstruction and, crucially, in the design phase. In this case, that early engagement allowed the SP team to start and sequence construction as design progressed to meet the client’s aggressive timeline. Chris Tauscheck, Special Projects manager in Minneapolis credits the open and collaborative relationship with Flexential as a key driver of the project’s success. “Flexential appreciated our open-book policy. There were no surprises when it came to budget. The biggest surprise for the client was when we handed over the project in under six months as promised.” The success of the data center expansion has led to additional work with Flexential as it continues to shape the future of an ever-evolving data center industry – one in which PCL provides mission-critical teams that leverage pre-construction expertise to ensure speed-to-market and reliable infrastructure, while offering cost certainty. When time is a driver, forging early trust is foundational to project success. PCL’s Special Projects Division is built for speed without compromising quality, cost or safety. While scale and scope differ from project to project, PCL’s commitment to delivering for the client has remained the same throughout its long history.
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Nine PCL projects were awarded Engineering News-Record 2024 Global & National Best of the Best Projects Awards!
From completing a fast-track sports venue renovation in just six months to repurposing a zoo’s monorail into the world’s longest elevated pedestrian loop, these winning projects showcase the power of collaboration and dedication to delivering excellence from everyone involved. We’re proud to celebrate this incredible achievement with our clients, partners, and talented teams.
When people think about PCL Construction, they typically think “big” projects. Yet, since its earliest days, PCL has provided a highly skilled small-contractor services offering, with expertise in compact, complex, quick and competitive work. Special Projects teams continue to deliver these projects with PCL’s longstanding commitment to excellence. Building trust, providing schedule and budget certainty, and delivering excellence have been cornerstone tenets of PCL Construction since its founding in 1906. Trust enabled founder Ernest Poole to create a team, strengthen client relationships and earn new work, growing a small construction company into an industry leader that remains connected to its roots. As trust deepened through reliable project delivery, clients wanted PCL to not only deliver their base buildings, but to remain on call to deliver future project improvements. That demand led to a “jobbing” department specializing in smaller-scale repeat work that came to be known as PCL’s Special Projects (SP) Division. This is a core part of its business today, following a model of delivering "compact, complex, quick and competitive" service to meet the demands of smaller, fast-paced projects. “Behaving like a skilled and competitive small contractor, our Special Projects team is backed by the resources and bankability of PCL,” says Sean Barnes, vice president of special projects for PCL. “We deliver smaller scale projects with the operational rigor, safety, quality and client- focused approach that is at the heart of our brand, and unmatched by our competitors.” These smaller projects not only allow for quick-turnaround work but also provide vital infrastructure to local communities. Whether it’s leveraging modular construction, quickly building housing in remote areas or renovating schools to better serve the community, PCL ensures that each project is both impactful and efficiently executed. MSAs, Modular Methods and Own Forces Work: Key Strategies in the Special Projects Toolbox Nestled in a remote, mountainous region of British Columbia sits Mica Generating Station and Dam, which is BC Hydro’s largest facility on the Columbia River. In 2022, the electricity supplier identified a need to upgrade accommodations for employees who stay onsite. Pursuant to a long-standing Master Services Agreement with BC Hydro, PCL’s SP team in B.C. has successfully completed hundreds of smaller-scale projects of varying complexity for the client. For this one, BC Hydro needed a 40-unit building with improved longevity, soundproofing and energy performance. The challenge: the building needed to be ready within one year. Engaging PCL’s Solution Provider approach, the Special Projects team quickly mobilized, developing a strategy to prefabricate modular units off-site, to accommodate the tight eight-month construction window within the remote, mountainous location that is prone to early winters. Given the location and limited number of qualified bidders, the SP team self-performed schedule-critical work packages, including the concrete foundation work and the construction of wooden roof structures and canopies atop the modular structure.
Over a three-month period, the modules were fabricated in Calgary, then transported over the Rockies to the site. By August, the SP team was ready to install the modules. Over four days, the team stacked all 20 modules in place. Three days later, the five truss sections were craned into place and secured. In just over a week, the structure had taken shape. From there, multiple crews completed finishing work on the roof, building envelope and interior hallways. The PCL team handed over phase one of the project – what would typically take 18 months to complete using traditional methods – ahead of schedule and only eight months after it began construction. This allowed employees of BC Hydro to move into the first 20 units as scheduled. The remaining 20 units were completed with move-in eight months later.
Retrofitting Denver’s Hottest Classrooms The average Denver Public Schools (DPS) building is 56 years old and built at a time when central air conditioning wasn’t standard. In today’s warmer climate, this presents health and learning challenges. Studies show classroom temperatures above 79°F (26°C) impact student well-being and academic performance, leading DPS to declare "heat days" during extreme weather. To address this, DPS enlisted PCL Construction for rapid summer retrofits in 2024, installing air conditioning at Thomas Jefferson High, Stedman Elementary, and Steele Elementary. These upgrades fulfill a 2020 bond commitment to cool the district’s hottest schools. The age of many of DPS’ K-12 buildings makes renovation projects no easy feat. “With a lot of these older buildings, the record drawings you have available are inaccurate or sometimes don’t even exist,” says Ethan Powell, project manager for PCL’s Denver office. “You have to go in blind a lot, knowing the plan might change.” Another challenge is scheduling work for when students and teachers are outside the building, to not disrupt learning with construction noise. For larger projects like the Thomas Jefferson High School upgrades, construction began in the summer of 2023 and continued through the school year and into the summer of 2024. Crews were required to work night shifts during the school year, completing as much work as possible in a short timeframe and cleaning up before the sound of the first school bell. By the 2024-25 school year, these schools will have new AC, and five others will feature major mechanical upgrades. The successful navigation of these challenges is a prime example of the innovation PCL’s Special Projects team brings to every build. “We’re proud to create safer, more comfortable learning environments,” Powell adds.
Outcompeting the Competitors: the PCL ‘Big and Small’ Advantage Stantec Tower – built by PCL and located in the heart of Edmonton – has quickly become a downtown icon for Alberta’s capital city. Eager to secure premium office space within the 66-story tower, leading legal firm Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer (RMRF) wanted a modern space that combined hospitality elements with high-end design. It also wanted to stand out from its competition, as two other legal firms had hired contractors for similar fit-out work in the tower. PCL outbid the competition – in part due to the added value it provided as base building constructors – to earn the work with RMRF pursuant to a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery model. With a non-negotiable move-in date just six months after mobilization, PCL’s special projects team was the perfect “small contractor” for the high-end, fast-track tenant improvement work. The team mobilized rapidly. As construction manager, PCL collaborated closely with the client and designer through preconstruction to ensure an optimized design, lean constructability and fast-track schedule. The PCL team identified structural design modifications needed to the feature staircase to achieve building code compliance. To adequately support the steel staircase, which was being added to connect the 18th and 19th floors, the team had to cut into the concrete slab and add a massive structural beam running from slab-band to slab-band to support the horizontal force. Focused on driving value to the client’s bottom line, the team revised the original handover plan, phasing delivery of furnishings and equipment to protect the project schedule. In the end, the Special Projects team handed over the project one week early, to the delight of RMRF partners, who were able to move in while their competitors within the tower dealt with construction delays. “I have no hesitation in recommending PCL for any construction project,” says RMRF Director of Operations, Kelly Diewert. “Their exceptional team, unwavering attention to detail, proficient scheduling, and transparent communication set them apart as a reliable and competent partner.”
Kitchen and social space overlooking downtown Edmonton.
Flexential Data Center expansion.
HVAC upgrades keep things cool inside Thomas Jefferson High School.
Exterior view of BC Hydro’s Mica Dam dorms.
Inside a dorm room at BC Hydro Mica Dam Project.
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edition 2 | spring 2025
Advantage and Value to the Owner? Engaging construction specialists early in the design process to ensure the best design solutions and highest-quality drawings adds value and cost-savings. Quality design solutions and drawings ensure owners receive the best bids and pricing from trades and suppliers who require clear scopes of work. Quality drawings and tender packages, in turn, reduce the risk of change orders (driven by design clarifications and/or redesign) that add cost and time to the project. End result? Dollars back to your bottom line! Project Delivery Methods Made for Integrated Collaboration Given the critical value of early contractor engagement in the preconstruction design process and the importance of cultivating a shared focus on value enhancement across the full project team, project delivery methods that incorporate opportunities for owner, architect, consultants, trades, suppliers, construction experts and other key stakeholders to collaborate are most often recommended by PCL to owners. Below is a brief survey of delivery methods to highlight pros and cons, beginning with Construction Management at Risk.
Delivered under CMAR, The Post is one of the most ambitious heritage redevelopments in Canadian history, preserving the building’s architectural features through sustainable and adaptive reuse and re-establishing the property as a signature landmark.
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Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) The owner, designer and contractor come to the table in a relationship of trust and respect where the team develops shared objectives that provide a product to meet the owner's requirements for time, quality and budget. The contractor provides expertise in constructability, planning, logistics, estimates, budgets, scheduling, value engineering and communication to facilitate decision making. It retains a competitive aspect because the contractor solicits multiple bids from subcontractors covering all divisions or scopes of work. If the owner wants cost certainty, the project’s budget can be locked in at an appropriate point through a Guaranteed Maximum Price contract with appropriate contingencies defined to cover price escalation, tariffs or design development. PCL projects delivered under CMAR: The Post JW Marriott Bonnet Creek Ken Soble Tower at 500 MacNab Passive House Renewal Project Snowball Water Treatment Plant Design-Build The owner selects and engages a single entity to design and build the project rather than holding contracts with several contractors and consultants. The design-build contractor is responsible for both the design and construction of the project based on predetermined requirements that detail design criteria. The same concept can include equipment specification and procurement under the name Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC). Design-Build or EPC deliveries are effective when an owner may not have the resources or knowledge to manage multiple contracts or entities and prefers to hire a contractors to manage the entire process. PCL projects delivered under Designer-Build: Lake Tillery Bridge Rehabilitation California Bioenergy Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Project Roam Transit Operations & Training Centre Treasure Island Water Resource Recovery Facility Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) Building on the Design-Build method, large scale, complex public sector infrastructure projects lend themselves to Alternative Finance and Procurement methods, including P3s. The P3 method allows public- and private-sector partners to share risk, rewards and project responsibilities. It is an attractive method for the public sector as it draws out the efficiencies not only in the design and construction but also the financing and operations of a facility. It encourages collaboration and provides a guaranteed, pre-determined base rate to the public sector, which can ease budget forecasting. These methods have modified offshoots called Progressive Design Build (PDB) and Progressive P3, which bring the private-sector partner in during the design phase so the partners can work together to define project requirements, design, pricing and risk before entering an agreement. PCL projects delivered as P3s: LAX Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) Facility Humber River Hospital Clackamas County Circuit Courthouse Design-Build-Finance (DBF), Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) Variations on Design-Build include Design-Build-Finance (DBF), Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM), and Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM). Each of these expands the private sector obligations (to financing, operations and long-term facility maintenance, respectively). Incentivizing key project drivers like production start-up and move-in dates or cost underruns can reward achievements for delivery teams and reward project goals. In these methods, the cost of land, construction, development and financing can amortized over a period of time. PCL project delivered as DBF/DBFM: Communications Security Establishment Long-Term Accommodation Project LAX Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) Facility Alliance/Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) The Alliance and IPD methods are quite similar. The methods allow the owner, designer, contractor, suppliers and other stakeholders (e.g., community stakeholders, funding organizations, etc.) to collaboratively plan, design, construct and commission a project. Compensation under the Alliance and IPD methods is directly tied to cost, schedule and profitability milestones of the project. These methods promote a culture of “no-fault, no-blame” and require participants to find the best-for-project solutions. The Alliance model is proving to be popular with owners because of the opportunities it affords for early contractor involvement. As mentioned, early contractor involvement offers owners the best opportunity to optimize design solutions, assess constructability, engage in value-engineering and take advantage of a general contractor’s other preconstruction services. PCL project delivered as IPD: Royal Canadian Dragoons Facilities This summary of project delivery methods is not exhaustive, and any method chosen can be tailored to each owner’s unique needs and aspirations. Whichever method works best for a project, it’s important to select a contractor who understands the different methods and your goals, and can recommend the best strategy to provide a return-on-investment and bring your vision to life.
Project Delivery Methods
Strengths
Potential Weaknesses
Risk Distribution
best for
Construction Management at Risk
Design-Build
Public-Private Partnerships
Design-Build-Finance, Design-Build-Finance-Maintain
Alliance, Integrated Project Delivery
Enhanced collaboration; cost savings through value engineering; accelerated project completion; transparency
Single point of responsibility for design and construction; fast completion; cost savings
Access to private sector financing and expertise; cost savings and innovation; enhanced risk management; fewer upfront costs; project financed over an extended period
Access to private sector financing and expertise; single point of responsibility for design, construction, financing; cost savings; project may be financed over an extended period
High level of collaboration and integration; cost savings and improved project outcomes; shared risk and reward structure
Separates design and construction phases
Reduced owner control over design
Complex contracts; reduced public oversight; long-term commitments may limit flexibility
Complex contracts; long-term commitments may limit flexibility; potential for reduced public oversight
Complex contracts; requires strong commitment to collaboration and transparency
Construction Manager bears risk of cost overruns/schedule delays; owner retains risk for design
Design-builder assumes most risks. Owner retains some risks such as project scope and oversight
Shared between public and private sectors, with the private partner typically assuming more financial and operational risks
Private sector assumes most risks while the public sector retains some oversight and regulatory risks
Risks are shared among project stakeholders, with a focus on collaboration and support
Projects where early contractor involvement is beneficial and where the owner prefers a Guaranteed Maximum Price
Projects where speed and cost efficiency are critical, and where the owner is comfortable with less control over the design process
Large-scale public infrastructure where private sector innovation and efficiency are desired
Large-scale infrastructure where public funding is limited, and where private sector innovation and efficiency are desired
Projects where innovation and collaboration are essential
Alliance, IPD and Design-Build all encourage early collaboration between owner, designer and contractor.
P3s and Progressive P3s allow private- and public-sector partners to engage early and share risks, rewards and responsibilities.
The Design-Bid-Build method fails to involve a contractor until this point.
DBFM and DBFMO stretch the agreement even beyond commissioning to maintenance and operations.
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PCL can help with: - Site selection and evaluation - Pro forma assessment and support - Early engagement of authorities - Early works for site readiness
With in-house experts, PCL excels at providing advanced preconstruction services that are laser-focused on value to your bottom line through: - Design optimization - Constructability - Value-engineering
With deep roots in the industry, bankability and buying power, PCL will ensure you benefit from best trades at best price while setting the stage for success through rigorous Project Execution Planning.
PCL leverages our in-house experts and advanced Lean methods and Digital Construction technologies to reduce risk, schedule and cost with improved quality and safety.
PCL will ensure that your project launch is exciting and worry-free! Our comprehensive project commissioning, turnover and close out processes ensure that we celebrate resounding project success, together!
Construction Management at Risk; Lump Sum; Design-Build; Public-Private Partnerships; Progressive Design-Build; IPD; Alliance: There are many project delivery methods available to make a construction project happen, but several things are certain: Not every delivery model is right for every project, The method chosen will have an oversized impact on project success and Every project requires a personalized approach. Factors that will influence the choice of delivery method include project type, budget, schedule, the owner’s financing objectives, available resources and risk profile. As solution providers, PCL Construction is flexible and customizes project delivery methods to provide the best value to meet your goals. The Secret to Success? Early Contractor Involvement To meet project goals, owners often choose their preferred project delivery method early in the process. This may be driven by factors such as the availability of resources to manage the project, the need to start execution prior to having complete designs or cost certainty, or an owner’s particular procurement legacy. However, when owners engage a contractor’s preconstruction services prior to selecting a contract type or delivery method, valuable input can be shared when some of the most critical project decisions are being made.
Preconstruction Services: Maximizing Value and Lowering Cost The preconstruction phase of a project offers owners the best opportunity to optimize design solutions, assess constructability and engage in value-engineering (which determines the best value for the best price). With a view to maximizing value, PCL applies our knowledge of construction and market conditions to make suggestions, evaluate alternatives and offer advice to the entire project team. Leveraging contractor knowledge in the site selection and design stages can set up a project for success. Having a team of industry-leading construction specialists ensures receipt of expert constructability input through the project planning and preconstruction phases. As a result of early collaboration, the required and optimized materials, sequencing, and procurement strategies (with an eye on future-proofing your building technology, expansion and sustainability features) all serve to make smart decisions early to mitigate surprises down-stream. Additionally, cost savings are generated through cost analysis, innovative and efficient construction plans and rigorous schedule management.
Los Angeles International Airport’s new Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) Facility, delivered as a public-private partnership, is the largest cast-in-place concrete project of its kind, only slightly smaller than the building area of the U.S. Pentagon.
The Clackamas County Circuit Courthouse project marked one of the quickest P3 procurements in U.S. history, taking just 11 months from the Request for Qualifications to selecting the team, followed by only three additional months to finalize the contract.
“We have the experience to drive home successful projects and give clients certainty in this changing market. It’s a balance of great teams internally and great relationships externally.” — Dillon Houston, engineering manager. “It’s been a fun ride with all the growth and challenges. PCL has provided a lot of growth opportunities, along with consistently great mentorship and coaching from across the company,” Houston says. “I was driven toward renewable energy because I thought it would be really rewarding. And now I come to work every day with a purpose behind me.” Houston says the solar potential in Australia is “endless.” “There’s going to be consistent and significant growth over the next 10 years here,” he says. That means opportunities to build exciting projects — projects that PCL is uniquely positioned to deliver. As solar projects become more viable, and as PCL’s solar team continues to cultivate in-house expertise and a new generation of solar leaders, Minor believes PCL will become even more effective at providing solutions for solar clients. “There are hundreds of gigawatts of projects in pipelines across the United States,” he says. “PCL’s reputation and ability to execute will put us at the top of the list. I would put our team up against anybody.”
Rescue dogs of Rayos del Sol
The demand for solar energy projects is accelerating, and PCL’s diverse team of experts has the experience to address challenges and adapt to new technologies. The growth of solar power, even in the last few years, has been rapid. According to the International Energy Forum, the world added more solar capacity in 2022 than all other energy sources combined. But the world of solar power is nothing new to PCL Construction, which has been expertly navigating the technology for more than 15 years. With large-scale solar energy generation projects across Canada, the United States and Australia, PCL has built an industry-leading team that collaborates and shares expertise across all project sites and offices. “We have a lot of very qualified folks who bring years of experience in construction to the table, both specific to the solar industry and from markets outside solar,” says Dillon Houston, the engineering manager for PCL’s Australia Solar and BESS business based in Sydney, Australia. “Those different types of experience give us a cutting edge in the solar market.” One area where PCL’s depth of expertise comes into play is in optimizing the long-term performance of solar energy projects and de-risking their designs. This means configuring the design of the solar plant to optimize performance efficiency and hit production targets, even in less-than-ideal conditions, while also making sure the site is accessible for operations and maintenance personnel. Environmental concerns like wetland protection, stormwater management and soil erosion have to be considered. Special crossing, utility allowances and future land use must also be taken into account. And, of course, schedules have to allow for long lead times in procuring equipment. “Optimizing a solar project is like playing the most difficult game of Tetris you’ve ever played in your life,” says Nick Vastano, operations support manager for PCL Solar based in Toronto. “But it’s an expert-level game that we’ve been playing and setting new high scores in for 15 years.”
Diverse Backgrounds That game of Tetris requires experts in different areas to work together to make sure everything goes according to plan. “We can run into challenges during construction because we have numerous subsystems that must be correctly integrated to create a high-performing system,” Houston says. “If something doesn’t work right with one subsystem, you can’t move forward to the next because everything is interconnected. One problem can have a compounding effect across the entire project and effective system integration is key.” One of those experts, David Minor, came to PCL in 2020 after working in oil and gas for 11 years and being part of a startup solar energy company for a decade. Today, he’s an operations manager based in PCL’s Houston, Texas office, where he works to provide solar solutions for clients across the United States.
“Working for my previous company, when we started our solar company in 2010, I had zero experience. Every person we hired had zero experience in solar. We all had a learning curve,” Minor says. “Now, because we have the experience, it’s much easier for us to talk to a potential candidate, recognize their talent and figure out how their talent and experience will enhance teams. Whenever we hire a new designer or engineer, we spend considerable time teaching and mentoring them, so they too will successfully contribute to delivering predictable, efficient and cost-effective turn-key solar solutions for our clients.”
Alongside solar energy generation projects, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are gaining in popularity because of their ability to regulate and stabilize the amount of electricity a project puts into the power grid. PCL’s experts are at the forefront of this market, amassing valuable expertise while delivering several BESS projects across Canada. PCL is renowned for their growing knowledge and experience in delivering BESS solar solutions that support efficient local power storage and discharge, as explored in our recent article Battery Energy Storage Systems Will Help Power the Future. In Nova Scotia, PCL is designing and constructing three BESS projects that will each be capable of injecting 50 megawatts of electricity into the grid in just four hours. Andrew Fleetwood, chief estimator and manager of preconstruction services for PCL’s solar team, has been working on BESS projects since 2016. “BESS is crucial to the long-term viability of diversifying the global energy supply through renewable sources because it helps with grid stability, storing energy in times of low demand which would otherwise be lost, and making things more predictable,” Vastano says. “BESS is going to be the next wave of expansion, and our team is experienced and ready.”
Hit the Ground Running Vastano — who first joined PCL as a student in 2014 — leads technological and training initiatives for the solar team, including the development of solar-specific training courses. Some of the larger topics include commissioning, design management and quality management, but he’s also developing 30-minute micro-learning modules on smaller topics like project insurance and culture.
"We’re capturing that wealth of solar expertise we have and distilling it down for new employees — or maybe seasoned employees who are transferring over to the solar team for the first time — so they can hit the ground running,” Vastano says. These training modules mean that PCL hires top engineers from a wide range of specific backgrounds and gives them the tools and knowledge to deliver excellence for clients in the solar industry. “If you have a strong construction, electrical or mechanical background, there’s a job for you in solar,” Minor says. But, as Houston points out, that knowledge changes quickly as the solar industry evolves. “Every project, there’s something unique and different — a new module, a new inverter, some other type of new technology or project site challenges,” he says. “PCL’s extensive history of working with engineering consultants, trade partners, technology providers and owners means it’s easier for us to figure out how to integrate new technologies. We’ve really worked at developing and fostering external partnerships with top-tier consultants, trade partners and suppliers, and we can lean on them if we have any questions. “At this stage, we’ve built a large repertoire of projects; we know what works well and can drive success. The solar industry is still in some ways the Wild West, but we have the experience to drive home successful projects and give clients certainty in this changing market. It’s a balance of great teams internally and great relationships externally.” The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at our project sites is explored in Early AI Adoption Offers Opportunities for Customization. Within the article, PCL’s experts discuss how AI can effectively reduce innumerable hours of intensive work, allowing for the reallocation of our staff to other tasks that help prioritize our client’s goals, objectives and timelines. Attracting Top Talent As a top 10 contractor in North America, and as Canada’s largest general contractor with more than 100 years of experience under its belt, including solar projects across North America and Australia, PCL’s brand carries a lot of weight in the construction market. This reputation helps the company attract the brightest young engineers and their new ideas to the established solar team. “When people are looking at where they want to work, PCL is already at the top of their lists,” Vastano says. “We put it out there that we have industry-leading experts and we always have a focus on innovative new technologies and employee development.” Houston joined PCL in 2019 after graduating with his mechanical engineering degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. In January 2024, he relocated to Australia to accelerate his career, gain valuable experience in a new market and exchange knowledge with the experts there.
Dillon Houston, engineering manager.
Nick Vastano, operations support manager for PCL Solar based in Toronto.
Summerside Solar & Battery Energy Storage System.
Ellwood Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
David Minor, operations manager based in PCL’s Houston, Texas office.
HeviLift analyzes every location on the work area and shows the optimal crane locations.
Whooo Saved the Day?
At the Salt Lake City Water Reclamation Facility, an unexpected visitor found itself in need of help. During routine work, our team discovered a barn owl trapped in a water tank. Acting quickly, they orchestrated a safe and successful rescue, ensuring the owl could return to the skies.
A Century of Excellence in Civil Infrastructure Across North America
