SkyTrain’s newest line opened in August 2009, introducing 16 new stations to the Lower Mainland. Canada Line brings rapid rail service to Metro Vancouver’s busiest north-south corridor, linking Downtown to Richmond and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Of the 16 new stations, nine are located in Vancouver and though each differs in design, a metal torsion spring ceiling application from Intalite links the stations with both functionality and style.

Intalite is a Canadian company with over 50 years in business exclusively manufacturing metal ceilings. The company has a long track record with transit stations, says Mark Bromley, owner of Cascadia Design Products, B.C.’s agent for Simplex Ceilings, as well as having provided exterior soffits and custom tegular gasketed ceilings at YVR. Gaetano D’Agata, project manager for Intalite says in developing the components of the Canada Line job, the company considered each detail of the design concept and preengineered a product to fit. “They wanted a metal ceiling and they wanted it shaped in different [configurations] based on what would be the best design for each particular station. What I did was take their concept and transferred it to our ceiling system.”

The final suspended system is a perforated, metal ceiling with acoustical properties (NRC of .85-.9) and average panel sizes of about 16 square feet that allow full mechanical system access and fall within a strict per-foot budget. Approximately 52,000 square feet of the product was used between the eight stations.

Intalite was the best choice for the job because it met all requirements for the project, says D’Agata. “They wanted curved and flat panels that are easily removable, and the extruded grid is easy and fast to install. And it all fit within the budget.”

General contractor SNC Lavalin standardized the finishes for the stations, says Bromley. “Unlike the Millenium Line they were all standard porcelain tiles, and the archways followed a four-foot by four-foot module size. Intalite was detailed so it could be fabricated specifically for the job, which ended up saving a lot in the end.”

The station ceilings are up to six underground stories, making the logistics of access and delivery of materials difficult to manage. “It wasn’t typical, and it was hard on the ceiling contractors, especially with a compressed schedule,” says Bromley. Robertson Walls & Ceilings completed the Waterfront and City Centre Stations; Celtic Drywall worked on the King Edward, Oakridge, and Langara Stations; and Gallagher Bros. Ltd. completed the work at the Yaletown-Roundhouse, Olympic Village, and Broadway-City Hall Stations.

On the Broadway and Olympic Stations, Gallagher Bros. completed the interior and exterior steel studs, drywall finishing, suspended drywall ceilings, and fire-rated shaft systems. The company also did a 3,000-square-foot portion of the Intalite ceilings on the upper and entrance levels of the Olympic Village Station.

The primary challenges at these two stations were access, which was extremely difficult because the site was underground, and, says part-owner Peter Gallagher, “When we got to the platform levels, we had to work around shutdown periods when they were testing the Line.”

The company devised innovative ways of continuing the drywall finishing and bulkhead work around the perimeter of the metal ceiling without impeding the progress of the testing, including a cantilevered scaffold set-up and working different shifts to that accommodated the train system.

On the Olympic Station having use of the crane meant they had to be pre-loaded the materials before the concrete rooftops were poured and the building was closed in. “Once that was done access was cut off and we had to use the stairs,” says Gallagher.

On both stations the consultants asked for mould-resistant drywall, so Gallagher Bros. chose Dense Armor Plus Abuse- Resistant Interior Panels from Georgia-Pacific for longevity, considering the high traffic area and potential for vandalism or other damage.

DensArmor Plus® Abuse-Resistant Interior Panels are made with a dense, moisture-resistant gypsum core and fiberglass mats that replace paper facings on both sides. The fiberglass mat design resists molud growth per ASTM D 3273. They have better abrasion, indentation, and soft body impact resistance than standard Type X gypsum board and can be used in any fire-rated assembly where 5/8” Type X drywall is specified. The panels are available in 5/8” thicknesses and 8’ to 12’ lengths, with tapered edges.

The Yaletown-Roundhouse Station had a more robust scope of work for Gallagher Bros. The company did the same interior and exterior metal studs, drywall finishing, suspended drywall ceilings, and fire-rated shafts, but also the installation of the Intalite metal ceilings, which totalled about 8,000 square feet. The installation comprised of a curved system on the platform level, and flat panels on the upper and lower concourse levels and in the station house. Gallagher Bros. designed and installed an alternate structural support system for the systems that would save the project time and costs.

“We came up with using heavy-gauge steel studs and angles that are normally provided in that kind of scope, rather than using the unistruts they had specified,” says Gallagher.

This station also required varying shifts to accommodate train testing. “Because of the stairways and limited access from the street level we constantly had to modify the scaffolding to assist with the installations,” says Gallagher.

The project was unique for Gallagher Bros. in that the company was a driving force in finishing the job. “Every element we had to install had to be done with extreme efficiency to turn over to the other trades to get roughed in,” says Gallagher. “It was also a very small, confined space. Everyone had to work within the space, but our scope drove the job.”

In the end, the stations opened ahead of time and under budget, even with crews working while the trains were doing practice runs. Gallagher says he and his crew appreciated SNC Lavalin allowing them to perform and push the job the way it had to be done. “They were instrumental in collecting the other trades to keep up,” says Gallagher.

“For us it’s getting on the job and looking at site conditions and available materials and coming up with results that achieve the design, but possibly help the schedule and costs.” TR