The Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre is a transportation training and educational facility that was built to respond to operational challenges, keep pace with industry growth, and attract quality applicants and educators to Red River College. The centre accommodates over 350 students annually and includes administrative and support spaces, open and flexible lab space, classrooms, spacious shop space and drive-through bays to accommodate larger vehicles.
"HETC is a model for development of new learning facilities…It provides us with modern, flexible space for training programs and applied research, while simultaneously minimizing our impact on the environment." Stephanie Forsyth, former President of Red River College & Technology
Part of the challenge of meeting LEED® requirements for this project was the semi-industrial nature of many areas of the building. Although primarily an educational building, the working environment, and, consequently, the heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting requirements of the shop areas were similar to that of an industrial facility. Nevertheless, the design team felt that providing a traditional industrial windowless shop environment was not an option, so they implemented strategies such as geothermal heating and cooling, natural heating, and, wherever possible, spaces were sunlit by clerestory windows and large expanses of curtain wall.