This iconic office building is the corporate headquarters for the Workers Compensation Board. Prominently located on Winnipeg’s premier financial street, Broadway, this example of leading edge mid-century modernist design required a complete curtain wall replacement. The original construction used a superstructure of steel framing supporting a precast contract floor system and exterior walls of two inch granite panels suspended on steel framing. Over time, the granite stone bearing on steel angles had displaced and was unsafe. The walls had limited fiberglass batt insulation, no air/vapour barrier or exterior sheathing and an asbestos interior plaster finish.
Our goal was to construct a new exterior wall system that retained the original granite stone without significantly changing the appearance of the building exterior. Each stone was removed, recorded and stored off-site. In order to accommodate new four-inch thick insulation, modern stone retention systems, and window replacement, carefully detailed stainless steel reveals and closer pieces were added to conceal the restoration work. The end result is a building that is energy efficient and air tight, yet it maintains the appearance of a 1950s building.