upgrading” that the co-op has engaged in over the past 15 years in response to the needs of their 15 aging buildings. He also says that because they have 15 buildings, not just one or two, they decided to bring on a project manager: “It’s simply overwhelming for a volunteer organization to deal with the day-to-day managing of a program for the upgrading and renewal of that many buildings,” he explains. “It’s a challenging project. We needed to find the right partner to help us get it done on schedule and on budget.” According to Richard, when evaluating those prospective partners, it was important to him that they found a company with architectural expertise, as their buildings were built in the 1970s – which makes them essentially heritage buildings, even if they’re not officially heritage-listed. That means they are complicated to work on and they needed a firm that had the architectural experience to tackle those complications. The FCCHA also looked for a partner who understood the co-op’s mission and how important it was, Richard says. Whoever they worked with had to be “aware of the importance of our buildings, the importance of our community, the importance of affordability, and the importance of maintaining our infrastructure long into the future.” “So it was a unique blend of skills and experience that we were looking for and it was actually a challenge to find the right fit,” Richard recalls. “We went out to a number of different firms.” According to Richard, C3 Alliance Corp was ultimately the right choice for a few reasons, but the main reason was their alignment on the importance of “community.” As an architect, Richard has done several projects up north, where C3 Alliance Corp works frequently with First Nations communities, finding innovative and inclusive solutions for resource development. He had seen first-hand their commitment to working with communities, industry leaders, and governments to build the relationships needed for project success – so he had a lot of confidence introducing and recommending them to the rest of the team at the FCCHA. JANUARY 2024
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