Commercial

We’ve used virtually every framing system available in this category of projects. A framing system is selected for a variety of reasons to suit the purpose and use, from speed of construction to material costs, and the ultimate use of the finished building. Structural steel allows for large spans to create flexible open spaces, with minimal columns to accommodate standard retail or office modules. Office and mixed-use buildings often use pre-cast concrete elements. The variety of framing systems keeps expanding, with tilt-up concrete walls, semi-precast concrete elements, and heavy timber framing becoming more common.

At Jablonsky, we have designed malls, office blocks, warehouses, movie theatres and studios and many more commercial and industrial buildings. Traditionally, these developments were built away from residential areas due to both availability of land and zoning restrictions that limited a development to a single use. As communities intensify their built environments and fill all available space to combat sprawl, we find that mixed-use developments and redevelopments account for a growing volume of our building projects.

New industrial and commercial development requires coordination to ensure there’s no adverse impacts to surrounding infrastructure. Our high-rise projects are being designed with an increasing number of commercial and light industrial spaces (such as microbreweries and car dealerships) in their podiums, as mixed-use zoning becomes more popular.

Our involvement with a commercial building project, such as a mall, lasts long after the building is completed. New retail tenants and renovations require review of our original structural drawings to ensure the planned work is structurally feasible.

Mixed-use redevelopments at Jablonsky include transforming surface parking lots around existing malls into new neighbourhoods, often on buildings where we were involved in the original design.