Originally constructed in 1991, the Surrey Provincial Court is one of the busiest courthouses across the country and the second-largest in British Columbia. After the completion of an expansion project in 2018, the facility now features various individual courtrooms, holding cells, conference rooms, interview rooms, judicial chambers, and individual and shared office spaces. With the aging of the mechanical and electrical systems becoming more apparent, the objective of this project was to upgrade the existing systems, which were either at or approaching their end of life, to better support the staff and community members utilizing the courthouse.
Williams Engineering (WE) served as the prime consultant for this project, providing mechanical and electrical engineering consulting services for the upgrade and renewal of the existing systems that were either at or approaching their end of service life. In addition, WE was responsible for designing the HVAC system to improve the overall mechanical performance, and efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by implementing a high-efficiency condensing heating plant with a low-temperature distribution system coupled with an air source heat pump. The project took advantage of the end-of-life mechanical system renewal and maximized the cost-effectiveness opportunity to implement a solution toward carbon-neutral operation. There is significant synergy in project cost, electrical work, and operation disruption to incorporate the air source heat pump into the mechanical system as a primary heating source and reduce GHG emissions.
Coordinating the communication of all client objectives and engaging experienced engineers for the technical support of this undertaking were key factors in the success of this project. WE’s experience in Western Canadian cities such as Surrey continues to provide the community with safe and resilient structures to meet their needs.