From its corporate headquarters in Winnipeg, Accutech Engineering has built a 30-year reputation designing more than 100 buildings and technical solutions for the special challenges of the North without losing sight of needs of Nunavummiut in the process.

“Nunavut is a special place,” said Brent Wall, President and CEO. “From an engineering perspective it’s a world away – it’s a different culture, a different environment, a different climate.”

All of those differences lead them on a different path when they take on a project for the Government of Nunavut (GN) than that travelled by most southern engineering firms attempting to work in the Arctic.

“There’s no such thing as a cookie-cutter project in Nunavut,” said Dan Nenadov, mechanical engineer in training and project manager for the design of the new school just now being constructed in Igloolik. “The floor plans might be similar but every aspect is unique from the foundation on up.”

Each design starts with meetings in the community; lots of meetings.

“We meet with the local hamlet people and the District Education Authority to identify their particular needs,” said Wall. “The community has a chance to customize the look and feel of the design from the outset by selecting specific architectural features, colours, and other aspects of the project.”

In Igloolik, for example, the new school needed to include two special rooms with very different purposes: One for drying sealskins and the other for storing musical instruments. Those two needs require very different solutions when it comes to heat, humidity and ventilation.

“We talk to the community throughout a given project,” he added. “From the students and elders to maintainers and the GN, everyone has valid opinions that we use to make the design that much better.”

On any given design, Accutech brings the structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering expertise as the prime consultant. They add an outside architect to bring all of the community and engineering considerations together in one cohesive design for the client.

“Our senior staff takes a lead role on each design,” said Wall. “So you end up with the experienced old grey haired engineers attached to the project throughout the process.”  

In addition to the new school design for Igloolik, some of the company’s recent work includes:

Tuugaalik High School – Naujaat, NU (formerly Repulse Bay), completed July 2016 

Gjoa Haven High School and Addition – Gjoa Haven, NU, complete August 2016

Baffin Regional Hospital Renovation – Iqaluit, NU, complete April 2016

Ikaluktutiak Airport Renovation and Addition – Cambridge Bay, NU, which is currently under construction

Wildlife Office – Naujaat, NU, complete August 2015

Rankin Inlet Correctional Men’s Healing Facility

In 2013 this last project listed, the healing facility, actually earned Accutech one of several awards they’ve received over the years for their design and engineering skill in Nunavut.

“It’s built to be a modern correctional facility with everything that entails from a security standpoint, but it is also designed based on the Inuit philosophy of healing people, which is totally different than throwing someone away in a box,” said Wall. “It’s a beautiful building that also includes everything you need from a healthcare perspective because it’s a treatment centre.”

Corporate Involvement

Accutech Engineering’s involvement in Nunavut goes beyond just working there. It has established its own Nunavut Student Training and Employment Program to help young people from the communities to attain higher education in the engineering technology department at Winnipeg’s Red River College.

About a decade ago the company also created Kivalliq Kids, a program designed to help children overcome challenges in their lives with assistance and charitable gifts. Working in concert with the Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation in Winnipeg, Kivalliq Kids donates specialized equipment, speech therapy software and other items to help improve the lives of children in need in the communities where they operate.

“If we hear about a child that is facing a particularly challenging situation, Kivalliq Kids helps get them what they need,” said Wall. “I remember one case the child needed a special tricycle to be able to go out and play with their friends and we bought that for them.”

Through the program Accutech established three toy lending libraries for disabled children in Nunavut communities: Two of them are in Rankin Inlet (one for the Hamlet and one for the rest of the Kivalliq Region) and one in Sanikiluaq.

Favourite Projects

While Nenadov said all of his work is very rewarding, the company’s green arena ice making solutions are his favourite projects. The unique Arctic-based design uses no energy at all, has no moving parts or compressors, and has no ductwork that can become clogged with snow.

Already installed in Pangnirtung, Whale Cove, Coral Harbour and Taloyoak the Zero-Energy ice plants are engineered to cool the slab under the ice allowing for an arena season that’s up to four months longer than what’s possible just relying on the ambient air temperature.

“You feel like a local celebrity when you are in a community and everyone is coming up to you saying, ‘Are you the guy who is making it so we can play hockey longer?’” he said. “It feels good knowing you’ve made a difference like that in people’s lives.”

For Wall he points to the work they do with the GN on schools as his favourite types of projects to handle.

“First off, we have a great relationship with the people at the government, they really are amazing to work with so from that perspective the schools we have been lucky enough to be involved on are great projects,” he said. “When you think about putting a new school up in a community it has such a lasting impact and it gets used by almost everyone in the community from eight in the morning ’til nine at night or later for all sorts of community meetings, clubs, and activities beyond just being a school during the day… it truly becomes the heart of the community in so many ways.” ABQ