200,000 square-foot Calgary building to support company's growth
CALGARY, Alberta --- March 8, 2007 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that construction is well underway on its more than 200,000 square-foot (17,187 square-meter) world headquarters. Designed by Graham Edmunds Cartier Architects, constructed by Cana Construction and located in University Research Park in northwest Calgary, the state-of-the-art facility will house all of the company’s non-assembly operations. The building has been designed to allow the company to meet growing global demand for SMART products and will house up to 900 staff when fully occupied. It will also incorporate many green elements from the internationally recognized LEED gold certification standard, including design consideration for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
The building will have three separate wings to capture maximum natural light for all working areas, and all employees will operate in open work spaces to ensure a highly collaborative work environment. Construction will be completed in July 2008 at a cost of about CDN$60 million. Additionally, SMART will soon occupy a 260,000 square-foot (24,154 square-meter) assembly and warehouse facility in Kanata, Ontario. SMART introduced the world’s first interactive whiteboard in 1991 and has maintained its position as the global market leader ever since, with sales in over 100 countries worldwide. Now in its 21st year of operations, the company’s growing portfolio of products include the SMART Board™ interactive whiteboard, Sympodium™ interactive pen display, Actalyst™ digital signage, Senteo™ interactive response system, AirLiner™ wireless slate, and Bridgit™, SMART Ideas™ and SynchronEyes™ software. In 2006, the company surpassed CDN$1 billion in cumulative sales.
“The design of SMART's new world headquarters includes many features to enhance the natural environment in University Research Park and the surrounding residential community,” says Ken Cartier, lead architect and partner of Graham Edmunds Cartier Architects. “There are numerous high-tech and low-tech features that significantly reduce the demand for energy and water, and provide employees with a state-of-the-art working environment that features natural light, significant views, small parks and courtyards.”
”SMART continues to grow rapidly in response to increasing global demand, so we felt that our best option was to construct our own building,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s CEO. “This new facility will provide employees an extensive range of work and lifestyle enhancements, and allow us to consolidate operations, currently spread across Calgary, to become more efficient.”
Additional details
The building features three wings – the west wing is two-and-a-half stories high, and the central and east wings four-and-a-half stories high. Each wing connects to the core that houses the dining area, elevators and connecting corridors. Other building features include development and prototyping labs, a parkade, a bicycle parkade, a staff wellness center and a day-care center.
