Abbotsford Christian School Entrance

This unique project is the crowning jewel of the Abbotsford Christian School renovation. Located directly over the front entrance, this unique canopy combines fire coated glulam and custom pipe columns atop a circular concrete pedestal.

The unique single pedestal design sprang from our desire to craft something truly eye-catching for a local school. Initial designs called for an all-steel canopy, supported by multiple columns. Our President Gerald Epp challenged the design team to coalesce all supports into a single podium, topped by a single oblique roof plane. Keeping with this elegant approach, our team also created seamless connections, without visible bolt heads or screws to upset the clean lines of the structure.

Our shop craftsmen and site team acted as true craftsmen, hand fabricating both the glulam purlins and beams in our shop, with each of the three beams receiving a pre-camber as they were glued together. Onsite erection was quite challenging. The erection of the six pipes had to be done with a high degree of accuracy to ensure that the incoming beams fit without too much trouble. The roof purlins were then lifted in pre-fabricated sections and placed atop the beams.

Our hope is that this canopy and its warm wood atmosphere will provide a pleasant welcome to students for years to come.