New secondary school, Cathedral

All mechanical and electrical engineering services for the new Cathedral High School were Group Eight's responsibility. The work included design, specifications, contract administration and general construction review.

The three storey, 190,000 ft² facility was constructed on a small urban site in downtown Hamilton. As well as classrooms and administration areas, this school has a central atrium, cafetorium, triple gymnasium and library resource centre.

For energy efficiency, two heat recovery units are located in the Mechanical Penthouse to recover waste heat from the building exhaust systems. The recovered heat is used to pre-heat outside ventilation air.

The project work also included an hydronic under-slab heating system to heat an access ramp preventing ice and snow build-up; water source heat pump system with hot water perimeter heating; independent HVAC systems to serve the gymnasia, cafetorium and atrium areas; combined telephone and PA system; T-8 lighting and electronic ballasts.