Lil'tem' Mountain Hotel

Additional Info

Award Winner : Metric Modular

Architectural Excellence : The 43-room Lil’tem’ Mountain Hotel was constructed from 50 modules for the Tsal’alh Development Corporation to accommodate BC Hydro employees working in the area. Rather than a workforce camp, it was decided that that a hotel would be built that will serve as an enduring part the economic development of the community for future generations to come.

Transporting the modules was particularly challenging because of location constraints and road restrictions. This impacted the overall lodge design, as the module length was limited by the accessibility of the mountain roads at the remote site. These roads consisted of a mix of tunnels, hairpin turns and, in some places, 11 percent grades. Britco worked with the transport regulators to set up a shipping schedule to accommodate load restrictions on the road.

The design of the building itself incorporated steep roof slopes and heavy timbers which mirrored the heavily treed area and high-mountain peaks surrounding the site.

Cost Energy Effectiveness : Due to the capacity issues within our modular construction facility at the time, Britco turned to Stratford Homes to build the modules on our behalf. At the time, the exchange rate was favorable enough to allow for project cost savings rather than going to a Canadian manufacturer. This cost savings offset the increased transport cost from a cross border locale.

Another key cost saving measure was to finish as much of the interior of the modules in our off-site facility rather than trying to complete this work on site due to the remote location, the cost of deploying trades and paying for living-out-allowance.

Occupied Date : 2/16/2016

Production Start Date : 10/3/2014

Project Location City : Seton Portage

Project Location State Name : British Columbia

Technical Innovation : The need for a lodge in this remote location was being driven by the requirement to house construction workers for the next ten years to work on hydro electricity utility upgrades. Rather than a stick-built building, an innovative off-site solution was developed to build a lodge in lieu of a workforce camp. This meant that the local Indigenous operator would have a long term facility in which to market their destination to tourists long after the utility upgrades are completed.

As a result of this dual purpose, durable interior and exterior finishes were important due to the remoteness of the site for ongoing upkeep. We installed Hardie siding and a standing seam metal roof on the exterior and ceramic tile and carpet tile for easy upkeep on the interior. This included simple mechanical and electrical design to enable the operators to easily maintain the facility.

Total Square Feet : 22560

Category : Permanent: Commercial Housing: any square footage