BMR has been the structural consultant for over one hundred schools constructed within the Province of Nova Scotia.

When Scotia Learning Centres selected BMR to work on the designs of eleven schools to be built through the public private partnership program, they were faced with an unforgiving 10 month completion schedule for the first five schools. In addition, construction was scheduled to begin in November - not an ideal month to start construction projects in Nova Scotia.

For ten of these schools BMR chose a design employing tilt-up concrete construction - a technique where concrete panels are cast on the ground, then tilted up into place to form the load-bearing walls of the building. Pockets are cast in the panels to support beams and joists used in the framing of the roof and second floor.

The huge Fall River High School - a state-of-the-art 170,000 sq. ft. facility - was the eleventh school constructed under the public private partnership arrangement. For this project a combination of load-bearing concrete masonry walls and structural steel were the main load bearing elements. In spite of its size and complexity, the design and construction were both completed in just one year.

Public private partnering is just one of the ways BMR has worked with the Province of Nova Scotia’s Department of Education during 40 years of school construction. The firm has been awarded numerous contracts through traditional procurement methods and has been the consultant chosen by General Contractors in schools constructed using the design/build method of project delivery.

Argyle School in Yarmouth County is an example of the latter
- a modern 75,000 sq. ft. facility with a gymnasium, performance theatre, cafeteria, drama studio, music room, library and labs. As an added time-saving feature, BMR designed tilt-up concrete wall panels made out of two concrete slabs, with a layer of insulation sandwiched between them.