With a population of nearly a quarter million, the city of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan, is a hub of governmental and commercial activity in the Canadian province’s southern region. In the growing redevelopment area of Market Square, the city’s central business district, stands the modernist Victoria Tower, 14 stories and 144,165 square feet that are home to the Ministries of Government Relations and Highways and Infrastructure.

Reid McCauley

Victoria Tower was constructed in 1977 and, after 40-plus years of wear and tear, was in need of modernization. Safety and functionality required the addition of a sprinkler system, as well as upgraded electrical and mechanical systems. Along with those changes came design and pe

rformance upgrades that included new acoustical ceilings and suspension systems.

Wood Cogger, a Regina-based partitions and ceilings contractor since 1966, entered the project in the second of three construction phases to install the ceilings—which didn’t come without challenges.

A DESIGN FOR INSTALLERS BY INSTALLERS 

“On four of the five floors we did on phase two, we demolished everything and started from scratch,” explains Reid McCauley, general manager of Wood Cogger. “But on phase three, we had to install ceilings over existing partitions, which is a challenge.”

A successful installation would require ceiling products—especially a suspension system—that offered versatility as well as quality. Fortunately, in addition to CertainTeed Symphony® acoustical ceiling panels, specifications called for a suspension system that had been newly reengineered with a variety of features designed for installation speed and ease: the CertainTeed 15/16” EZ Stab Classic System.

Part of the redesigned EZ Stab line, the EZ Stab Classic System boasts a number of upgrades and added features. Chief among these for the greatest advantage in installation ease and time-saving: the new Latitude Holes™.  

These hanger-wire holes are positioned higher in the bulb of each tee and spaced more frequently—every 3 inches, as opposed to every 6 or even 12 inches—to provide significantly more versatility with hanger wire placement.

“It’s very beneficial when you have the option to go to a hole only 3 inches away with your hanger wire and get a good, strong hold in the suspension system, instead of going lower on the main tee and having to stretch farther or not far enough,” says McCauley. “The other real advantage to it is you don’t have the battle of the loop of the wire at the bottom ending up in the way of putting the ceiling tile in.”

This kind of CertainTeed innovation is driven by real-world input from contractors and installers in the field; the goal is to yield real-world advantages that save them effort and expense.