Tsawwassen First Nation Sanitary Sewage Treatment Plant

Maple Reinders was engaged to design and build a new SSTP for the Tsawwassen First Nation on a greenfield site of formerly fertile farm lands built on thousands of years of silt and sand deposits from the Fraser River. Due to poor subsurface conditions, and the requirement for the facility to be designed as a Post Disaster facility, extensive ground improvement measures were required. The plant was designed for an average daily flow of 4500m³/day, maximum daily of 8100m³/day and peak flow of 17,000m³/day.

Architecturally, the design incorporated exterior building colours typically used in First Nations artwork on the Process Building, and cedar siding on the exterior of the Operations Building, designed with lines similar to that of a First Nation Longhouse.

Exposed wood walls were used throughout both buildings and both the Process Building and Operations Building utilized Cross-Laminated Timber panels for their superstructures to minimize the overall weight of the structures and incorporate a “natural” feel to the facility.