Alberta Infrastructure has selected Bird Construction consortium as the preferred proponent for the design, build, finance, and maintain (DBFM) contract for five Alberta high schools.

Concert-Bird Partners is comprised of Bird Capital Limited Partnership, Bird Design-Build Construction Inc., Concert Infrastructure Ltd., Ainsworth Inc., BR2 Architecture and Wright Construction Western Inc. Financial close is expected in the third quarter of 2021.

Under the public-private partnership (P3) model, the consortium will deliver five new Alberta high schools including two in Edmonton and one in each of Blackfalds, Leduc, and Langdon.

The five schools in the P3 bundle include a grades 10-12 Edmonton public high school in the southeast, a 10-12 Edmonton Catholic school in Heritage Valley, a 10-12 Black Gold School Division school in Leduc, a 9-12 school in Blackfalds and a 7-12 school in Langdon.

Once complete, the schools will accommodate nearly 7,000 students and will include approximately 650,000 square feet of permanent structure space. Designs for the schools will include considerations for optimized building performance, energy conservation and other sustainable building features.

“Bird and Concert Infrastructure have a strong partnership and a proven track record of success in this market, including the delivery of other multi-school contracts under a similar model in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We are pleased to be considered for the opportunity to deliver such an important project that will leave a lasting and positive impact in these communities well into the future,” said Teri McKibbon, president and CEO of Bird Construction.

“Our experienced Bird Capital team has a robust performance record in the P3 market, and this contract will further contribute to Bird’s portfolio of projects with an appropriately balanced risk-reward profile.”