Terrebonne, QC

Now, here’s a favourite. ADF fabricated the stainless steel superstructure and miscellaneous steel for my National Archives of Canada project.

This scale of work had never been done and many new and innovative techniques had to be developed.

Remember how John Dinkeloo told me he felt he was a tradesman, not a professional? Well, I tried my best to follow in his footsteps.

At ADF I met two young men, Pierre and Jean Paschini. They are the best tradesmen I’ve ever met and I’ve met a lot of excellent ones. They challenged and they offered; they always came through with innovative, cost-effective inputs that really made my work sing.

When the project was over, I missed working with them but I was very pleased to hear that their excellence was paying big dividends, here and in the USA.

One day, a few years later, they called and asked me to do a new million-square-foot “Ron’ plant for them.

This had never happened before; I’d never been asked to do something for a trade I’d worked with, let alone, respected so much.

I smiled. This was a happy project.