New heights: Latimer takes Caliber to the next level

Oftentimes a project is just a project.

But sometimes, it can elevate a company to the next level. 

It shows the rest of the industry what their team is capable of and becomes a stepping stone to bigger things. It plants their flag for all to see.

For Fraser Valley builder Caliber Projects, that project was Latimer Heights. Completed last summer after years of work, it represented the ultimate test of their team’s foundational approach to construction: Building People and Process.  

The stakes couldn’t have been higher. As Langley’s largest master-planned neighborhood, the plan spanned 74 acres and was to be built over 8 separate phases. Caliber would take on two of the largest phases which included 14 buildings comprising 847,063 square feet of residential (805 condo units) and 155,286 square feet of commercial.

Ian Baird led the charge with a unique background that has helped him thrive in the industry. After earning a PhD in chemistry and spending nearly a decade developing life-saving drugs for the pharmaceutical industry, Baird embarked on a new challenge helping deliver construction projects. 

While he had no prior industry experience, Baird was an expert at managing people, critical thinking and a multitude of other skills relevant to the building process. After proving himself by working on some major projects, most notably the Olympic Village, he joined Caliber. His first major task was overseeing Latimer as Caliber’s Director of Construction. 

Originally, Caliber was hired for one building at the site, but within a few months, they were signed for the next and the next as they kept showing value and competency. The team worked to coordinate all the Pre-Construction, hire all the consultants, manage all the design and execute all the General Contracting work.

“These are incredibly hard projects to execute,” said Baird. “Many fail or don’t do well at them. That is largely because many don’t spend a lot of time planning.” 

Before Caliber even got a building permit, they spent nearly eight months planning, thinking about the construction sequence and how resources would be allocated. The results were powerful. The team never missed a single schedule and often they were delivered ahead of schedule. At the same time budgets and quality targets were also hit. 

“By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail,” said Baird. “We really take that to heart here. And I think that if you spend a lot of time in planning, it’s actually easy.”

This was also performed during a global pandemic when uncertainty was sky-high, regulations were constantly shifting, costs were higher than ever before and global supply chains were being upended. Originally scheduled to last up to seven years, Caliber executed and delivered in less than five years. 

“It’s like being the conductor of an orchestra,” said Baird. “Caliber’s role was to get the consultants, developer, subtrades, suppliers, municipality and our team playing in perfect harmony.”  

During the project, the Caliber team was careful to always look for ways to improve and not get complacent. After every single phase, they had a post-mortem meeting to talk about how to be better on the next one. 

For Caliber, this performance has demonstrated the certainty their team brings to large, complex projects. You know that you are in good hands. 

“You get your third reading and then hire us, and we’ll make sure that you are successful,” said Baird. “Latimer gave us the opportunity to show the world that we were for real.”

It all comes back to Caliber’s mantra: Building People and Process. 

“We seek out ‘A’ players,” said Baird. “We then bring them in. We lift them up. We give them the tools that they need to operate. We mentor them. We train them. We have what we think is the best culture in the business. Those two things are the secret sauce for us. When we build People and Process, construction is easy. It just is.”