Employee Housing
Case Study
Lake Louise Ski Resort
Employee Housing
Case Study Lake Louise Ski Resort
How ACS Helps Lake Louise Ski Resort Provide Employees with Affordable, Modern Housing
Meeting a need for convenient, affordable housing
Housing is limited for employees working in the mountain hamlet of Lake Louise, so offering high-quality, affordable housing is essential. Building in Banff National Park is complex, however, and there’s not enough time in the day for in-house workers to navigate permits, project management, and builds.
A customized workforce
Lake Louise Ski Resort hired Ashton Construction Services (ACS) to obtain appropriate permits and manage the construction of a 9,970-square-foot multi-family residential building. ACS’s agile approach to project management allowed the resort to leverage its in-house workers while trusting ACS to handle day-to-day project management.
Modern living, timeless décor
ACS completed the build in a reasonable amount of time, despite an unavoidable supply chain issue—and employees are delighted with the modern, high-quality results. The new accommodations also prioritize functionality, with neutral paint colours and stain-resistant countertops.
- 9,970-square foot multi-family residential building
- 10 multi-story units ranging from 1-3 bedrooms
- 400 employees housed across the company
A world-renowned ski resort
Lake Louise Ski Resort is an internationally acclaimed ski area and a top tourism destination. While winter is the resort’s peak season, it’s a year-round operation offering great skiing and much more. With guided hikes, a sightseeing gondola, a wildlife interpretive centre, and white-water rafting, Lake Louise is a massive operation with many moving parts and plenty of staff.
“We house around 400 or more staff, so our housing operation is bigger than lots of hotels,” says Jim Walters, Housing Development Manager at Lake Louise Ski Resort. “At our peak, our team consists of about 725.”
A mountain of complexity
Lake Louise Ski Resort started its current employee housing project in 2018, after contracting an out-of-province firm to construct the first two buildings. The work was completed, but Walters had found it challenging to schedule regular site visits when the firm’s construction managers were in another province. Before starting the third building, Walters decided to find a local construction partner. Building housing in Lake Louise is complicated. In Banff National Park, all development is subject to extensive Parks Canada land use requirements and guidelines. Walters needed a construction partner with the expertise to navigate these processes, manage the new build—and meet his justifiably high expectations. “For many years, I was owner and president of a construction company,” says Walters. “But here, I’m focusing on developing the building we’re going to put up next year—so I need a competent firm to manage the construction of the building that’s going up now.”
Experience and agility required
A flexible, respectful partnership
Walters and ACS put together a statement of work that included teams from ACS and Lake Louise. “That integration needs to be there because after the build is complete, our people will take over,” says Walters. “So they need to be involved throughout the whole process.”
ACS was responsible for contracting and managing most of the tradespeople and generally managing the entire project—including navigating Parks Canada guidelines.
Before the build could begin, ACS needed to obtain occupancy permits. It also needed to undergo an intensive Parks Canada review process to ensure development plans adhered to the Lake Louise Community Plan guidelines, the Lake Louise Ski Area Site Guidelines, and the Banff Land Use Bylaw. This is an incredibly complex and labour-intensive process.
The build officially began in October 2022 with the goal of housing staff in time for the 2023-2024 ski season. Everything went off without a hitch—until a post-pandemic supply chain delay interfered with the electrical installation.
“We needed the main disconnect panel for the power system,” explains Walters. “We had guys installing cabinets with headlamps on because it was all temporary lighting and power. Ashton Construction Services did their best to deal with it—but nobody expected not to have the switchgear for the power, especially since we ordered it four or five months in advance.”
According to Walters, ACS was incredibly responsive whenever anything unexpected came up. “Steve just hopped in the truck and either came to the site to see me, or picked up the phone and called,” he says. “ACS’s reaction capability was excellent.”
High-quality results
By tapping into ACS’s expertise and experience, Lake Louise Ski Resort completed a significant multi-family residential build in an ecologically sensitive and remote area protected by complex guidelines and permits. Walters and Lake Louise Ski Resort is happy with the results—and so are the employees who live in the new building. “This is probably the best accommodation we have,” he says. “Our employees love it because it’s modern and functional. Providing affordable, high-quality, modern housing is a big part of keeping staff happy.” But it’s ACS’s construction expertise that really stands out. “For the most part, we know what we want to build,” says Walters. “The value is in knowing how to build it. When we put the footings in, for example, ACS came up with specific suggestions that accelerated the timeline—which was important because we’d had a delay and we were facing winter.” He also appreciated ACS’s flexibility. “Sometimes I’d ask for something, and ACS would say, “I know what you want, but code-wise, we have to do X, Y, and Z. So let’s figure out something that fulfils your desire, but also meets the code specs.”Exploring new horizons
Walters tends to work with several construction service providers because Lake Louise Ski Resort’s operations are so extensive—it’s important to keep enough companies in the mix to ensure that someone is always available for projects. But he’s already thinking about new possibilities for ACS.
“I really like that even though Steve is at a point where he’s trying to build his company, he’s trying to maintain what he has,” adds Walters. “It’s not a matter of, ‘I know this is who our customer used to be, but we’re only doing bigger projects now.’ He values all his customers, and I really like that concept.”
Meanwhile, Lake Louise Ski Resort is hard at work planning the next massive project—a new upper lodge. “Right now, visitors can go to the top of the ridge. And there’s a sightseeing lift. But realistically, visitors want to go to the top of the mountain. It’s going to change our market—people will start doing weddings and corporate events, all overlooking the Valley of the Ten Peaks.” Walters next major challenge is to lead the development of the remaining 350 beds that are planned in Lake Louise Village for LLSA.
Interviewee Bio – Jim Walters
Jim Walters provides development and construction expertise for housing projects for Lake Louise Ski Resort, from concept through to completion. He also provides advice on other projects as needed and requested. But it’s ACS’s construction expertise that really stands out. “For the most part, we know what we want to build,” says Walters. “The value is in knowing how to build it. When we put the footings in, for example, ACS came up with specific suggestions that accelerated the timeline—which was important because we’d had a delay and we were facing winter.” He also appreciated ACS’s flexibility. “Sometimes I’d ask for something, and ACS would say, “I know what you want, but code-wise, we have to do X, Y, and Z. So let’s figure out something that fulfils your desire, but also meets the code specs.”Photos: Eva Urbanska
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