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How can we accurately describe what it is we offer? Perhaps the use of the word “Engineering” is not sufficiently descriptive, but let us remember that the essence of “to engineer” is to use existing knowledge for the betterment of us all. Livingston Engineering Associates LTD (LEA) provides a wide and growing variety of design, research, and engineering services to the North, as well as for southern Canada. Based in Yellowknife, NWT, with an office in Cape Breton, and with valued Associates literally coast-to-coast, we feel we understand the full Canadian spectrum. Our Northern roots run deep, however: in the late ’60s our Principal was Manager of geological exploration camps in both the interior of Labrador and later in the Ungava region of northern Quebec.
To us, ALL aspects of the built environment are connected. ALL are equally fascinating. And ALL can be designed better. From bowls out of which we eat to the furniture with which we surround ourselves to how we deal with our wastes – and to our very shelters – all should be designed to suit our evolving needs, with perhaps a bit of fun thrown in too………… and while we are at it, our existence here should not suck our planet dry. And yes….we have been designing solar buildings since the late 1970s. We do more than talk the talk. We hope you enjoy our ever-changing slide show. Please bear in mind that (except for a very few whimsical and extraneous slides) some of the pictures are of conditions we were asked to fix, and others are of works in progress. Taken together, they may provide you with an idea of the range of our capabilities.
Livingston Engineering Associates LTD consists of a growing core of specialists and generalists – each of whom can be available to contribute to a particular project when called upon. Our goal is to provide a range of engineers, scientists, researchers, artists, artisans, writers, building designers, other specialist consultants, and highly experienced and knowledgeable members of the trades: we believe that our Integrated Design Approach to our work is superior to other more military-style models, for Integrated Design allows functional innovation of design components and prevents incompatible elements of design which can result in cost over-runs. As well, we form the team to suit the scope – our Associates collaborating within the structure of Livingston Engineering Associates LTD for the duration of the project. This arrangement can benefit our clients in several ways:
- Knowledge and Experience: Many of our Associates are Senior Designers, having accumulated 30+ years in their particular disciplines. All of our Associates are chosen due to their commitment to excellence.
- Integration of Multi-disciplinary Members: We can all can collaborate when needed in an integrated way to produce superior designs and results
- Flexibility: We can put together a lean team quickly from known Associates as they are available
- Continuity: LEA seeks a commitment from each Associate to continue with a project to the conclusion of the scope of work
- Appropriate Design: Our design approach is to take the full spectrum of conditions into account: for example, designing a complex mechanical system may not be suitable in the Far North, where parts availability and labour are scarce and transportation is an issue.
In addition to our Associates, we have developed working relationships with other trusted specialist design firms with whom we collaborate when the project calls for them. Thus we can bring geotechnical engineers, researchers, mechanical engineers, topographic surveyors, hydrologists, quantity surveyors, for example, to the design table.
Our focus is on innovative, appropriate, and cost-effective solutions for our clients’ needs. LEA has long been a Green design firm: our philosophy is to work with natural processes and the environment to produce superior and cost-effective designs. We are aware of the pressures inherent in such modern phenomena as Climate Change, Peak Oil, Globalization, and Resource Scarcity, and try to consider them in our designs. Our building designs pay heed to durability and operation/maintenance costs as well as to initial capital cost.
As our Website takes shape, you will be able to browse our Projects section and view the Biographies of our Associates to gain an understanding of the type of company we are, and what we can do for you and your project.
All publications shown in the slideshow are either written entirely or contributed to by our various Associates. From serving on Canadian Standards Association committees, to writing manuals that continue to set the bar for design, to being an integral part of a successful television show on green architecture (long before such shows entered the main stream), we are highly-respected authorities in our many fields of knowledge. We wish to note that the furniture, interiors, and paintings pictured in the slideshow were designed and crafted by us. They are originals. We show these images to demonstrate that there is more to good engineering than just applied technology. We believe that art, too, can at times have an equal role in practical design. Although we no longer operate a fine furniture studio, we present these images to demonstrate our hands-on understanding of design and execution. Similarly, the completed houses depicted here were designed by us, and many were built by us as well. While we continue to design all manner of buildings, we no longer build them, as our Principal did hands-on for more than 25 years along-side his crew. This knowledge, however, remains with us.