Alberta Inventors and Inventions - A Century of Patents

Inventor Profile:
ATCO structures

ATCO Modular Housing structures

The first generation of ATCO modular buildings were little more than a small travel trailer that could be hauled from one site to another as the need arose. As ATCO grew, the company pioneered the modular building industry and ATCO’s "relocatable towns" became the company’s hallmark. These trailers could be attached to each other to form a complex to accommodate workers complete with internal walkways and adapted for a range of uses, including full-scale industrial kitchens and temporary office space.

ATCO modular buildings were, and continue to be used for a variety of purposes including workforce accommodations, kitchens, offices, classrooms, and custom designed buildings. The units are pre-wired with electrical systems, plumbing for showers, sinks and toilets, as well as connections for waste disposal and hookups to existing water systems. ATCO can also supply complete infrastructure required for a project site.

ATCO Structures has supplied modular buildings for more than 50 years, in over 100 countries, and in the most remote and harsh environments. Therefore, modules are built so that they can be transported by rail, barge, ship, truck, air…by whatever means it takes to get them there.

An example of ATCO Structures’ custom work is the Falconbridge / Raglan 300 person multi-storey permanent mining camp that was built to endure permafrost conditions and extreme freezing temperatures (as cold as minus fifty Celsius) in northern Quebec. This 165,000 square foot award-winning building is complete with spacious bedrooms, a restaurant-style kitchen and dining area, library and lounge. The complex also includes a gymnasium complete with an upper running track, bowling alley, hot and cold pools and weight room. Once the project was designed, the 305 modular units and 12 knock-down units were manufactured in the Calgary, Alberta facility and transported to Port of Montreal by barge, then transported to the site and installed. This unique structure was built on twelve-foot steel pile foundations to protect from permafrost. It was manufactured to withstand extreme climate variances and keep the workers in a warm and comfortable complex.

Since its’ beginning with ATCO Structures Inc. (formerly known as Alberta Trailer Company), several more ATCO companies have been formed. These companies all fall under the ATCO Group umbrella, creating a worldwide organization of companies engaged in utilities, power, industrials, technologies and energy services.

ATCO’s role in the Muskeg River Project in Fort McMurray, Alberta in 2004 showcases the teamwork of ATCO’s utilities, power, industrials, technologies and energy services groups. Together, the ATCO Group of companies delivered a 3,000 person camp, constructed a 118 km natural gas pipeline, and built two cogeneration plants on site.

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