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EDMONTON — Concert-Bird Partners was recently selected by Alberta Infrastructure as the preferred proponent for a Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) contract for six Alberta elementary and junior high schools, with the project now reaching financial close.

According to a release, the consortium is comprised of Bird Capital Limited Partnership, Bird Design-Build ��������ion Inc., Wright ��������ion Western Inc., Concert Infrastructure Ltd., Ainsworth Inc. and BR2 Architecture Inc.

The schools have a combined contract value of approximately $323 million.

The project is being delivered through a public-private partnership model and specifically includes three new schools in Edmonton and one each in Calgary, Airdrie and Cochrane. Once complete, the schools will accommodate more than 5,300 students and will include approximately 490,000 square feet of permanent structure space, the release notes.

“Bird’s long-standing partnership with Concert Infrastructure reflects a shared track record of successfully delivering multi-school programs under P3 models in Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Teri McKibbon, president and CEO of Bird, in a statement. “While Bird is increasingly shifting our focus to collaborative contracting models, certain projects with characteristics like this one remain well suited to the P3 delivery model. These include greenfield developments, repeatable and standardized designs and clear scope definition. Supported by our experience delivering more than 50 schools under similar frameworks alongside partners such as Concert, the P3 model is consistent with our disciplined approach to risk. We are proud to apply this combined experience to a project that will deliver lasting benefits for students and communities across Alberta.”