JUNIOR MINING SPECIAL — Weatherhaven chief combines business

When it comes to venturing into forbidding, faraway lands, James Allen has few equals.

For the past 14 years, the bluejean-clad president of Burnaby, B.C.-based Weatherhaven Resources has been churning out lightweight, highly portable, all-weather shelters for companies exploring for deposits throughout Canada’s vast, often inhospitable, terrain.

Indeed, dealing with swamps, oceans, ice fields and jungles, not to mention frigid temperatures and scorching heat, seems to come naturally to Allen. For the past two decades, he has been involved with Ecosummer Expeditions, an adventure holidays outfit which transports customers to places normally visited by only industry or scientific expeditions — places such as the Yukon, South America, the High Arctic and Africa. Allen’s wife, Jean Barbeau, presides over the company, with him serving as its director. In fact, it was the expeditions business that led to Allen’s all-seasons shelter company, which now generates sales of $12-$15 million annually. (About 30% of these sales come from mining companies.) Significantly, about 90% of Weatherhaven’s total earnings comes from outside Canada, a figure that won the exporter both provincial and federal accolades in 1992. When Allen started up Ecosummer Expeditions in 1976, upon graduating from Simon Fraser University’s biology program, such a venture was far from fashionable. By the early 1980s, the not-unrelated activity of hut-to-hut, cross-country skiing had caught the public’s fancy, but participants were often faced with the problem of being unable to find shelter facilities in parks or on Crown land. It was then that Allen and some associates set about finding some kind of durable, yet portable, structure to serve the needs of skiers. It was agreed that such a structure would have to be easily removable in summer.

Canvas tents were out of the question, as they are bulky, heavy when wet, and prone to rot. What evolved was the Weatherhaven hallmark design: a tent shaped like a half-drum, made of a vinyl material that is fireproof, rot-resistant, load-resistant and tear-proof. The half-circle shape prevents snow from building up while, at the same time, enabling the structure to withstand strong winds. Curved pole ribs support the vinyl skin. Allen, along with partner Brian Johnson (who used to build custom-designed, high-end homes in Vancouver and currently serves as Weatherhaven’s general manager), developed the first generation of structures. Johnson brought to Weatherhaven an ability to solve difficult problems in custom-design work. Together, they formed a team that has prided itself on being able to satisfy customers’ needs in any environment, no matter how harsh. (The team has since been supplemented by engineers and a staff of 70.)

While the first generation of tents was purchased mainly by skiers, mineral exploration companies did account for some early sales. But it was not until five years later that Weatherhaven generated its first big sale to the mining industry.

Allen and Johnson knew the structure had greater potential than the ability to house small groups, yet mining companies, especially in large-scale camps, were reluctant to trade in their modular trailer units for the tent-style structures. “We were competing with modular housing,” Allen explains, adding that “it was an uphill battle.”

But Weatherhaven won the battle soon enough. In 1987, the company was awarded the contract to build a 300-man camp at Cominco’s Red Dog zinc-lead project in Alaska. More precisely, Weatherhaven’s was a sub-contract to a general contractor — an arrangement that worked to Allen’s advantage in that his construction team was able to acquire greater expertise by holding discussions with the more experienced, general contractor.

Essentially, what Weatherhaven had done with “knock-down” metal poles and highly durable vinyl is similar to what the conventional building trade does with studs and sheathing — only Weatherhaven’s exterior consists of technologically sophisticated materials, and the sections are sufficiently light and compact to be transported on even a small aircraft. All facets of the interior design, from the wall sections through to plumbing, are knock-down and portable. The Red Dog installation proved conclusively that the Weatherhaven system is suitable for dorms, kitchens, recreational facilities and offices, as well as support services such as sewage treatment plants. “We are the only people who build a knock-down sewage plant,” Allen boasts.

He also believes his products are the most adaptable to the changing environmental conditions that must be endured when a structure has to remain in place over an extended period. In extreme cold, for example, an extra blanket of insulation can be added over the whole structure. “In a regular structure, you are only insulating between the studs,” he explains, adding that in extremely cold climates heat is lost through the wall studs. Since the mid-1980s, Weatherhaven’s client list has grown to include scientific research expeditions, forestry companies and mining outfits such as BHP Minerals, Noranda and Placer Dome.

A Weatherhaven brochure includes a testimonial from BHP Minerals, which has used the structures at its Koala camp in the Northwest Territories during periods when temperatures plummet to 50 below zero.

The largest project to date — a non-mining venture — has been the placement of two camps (one consisting of 500 men and the second, nearby, of 250) in Cambodia. “We can go up to a 1,000-man camp with no problem,” Allen says. And although sales have been fairly even over the past few years, he is hoping for considerable growth in the next few.

The boost to business is expected to result from the emergence of two new products from the company’s 40,000-sq.-ft. office and manufacturing plant. While most of the structures have been limited to spans of 30 ft., Weatherhaven’s engineering department has developed a method of spanning 90-ft., rib-like trusses of galvanized steel that are hinged and stressed with cables to support the vinyl cover. The new structure, intended for bulk or machine storage, is still highly portable since it breaks down into 12-ft. sections that can be shipped in containers by rail or plane. The main advantage of this new structure is that it can be erected without a crane. Men working at ground level can erect the storage sheds and use a pulley-winch system to place the ribs.

The second item is a mobile trailer unit with two knock-out tent wings that triple the structure’s size. Fixed items, such as electrical and plumbing facilities, are based in the trailer’s corridor, while movable items such as beds can be fitted into the wings. When a crew is ready to move to a new location, the trailer’s furnishings can be reshuffled to the centre and the wings folded.

Allen maintains the units are perfect for areas where security or theft is a problem, since they can be sealed tightly and easily transported by rail. — The author is a freelance writer based in Vancouver, B.C.