Opercule Urban Fish Farm

The Opercule Fish Farm project is a pioneering initiative in the heart of Montreal, representing the first urban fish farm in Canada. This innovative project is based on a unique approach to fresh fish production, combining cutting-edge technology, respect for the environment and a local supply network.

Opercule annually raises 25 to 30 tonnes of Arctic Char, a fish species highly prized by Montreal restaurants and residents, and raised without the use of chemicals, hormones or antibiotics.

The primary goal for the Opercule Fish Farm was to create an eco-friendly, sustainable fish farm with a low impact on the environment and providing excellent living conditions for fish. HH Angus worked closely with the client to understand their unique and ground-breaking vision and was able to design innovative solutions tailored to this one-of-a-kind project. The project’s design also stands out for its ability to produce fresh fish locally in a non-coastal city.

This model of aquatic urbanism fits perfectly into a context where demand for local, sustainable products is growing. Working with the HH Angus design and engineering team, Opercule is meeting Montreal’s appetite for Arctic Char by supplying top-quality fish while reducing the usual carbon footprint associated with transporting seafood from coastal regions.

The project's innovative design and short-supply chain production model allow Opercule to raise high-quality fish in an urban environment in response to a growing local demand for sustainable food products. Fish swimming in the morning can be on diners’ plates the same evening, frequently delivered to restaurants by e-bikes to further reduce the product’s carbon footprint.

SERVICES
Prime Consultant | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering

PROJECT FEATURES
Canada’s first urban commercial fish farm | Sustainable production processes | Reduced carbon footprint compared to traditional fish farming methods | Closed circuit production loop

LOCATION
Montréal, Quebec

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Design and engineering to enable production of food fish in a dense urban environment, utilizing municipal services infrastructure| Production of technical reports for provincial Authorities Having Jurisdiction, due to uniqueness of the project | Custom design solutions to respond to changing operational conditions

Enabling production at scale

No design references or construction expertise existed for this pioneering enterprise, and the client placed their trust in HH Angus’ ingenuity and adaptability to deliver the vision.

The project’s key technical innovation was the development of the Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) system - the first of its kind in Quebec - which allows fish to be produced in a closed circuit, from egg to table.

From the outset, we worked very closely with Opercule to thoroughly understand the challenges and goals. The client had a strong vision for their new company, were deeply committed to its success, and actively involved in the project’s technical aspects. One of the owners brought a background in consulting engineering, and this made our collaboration highly productive.

Reducing environmental impact

The primary goal for Opercule was to create an eco-friendly, sustainable fish farm with a low impact on the environment and providing excellent living conditions for fish.

The RAS process is a sustainable model that significantly reduces the environmental footprint of the operation by reducing not only water but alsoenergy consumption compared to traditional aquaculture. The system minimizes the use of these precious resources, a crucial factor in an urban environment. By recovering, filtering and reusing water, the farm significantly reduces water consumption compared to traditional fish farming methods, which are often very water intensive. The system allows the company to reduce water consumption by 100 – 200 times compared to traditional systems.

In terms of waste management, Opercule uses environmentally friendly techniques to treat the organic and biological waste generated by production, helping to reduce overall environmental impact. The project also promotes use of sustainable materials for the construction and fitout of the facilities, reducing the carbon footprint of the entire system.

In addition, the absence of chemicals, hormones and antibiotics in fish production ensures no soil or water contamination. This approach helps preserve local ecosystems and eliminates the risk of pollution.

Engineering design challenges

The complexity of the Opercule project stems from a number of technical and logistical factors. The creation of an urban fish farm requires a completely unique design adapted to a dense urban environment. The design of a water recirculation system, intended to ensure the well-being of the product from the egg stage to the delivery of the fish, required the development and refinement of innovative technologies in filtration, nutrient management, and optimization of living conditions in confined environments.

Challenges included managing water quality, which is essential for fish health, as well as creating an optimal environment for rearing Arctic Char, known to be a delicate species. This challenge involved the creation of autonomous systems to maintain constant temperatures and pH levels, without the need for chemical treatments. In addition, bio-safety management was a priority to avoid contamination.

During the operational phase, it was discovered that the heat generated by the fish—even though they are cold-blooded—had been underestimated. This required adjustments to operational conditions to maintain stable water temperatures. Despite this challenge, our close collaboration with the client ensured these modifications were implemented effectively, showcasing the team’s problem-solving abilities.

Infrastructure Ontario

MECP-MLITSD Science Facility Complex

The new complex will bring together existing operations into a single, modern, science and laboratory facility that will strengthen capacity to deliver on critical mandates of protecting the environment, public health, and safety.

The new Science Facility Complex will permanently replace Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks’ (MECP) facility at 125 Resources Road and Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s (MLITSD) temporary facility at 6295 Northam Drive (formerly at 81A Resources Road).

HH Angus’ Science and Technology team is providing compliance (PDC) engineering services for this Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) infrastructure project that will protect public health and the environment through advanced monitoring of radiological materials, environmental contaminants, and live viruses. The new facility will have purpose-built, flexible design to allow for adaptable laboratories, science workshop spaces, and offices to support both current operations and future growth.

SERVICES
Mechanical Compliance Engineering | Electrical Compliance Engineering | ICAT Compliance Engineering

PROJECT FEATURES
P3-DBFM | Targeting LEED Silver certification | Flexible and adaptable laboratory and office spaces | Status: Ongoing

LOCATION
Oakville, Ontario

Confidential Client

Quebec Data Centre

HH Angus provided comprehensive engineering services for the design, development, and implementation of a state-of-the-art data centre.

HH Angus was responsible for the design of the facility’s mechanical, plumbing, lighting, fire protection and building environmental control systems. This facility is split into critical and non-critical areas. The critical areas included mechanical and electrical rooms housing equipment supporting the main server spaces. The non-critical areas included administrative spaces such as meeting rooms, open offices, telecommunication service entry rooms, technical spaces housing servers supporting site operations, and a loading dock. Beyond the footprint of this building, our scope of services also extended to ancillary site structures such as the main gate guardhouse, water treatment buildings, fire pump buildings, and the deployment of private weather stations.

HH Angus implemented an evaporative cooling system to support critical IT servers. Our team designed a water treatment facility and rainwater harvesting system with a detailed metering scheme, giving the Owner visibility into water use. This made the facility water-neutral and self-sufficient year-round, eliminating reliance on municipal water for cooling.

SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Lighting Design | Fire Protection | Building & Environmental Systems

PROJECT FEATURES
N+1 redundant mechanical systems
to ensure continuous uptime | Completed March 2026

LOCATION
Confidential, Quebec

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Feasibility study | Energy modeling | Facility design to eliminate reliance on municipal water for cooling

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Space Optimization Study Using AWS QuickSight

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a leading healthcare provider in Toronto, was seeking to address challenges in medical space utilization. With a diverse array of clinical services and bookable exam rooms, Sunnybrook faced challenges understanding a perceived shortage of space. Yet, intermittent observations suggested that many exam rooms were frequently empty.

M6 – Multipurpose Clinical Space | Yuval & Lori Barzakay Brain Health Clinic Study

To gain a clearer understanding of space utilization and identify potential inefficiencies, Sunnybrook partnered with HH Angus, leveraging our expertise in digital solutions and innovative engineering. The goal was to implement a robust monitoring system to capture accurate data on room usage, enabling informed decisions on resource allocation.

This project reflects Sunnybrook’s commitment to operational efficiency, ensuring that resources are optimally allocated to improve patient care and support staff needs.

SERVICES
Prime Consultant

PROJECT FEATURES
Digital monitoring system to inform clinical resource allocation | Enhanced operational efficiency | Patient privacy | Scalable design | Predictive analytics

LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Space utilization measurement and analysis | Data acquisition through sensor deployment | Security and connectivity | Data aggregation and storage | Visualization and insights

Solving Space Utilization Challenges

Sunnybrook’s medical staff expressed concerns about limited space availability, particularly for bookable exam rooms. However, casual observations indicated that some rooms appeared to remain empty. Sunnybrook needed a reliable solution to measure actual room usage accurately while addressing two significant concerns:

Privacy: Ensuring patient privacy was paramount, particularly in sensitive clinical settings.

Accurate Detection: Existing solutions struggled to detect minimal motion, such as during procedures like blood transfusions, where patients may remain largely still.

HH Angus was engaged to design and implement a solution capable of addressing these challenges while delivering actionable insights.

Solution | Smart Sensors and AWS Integration

Our Digital Services team developed an innovative solution leveraging cutting-edge sensors and AWS services:

Sensor Deployment:

- mmWave Sensors: Initial deployment involved mmWave sensors capable of detecting micro-motions, such as breathing, to confirm room occupancy. These sensors were equipped with cellular SIM cards to operate independently of Sunnybrook’s network.
- 3D Stereoptic Sensors: To further expand the data gathered from the various clinics, the move to 3D-stereoptic sensors was used to provide not just occupancy status of exam rooms, but also the near real-time occupancy count data. Enhancing scalability, these sensors could monitor multiple rooms simultaneously, offering greater hardware efficiency.

Security and Connectivity:

- mmWave sensors utilized mTLS (mutual Transport Layer Security) for secure data transmission.
- Custom authorization for 3D-stereoptic sensors was implemented using AWS Lambda.

Data Aggregation and Storage:

- Data was streamed via Amazon Data Firehose and AWS IoT Core, stored in AWS S3, and processed through AWS Lambda.
- A centralized S3 data lake provided a secure, scalable repository for all processed data.

Visualization and Insights:

- Data queries were conducted using AWS Athena, while AWS QuickSight offered intuitive 2D dashboards for near-real-time analysis with minimal latency.

This comprehensive approach ensured seamless integration, robust data security, and actionable insights for Sunnybrook.

Outcome | Actionable Insights and Future Expansion

The solution provided Sunnybrook with detailed, data-driven insights into space utilization:

Initial Findings: The installation was completed in December 2024, and data collection began in January 2025. Analysis of the 11 monitored exam rooms in Sunnybrook’s M-Wing, conducted from January to March 2025, revealed a surprising utilization rate of only 33%. This insight challenged initial staff assumptions and highlighted opportunities for more efficient space planning.

Future Outlook: New medical clinics, which opened in January 2025, will contribute additional data to further refine Sunnybrook’s understanding of space usage and inform future expansion strategies.

Through this project, Sunnybrook is well-positioned to optimize its clinical spaces, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to enhance both staff workflows and patient care delivery.

Key Outcomes Summary

Accurate Space Utilization Data: Revealed underutilization of monitored exam rooms, providing actionable insights.

Efficient Resource Allocation: Enabled informed decisions about space planning and allocation.

Scalability: Designed for expansion, with sensors deployed to additional clinics.

Improved Patient Care: Enhanced operational efficiency supports better patient care delivery.

Predictive Analytics: Tool for staff to forecast resourcing needs based on the day of the week using historical trends

Privacy Assurance: Leveraged secure sensor technologies to maintain patient confidentiality.

AWS Services Used

AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service): Acted as the central repository for storing and
retrieving large datasets, facilitating data analysis and accessibility.

AWS IoT Core: Enabled secure, scalable connectivity for IoT devices, allowing for efficient data collection and integration into the cloud.

AWS Athena: Offered an interactive query service to analyze data in Amazon S3 using SQL, simplifying the extraction of actionable insights from complex datasets.

AWS QuickSight: Provided visualization tools and dashboards for business intelligence, enabling Manulife to derive and act upon insights from their data effectively.AWS Lambda: Supported serverless computing, automating data processing and transformation tasks without the need for server management.

Amazon Data Firehose: Streamlined the capture, transformation, and loading of streaming data, ensuring efficient data flow from IoT devices to storage and analysis tools.

AWS IoT Events: Monitored sensor data for specific conditions, facilitating real-time alerting and response mechanisms to optimize building operations.

AWS Step Functions: Orchestrated complex data processing workflows, coordinating the various components of the ETL pipeline for streamlined operation and maintenance.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

755 Berri Street, Montreal

Novartis Canada needed to rethink their physical work
space to better support their focus on innovation. They
relocated their headquarters from Dorval to downtown
Montreal close to transit, amenities and, most importantly, many of their healthcare and technology partners.

The project involved the fit-up of a two-storey, 32,291 ft2 commercial office space. Our design services included on-site verification of existing mechanical, electrical and communications systems, as well as reviewing the integration of the lighting design. The new space has 100 unassigned workstations and 21 meeting rooms, which range in size to fit anywhere from four to 10 people, are equipped with digital touchscreen reservation system.

HH Angus assessed the mechanical and electrical base building systems and coordinated communication requirements with the client’s IT representative. Final deliverables comprised mechanical, electrical, and communications drawings and specifications. The deliverables were executed in English and French for permit, tender, and construction.

While doing the project, Gensler, the client, requested additional services to accommodate an expedited and compressed schedule. As a solution to this, HH Angus mobilized additional designers in the various disciplines and added assistance of internal project management staff. Moreover, more meetings were set to better coordinate the design. Overall, HH Angus, as part of their role of executing the Gensler’s goal, assimilated into the client’s mission in order to successfully execute the project.

SERVICES
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical and Communications Drawings and Specifications

PROJECT FEATURES
The project involved the fit-up of a two-storey, 32,291 ft2 commercial office space | Status: Completed 2023

LOCATION
Montreal, QC

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
The deliverables comprised mechanical, electrical, and communications drawings and specifications.