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7/40

CONTENTS

08/08CANADIAN ARCHITECT 7

STEVENE

VANS

STEVENE

VANS

11 NEWS

Raymond Moriyama appointed as a Com-panion of the Order of Canada; winners of

the Canada Council for the Arts architec-

ture awards announced.

14 REPORT

Alan Boniface provides details of the con-

tentious EcoDensity initiative in Vancou-

ver that seeks to address climate change

issues as they relate to city-building.

34 TECHNICAL

Douglas MacLeod asserts that Building

Information Modelling could be the most

important development in CAD, trans-

forming our approach to design and docu-

mentation.

37 CALENDAR

Shanghai Kaleidoscope exhibition at the

Royal Ontario Museum; 10th Docomomo

conference on the Heritage of the Modern

Movement.

38 BACKPAGE

Leslie Jen reviews theSacred Space exhibi-

tion at Torontos York Quay Centre.

18 THREE CAMPUS PROJECTSTHREE RECENT UNIVERSITY BUILDING PROJECTS LED BY MACKAY-LYONS SWEETAPPLEARCHITECTS ILLUSTRATE THE PARTICIPATORY DESIGN PROCESS ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES IN

CANADA. TEXT CHRISTINE MACY

28 YOU YOU DEVELOPMENTTHIS MASSIVE MIXED-USE PROJECT BY B+H EXEMPLIFIES THE TYPICAL PROCESS OF DESIGN ANDCONSTRUCTION TAKING PLACE IN SHANGHAIS CURRENT CLIMATE OF TERRIFYINGLY RAPID

DEVELOPMENT. TEXT DAVID STEINER

COVERUPEI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BY MACKAY-LYONS SWEETAPPLE ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIA-

TION WITH N46 ARCHITECTURE AND DAVIDPREMI ARCHITECT INC. PHOTOGRAPH BY

STEVEN EVANS.

STEVENE

VANS

KERUNI

P

THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF DESIGN AND PRACTICE/

THE JOURNAL OF RECORD OF THE RAIC

AUGUST 2008, V.53 N.08


8/40

EDITOR

IAN CHODIKOFF, OAA, MRAIC

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8 CANADIAN ARCHITECT 08/08

VIEWPOINT

COURTESYCITYOFVANCOUVER

that the City wants to encourage include, for

example, its ongoing policy for laneway housing,

as well as the removal of zoning and other barri-

ers preventing the existence of secondary suites

in single-family houses.

Beyond incentives associated with small-scale

urban infill projects, EcoDensity promotes othermore impactful initiatives that introduce a more

varied, sustainable and affordable range of hous-

ing in all areas of the city, such as the Housing

Demonstration Policy or the Neighbourhood

Centres Program, which is located in 18 city-

defined areas and which encourage higher-

density housing. Additionally, new large-scale

developments like Southeast False Creek and the

East Fraserlands are being touted as models for

EcoDensity development, which collectively fea-

ture sustainable architecture, renewable energy,

water management, fish and wildlife habitat

enhancement, and urban agriculture. Without the

help of the provincial or federal governments tosupport Vancouvers EcoDensity, there may not

be enough economic clout backing the political

will. As land and construction costs continue to

rise, somebody has to make up for the roughly

25% shortfall in financing typically required to

make a non-market housing initiative viable.

Without additional political support, the long-

term fate of the EcoDensity Charter may be in

jeopardy. EcoDensity was the 2006 initiative of

current Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, whose

political party, the Non-Partisan Association

(NPA), is headed for a municipal election this

fall, albeit without Sullivan as the mayoral candi-date. In early June, the NPA voted to change its

leadership. Thanks to the support of Vancouvers

downtown business establishment, NPA council-

lor Peter Ladner narrowly beat the incumbent

Sullivan by a margin of only 80 votes1,066

to 986.

What remains to be seen is how Vancouver, a

municipality granted limited revenue-earning

opportunities, can afford to leverage its Eco-

Density Charter to create a higher-density city

approaching carbon neutrality, and to decrease

its reliance on fossil fuels.

During a speech in 1967, Prime Minister Lester

B. Pearson said, Urbanization with all its prob-

lems has become the dominant social and eco-

nomic condition of Canadian life. Pearson knew

very well that a lack of adequate tax revenue and a

poorly defined accountability structure between

levels of government had exacerbated problemsin many Canadian citiesproblems such as hous-

ing, traffic, pollution, poverty and urban sprawl.

Over 40 years later, despite the rhetoric of sub-

sequent political figures who pretend to be con-

cerned about the fate of our cities, federal and

provincial politicians continue to hold our

municipalities hostage, stifling their abilities to

devise financially innovative ways to raise money

and fund a long list of projects, the result of

which ultimately affects the health of the archi-

tectural profession.

Many of the difficulties inherent in the ability

of our cities to raise sufficient revenue to finance

and support new initiatives are convincingly dis-cussed in Alan Broadbents recently published

book Urban Nation, which argues for a redefini-

tion of municipal powers given to Canadas

largest cities while noting that existing political

and legal systems (some dating back to the time

of Confederation) inhibit funding for new con-

struction in our urban centres. Despite these

obstacles, there continue to be initiatives such as

Vancouvers EcoDensity Charter that attempt to

circumvent the perennial challenges of limited

revenue-earning powers granted to municipali-

ties. Unanimously adopted by Vancouver City

Council on June 10th, the EcoDensity Charter is aprocedural tool designed to promote a variety of

sustainable issues ranging from public transit to

affordable housing (see page 14). Incentives such

as the Interim EcoDensity Rezoning Policy help

encourage urban-intensifying projects so long as

they achieve a minimum LEED Silver rating.

Vancouvers EcoDensity Charter is intended to

serve as a performance-basedrather than a

checklist-basedapproach to sustainable devel-

opment. Inherent in the EcoDensity plan is the

support of housing in Vancouver in a variety of

ways, such as the provision of affordable housing

and sufficient rental properties. Other initiatives

ABOVE ARBUTUS WALK IS AN EXAMPLE OF A HIGH-DENSITY MIXED-USE COMMUNITY THAT UPHOLDSTHE TENETS OF VANCOUVERS ECODENSITY CHARTER.

IAN CHODIKOFF [email protected]


9/40

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Winners of the Nova Scotia Association of

Architects Lieutenant Governors DesignAwards announced.

Two Lieutenant Governors Medals of Excellencewere given to WHW Architects Inc. for the Joggins

Fossil Centre, and to Susan Fitzgerald for theHome on Elm Street in Halifax. Two Awards of

Merit were given to WHW Architects Inc.(Architect of Record) and Maclennan Jaulkans

Miller Architects (Collaborating Architect) for theSummerside Wellness Centre in PEI, and to

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects for theBrock University Plaza Building. MacKay-Lyons

Sweetapple Architects were also given twoCitations for Regan House and for the Creighton

Street Townhouses. Two additional Citations weregiven to Kenneth J. Dacey & Associated Architects

for the Hollis Street Gate at Government House,and to William Nycum & Associates for the HFX

Airport Arrivals Escalator Replacement, Enfield.Lastly, an Honourable Mention was awarded to

Solterre Design Inc. for the Tack Shop.

Winners of the Canada Council for the Arts

architecture awards announced.

The Canada Council for the Arts announced that

Toronto landscape architect Pierre Blanger isthe winner of the Professional Prix de Rome in

Architecture for 2008, and that WILLIAMSON-WILLIAMSON of Toronto has won the Ronald J.

Thom Award for Early Design Achievement. TheProfessional Prix de Rome in Architecture, val-

ued at $50,000, is awarded to a young architect orpractitioner of architecture, an architecture firm

or an architectural design firm that has com-pleted its first buildings and demonstrated ex-

ceptional artistic potential. Blangers projectwill explore the reciprocity between water sys-

tems and mass urbanization around the world.He will travel to three critical regions in Asia,

Europe and the Middle East to investigate howthe field of landscape architecture can contribute

to watershed change. A landscape architect and

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture,Landscape and Design at the University of

Toronto, Blanger focuses on the convergingfields of landscape, infrastructure and urbanism.

The Ronald J. Thom Award for Early DesignAchievement was established in 1990. The

$10,000 prize is awarded every two years to acandidate in the early stages of his or her career

who demonstrates outstanding talent or potentialin architectural design and a sensitivity to archi-

tectures allied arts, crafts and professions, in-cluding landscape, interior and furniture design,

and decorative and graphic arts. The projects of

this years laureate, WILLIAMSONWILLIAMSON,range from furniture and installations to build-

ings and urban proposals. WILLIAMSON-WILLIAMSON INC. is a Toronto-based architec-

ture and design studio founded in 2002 by BetsyWilliamson and Shane Williamson, Associate

Professor at the University of Torontos Faculty ofArchitecture, Landscape and Design.

Design Exchange Awards Call for Entries.

The Design Exchange Awards, presented byCanadian Business, promotes Canadian design

excellence and recognizes the critical role ofdesign in all types of organizations including

commercial entities (large and small), not-for-profit organizations, and the public sector. The

Awards celebrate the success stories achievedthrough close partnerships between clients and

designers. A jury of leading business executives,designers and community leaders will select

Award of Excellence and Award of Merit winnersin each of the 12 categories, with one project

PROJECTS

Joggins Fossil Centre located on UNESCO

World Heritage Site.

The Joggins Fossil Centre by WHW ArchitectsInc. is sited on the recently designated UNESCO

World Heritage Site of Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a689-hectare palaeontological site along the

coast of Nova Scotia that boasts a wealth offossils from the Carboniferous period (354 to

290 million years ago). The site chosen forthe Centre was the location of a coal mine that

had existed from as early as 1650 until 1961.The mine had been the raison dtre for the

town of Joggins, and the cultural legacy the

mining history represents is entwined withthe geologic history. Both aspects are reflected

and interpreted in the Centre, as the plan, formand materials of the building derive expressly

from the cliffs and the mine. In addressingsustainability issues, the Fossil Centre utilizes

a number of strategies to reduce operatingcosts such as the employment of innovative

energy technologies and sources. The Centreuses 38% less energy than a comparable tradi-

tional building, as 20% of the constructionmaterial is from recycled sources, nearly

25% of which was harvested or manufacturedlocally. The rate and quantity of storm water

leaving the site have both been reducedcompared to the pre-development state, and

the quantities of suspended solids and phos-phorus in that water have been reduced by

80% and 50% respectively. The amount ofwater col lected from the roof for non-potable

use represents many times the Centres actualwater requirement. Measuring 13,250 square

feet in total, the Fossil Centre cost $5.2 millionto construct, and opened in May of 2008.

It was recently awarded a Nova Scotia Associa-

tion of Architects Lieutenant Governors Medalof Excellence.

AWARDS

Raymond Moriyama appointed as a

Companion of the Order of Canada.

On July 1, 2008, Her Excellency the Right

Honourable Michalle Jean, Governor Generalof Canada, announced 75 new appointments to

the Order of Canada. On the recommendationof the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada,

she announced that Raymond Moriyama ofToronto was appointed as a Companion of the

Order of Canada for his contributions to thefield of architecture, and for inspiring a new

generation of young architects through hisdesigns of some of Canadas most innovative

urban structures. The 75 new appointeesinclude five Companions (C.C.), 26 Officers

(O.C.), and 43 Members (C.M.), as well as oneHonorary Officer.

08/08 CANADIAN ARCHITECT 11

NEWS

ABOVE THE JOGGINS FOSSIL CENTRE OVER-

LOOKS THE FAMOUS SEASIDE CLIFFS LOCATEDON THE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED UNESCOWORLD HERITAGE SITE IN JOGGINS, NOVA

SCOTIA.


12/4012 CANADIAN ARCHITECT 08/08

winning Best of Category in each. DXA winnerswill be listed in Canadian Businesss best-selling

December issue (the annual Rich 100 edition),and featured in a major exhibition at the Design

Exchange. The submission deadline is September26, 2008.www.dx.org/dxa/index.html

WHATS NEW

Experience tomorrows architecture today

at IIDEX/Neocon Canada 2008.

IIDEX/NeoCon Canada 2008 will premiere aunique lineup of special exhibits on all aspects of

architecture including Canhome, a cut ting-edgetravelling exhibit on sustainable living; a sustain-

able health-care pavilion and symposium featur-ing a 400-square-foot Green Patient Room

designed by Anshen + Allen Architects; Material

World, a 1,000-square-foot hands-on materiallibrary curated by Material Connexion; and the

launch of Light Canada, Canadas largest lightingexpo and conference with over 100 exhibitors,

sponsored by the IES Toronto Section. On theeducation front, the 2008 show will be another

blockbuster year with more learning opportuni-ties for architects such as: Architecture Keynote

Kim Herforth Nielsen, international award-winning partner and principal architect of

Danish firm 3XN Architects; over 100 CEU-accredited seminars including Strategies for

Sustainable Facilities, Toronto Apartment Tower

Architecture in CanadaRegion, Culture, Tectonics,an exhibition co-curated by architectural profes-

sors John McMinn (University of Waterloo) andMarco Polo (Ryerson University) and organized

by Cambridge Galleries, presents a selection ofcontemporary buildings organized within six dis-

tinct cultural and geographic regions of Canada.A second contribution to the 2008 Biennale

involves An Te Liu, a member of the Faculty ofArchitecture, Landscape and Design at the

University of Toronto, who has been commis-sioned to create an installation for a group exhi-

bition at the Corderie of the Arsenale in Venice.The exhibition is comprised of the work of 18

international architects and designers including

Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, UN Studio, Droog, CoopHimmelb(l)au, Asymptote, and MVRDV. And the

third Canadian contribution to the 2008 Archi-tecture Biennale is also a commission to the

group exhibition at the Corderie dellArsenalean interactive multimedia environment involving

Montreal-based new media designer ChrisSalter, a member of the Faculty of Fine Arts at

Concordia University, in collaboration with SanFrancisco-based designer Erik Adigard of

M-A-D. Betsky selected the project due to Salterand Adigards collaborative work on the inter-

national scene in the areas of graphic design,new media and interactive environmentsa key

strategy in Betskys examining of the theme ofarchitecture beyond building.www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/

Renewal Projects, LEEDEB Case Study, DrivingDown Energy Costs, OBC Alternative Solutions,

BIM, Building Beyond LEED, International Re-tailA Global Perspective on Trends and Con-

cepts, The Lies LEDs Have Told Me, UniversalDesign, Driving Down Energy Costs, Greening

the Patient Experience, DBFM Case Study,Succession Planning, and a special workshop by

Innovation Keynote Jeremy Gutsche on How toReinvent your Architecture Firm. Toronto Society

of Architects (TSA)-sponsored exhibits andevents include the Unbuilt Toronto book launch,exhibit and seminar; TSA poster competition

winners; Ontario Association of Architects (OAA)and Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

(RAIC) Awards exhibit; a career exchange forarchitecture students; and new for 2008, an

architecture student charrette. Additionally,there will be hundreds of new products on dis-

play from around the world for interior, exterior,commercial and residential applications.www.iidexneocon.com/2008/

Canadian contributions to the 2008 VeniceBiennale 11th International Architecture

Exhibition.

Three significant contributions will represent

Canada at the 2008 Venice Biennale 11th Inter-national Architecture Exhibition. This years

Biennale, entitled Out There: Architecture Beyond

Building, takes place from September 14 to

November 23, 2008 in Venice, Italy.41 to 66:



13/40


08/08 CANADIAN ARCHITECT13



14/4014CANADIAN ARCHITECT 08/08

REPORT

as they relate to city-building and with a specific

focus on density as the vehicle to deliver com-

pact, walkable communities with smaller foot-

prints. It is premised on the fact that climate

change represents the most significant environ-

mental, economic, social, liveability and quality-

of-life threat to the citys future. It sets out ini-

tiatives to manage change, to choose and design

our future, in the face of these threats. It estab-

lishes sustainable strategies for transportation

and parking, green energy and waste systems,affordable housing, parks and the public realm,

food systems and urban agriculture, heritage

conservation and urban health.

The ultimate threshold is carbon neutrality in

all buildings by 2030, but carbon targets and

other numeric measures are not specified, repre-

senting a potential weakness of the document in

the minds of some.

Among these, it is the density component

that has spurred the most debate. Density has

triggered a plethora of fear-based responses. The

discussion, therefore, has strayed from purely

intellectual discourse to positions often centredupon ones opinion of the politics of the Mayors

office. With this as a contributing factor to the

Mayors demise, the adaptation of EcoDensity, in

policy terms, remains a very open question lead-

ing into Vancouvers fall municipal elections.

One cant help but be amazed at the prepon-

derance of NIMBYism and the seemingly endless

biological imperative of humans to protect the

here and now in the face of daunting, perhaps

catastrophic change. And similarly, how local

politicians have turned on the Mayor irrespective

of the merits of the initiative, in an aggressive

and at times disrespectful attempt to discredit

him. This acrimony has occurred, despite over-

whelming evidence about the benefitsboth

socially and ecologicallyof appropriately con-

sidered increased density and its profound real-

ization in Vancouver itself, where it has been

illustrated that density can be dramatically in-creased with a simultaneous reduction in car

traffic, commuters and crime rates. This is a

well-documented phenomenon of the downtown.

In specific terms, this can be seen in statistics

produced by Environment Canada, which has

noted that Vancouver is the only Canadian city

with declining commute times, due in part to

40% of downtown residents using public transit.

An additional 25 to 30% walk or bike to work.

Moreover, an important element is that design

regulations have required that fully 25% of new

units in the downtown are designed for families.

Contrast this with its sister city Seat tle, wheredowntown units for families make up only 6% of

new housing.

The result is that Vancouver residents seem

supportive of density on the downtown peninsula,

but not in the pristine grassy backyards of the

citys other neighbourhoods, where densities can

be as low as 2 units per acre. Which is not to sug-

gest that this is the ultimate destination of

EcoDensity as the rhetoric might suggest. Indeed,

recent revisions to the draft Charter are profound

in their attempts at integrating public input,

addressing misinformation and providing aggres-

sive methods for carbon reduction. The City is

poised, for example, to incorporate in its officiallanguage the statement that it will make environ-

mental sustainability a primary consideration in

decisions about density, design and land use.

Additionally, the revised draft includes specific

language about mandating greener performance,

not bonusing it, and a directive to require all

buildings to be LEED Gold-equivalent by 2010.

A lack of clear communication of the intent of

the initiative and the lack of an emergent cham-

pion beyond the Mayor has caused delay but also

pause for important public input. As the docu-

ment evolves as the result of public engagement

and dialogue, it has become clear that the current21 components of the plan will require both

strong direction and strong political leadership

to manifest its important goals.

Vancouveritesand indeed the nationappear

to be postponing and politicizing a decision that

requires quick and meaningful action. Despite

the obvious problems associated with urban

sprawl and the negative effects of inaction, the

City along with many Vancouverites seem unable

to set aside historic divisions or self-serving

views, blissfully ignoring the fact that Vancouver

is using 300 times its own footprint ecologically

and thus contributing heavily to the global prob-

Vancouver is often regarded as a city that made

the right decisions; dense urban living, no free-

ways, miles of public waterfront and a walkable

and liveable downtown. So when Mayor Sam

Sullivan set out to engage the citizenry in an

exercise that sought to add an ecological compo-

nent to the citys longstanding acceptance of

downtown density, one would have assumed that

the debate would have been fairly one-sided.

Observers would likely surmise that Vancouvers

laid-back sandal-clad beach crowd would be ripe

for action. Reality has embraced a different

stereotype; one of a city and province split along

political and philosophical lines. The endeavour

has exposed that many Vancouverites have proven

no less short-sighted or unwilling to tackle the

most significant issue of our time in a deter-mined and meaningful manner than most other

Canadians and much of the nations leadership.

However, recent moves by British Columbias,

Ontarios and Quebecs premiers are signs of an

important shift.

EcoDensity is a well-reasoned proposal. It is

an ambitious document which captures a series

of initiatives undertaken by the Vancouver Plan-

ning Department under the direction of the

Mayor and Council. The draft Charter lays out a

series of neighbourhood planning and building

regulations to be implemented over the next few

years that seek to address climate change issues

TOP BUSBY PERKINS+WILL CONSIDERS INCREASED DENSITY WITHIN THE CITY AS AN INTEGRAL STRAT-

EGY TO REDUCE OUR IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS SKETCH ILLUSTRATES HOW DEVELOPMENT

ALONG VANCOUVERS CANADA LINE CAN EVENTUALLY RESPOND TO THE ADJACENT URBAN CON-TEXT WHERE LEVELS OF DENSITY CORRESPOND TO EACH NODE/RAIL STATION. AT A LENGTH OF

NEARLY 19 KILOMETRES, THE CANADA LINE WILL BE AN AUTOMATED RAIL-BASED RAPID TRANSIT SERV-ICE CONNECTING VANCOUVER WITH CENTRAL RICHMOND AND THE VANCOUVER AIRPORT. IT IS

EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETE BY 2009.

VANCOUVERS QUEST FOR ECODENSITY

ECODENSITY, VANCOUVERS PLAN TO HELP

DENSIFY AND DECREASE ITS ENVIRONMENTAL

FOOTPRINT, IS NOT WITHOUT ITS CHALLENGES,DETRACTORS AND FAULTS.

TEXT ALAN BONIFACE

BUSBYPERKINS+WILL


15/40

Vancouver. Peter Busby has produced a well-con-

ceived commentary on EcoDensity, but overall

these initiatives remain the minority.

Whether one promotes consensus or a top-

down approach, the latter is likely to be the only

viable method for quick action in order to avert

significant climate-induced problems. In this era

of minority governments and carefully scripted

speeches, it is difficult to see how any leaderprofessional or politicalwould be able to take

the strong stance required (witness the politically

safe US election debates and the paralyzing plat-

form espoused by our federal government).

EcoDensity is a current example of this as it

shifts from strong idea to strong policy and per-

hapsdepending on the outcome of the upcom-

ing municipal electionto nothing more than a

lengthy debate. In the meantime, the city has

produced 6.8 million additional tons of carbon,

and the region 38.4 million tons.

The reality is that the current City administra-

tion has waded into politically fraught territory inpursuit of some fairly benign goals. As Trevor

Boddy has noted, There is little a guilty SUV-

driver or even a Northern Alberta oil sands oper-

ator could not sign on to.

The Mayor, Council and staff have initiated a

debate into which all Canadians must enter,

especially at the local level, and moreover have

done the heavy lifting for the outlying municipal-

ities most of whom have much less desire to walk

a green walk through their predominantly single-

family neighbourhoods.

Where does this leave the debate as the munic-

ipal election and the final draft of the EcoDensity

Charter near? Brent Toderian, the Citys recent

ascendant to the Director of Planning throne, has

been the one charged with shepherding

EcoDensity through two years of public and

internal debate. He has inherited not only a

loosely defined policy statement, but the very

large boots of the former Director, Larry Beasley.

It is an unenviable position. Given this, Toderian

and his team have done a remarkable job. TheCitys recent seven nights of public input illus-

trated nothing if not a growing knowledge base

attributable to the debate, a truly positive sign. It

also illustrated some of the likely implications;

for affordable housing, for pressures on local

amenities, and for a rethinking of the way the city

conceives of its neighbourhoods, its travel pat-

terns, its food distribution and its energy use.

EcoDensity is, at its core, a plan to direct a city

and its inhabitants through a domain of immi-

nent change with the goal of ensuring its ability

to thrive, if not actually survive. As long as citi-

zens remain preoccupied with a vision of theworld as beginning and ending with their own

life span rather than the shaping of its future,

they will not be able to truly debate an issue like

EcoDensity with the critical mindset necessary to

judge its applicability. The debate rages on,

which is a great start, but the community and the

nation need a stronger voice. Perhaps a voice

intent on defying an apathetic body politic will

rise up, as our most animated Prime Minister

once did, and say, Just watch me. CA

Alan Boniface is a partner in Hotson Bakker Boniface

Haden architects + urbanistes in Vancouver.

lem. The truth, seldom noted in the success story

that is Vancouver, is that suburban growth has far

outpaced the seemingly endless pace of rising

towers in the downtown core.

The rhetoric has at times been extreme, as

exemplified in this statement from one oppo-

nent: The development industry is salivating at

EcoDensity because it basically gives them

bonusing for putting in a green roof or putting ina flower garden. Many have accused the current

City administration of a hidden agenda. The

accusations range from the pursuit of a develop-

er-focused profit-oriented agenda on the one

hand, to an ideology focused on bulldozing sin-

gle-family homes and instituting a draconian

LEED reality on the other. Clearly, there is always

emotion and polarized positions in important

debates, but in a city where the Downtown

Eastside remains the most impoverished part of

the country, the degree to which energy and cre-

dence is spent on such views is disquieting.

To this point, with the initiative still awaitingCouncils approval, the design and development

community is testing the waters with very little

certainty as to what a projects green initiatives

might mean or cost. The current version of the

draft has sufficient teeth to make meaningful

change if applied, promoted and supported by

the community. The proof, however, will be in

the communitys willingness to see the big pic-

ture and create leadership with follow-through.

Upcoming projects which will put EcoDensity to

the test include a reworking of the Arbutus

Village commercial area on the west side, and the

large provincial renewal of the Little Mountain

housing development on the east side. Previousinitiatives which have collided with the begin-

nings of EcoDensity include a housing project in

the Dunbar neighbourhood which spawned the

insanely titled EcoPreservation organization,

and the Norquay project which called for slightly

increased housing densities along Vancouvers

Kingsway corridor, the most logical destination

for density in the city.

If architects are to participate significantly in

the realization of EcoDensity, there needs to be a

recognition of the role of bold, reasoned commu-

nication. Where is this larger role in the

EcoDensity debate? Why is it that the design com-munity and consumers can support outrageously

consumptive icons of design which evidence no

intention of a sustainable economy of means?

Where is the urgency from the profession and

equally, from the highest levels of government?

Certainly, there are some younger developers and

many designers pushing in the right direction in

Vancouver. Robert Brown, a local green propo-

nent, and Mark Sheih have initiated small proj-

ects, but no one has emerged from the more

established firms. Windmill Development has

produced Dockside in Victoria and is initiating

projects across the country, but not, notably in

08/08CANADIAN ARCHITECT 15

ABOVE THE ARBUTUS NEIGHBOURHOOD IN KITSILANO IS A PIVOTAL EXAMPLE OF RESIDENTIAL INTEN-SIFICATION. THE REDEVELOPMENT OF A FORMER BREWERY AND SEVERAL FACTORIES HAS CREATED A

MEDIUM-DENSITY, LOW- TO MID-RISE PRECINCT ADJACENT TO A WELL-ESTABLISHED NEIGHBOUR-HOOD CONSISTING OF PRIMARILY ONE- AND TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS.


16/40

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17/40



18/40

PARTICIPACTION


Architects like to talk about their designs in

terms of intentionswhat they hope to achieve in

a building, and how they make sense of it, partic-

ularly to other architects. But if we think about

architecture like some critics think about cinema

or other art forms, the notion of reception is an

interesting one. How does the general public see

and experience architecture? How do they make

sense of it?

One name for this is reception theory, and

generally it only appears in architectural discus-

sions as post-occupancy evaluations, when

inhabitants are interviewed once a building is

complete. But what if the public could contribute

their views to a work being designedwhen a

building is still just a program, full of expecta-

tions and hopes for a certain use and site?

In this article, Id like to explore the juncture

where architect and end user meet. One critical

area where this happens is in the very first

encounter between an architect and a user, an

encounter that in some offices is given a primary

PROJECTS NSCAD UNIVERSITY PORT CAMPUS,HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

PLAZA 2006 BUILDING, BROCK UNIVERSITY, SAINTCATHARINES, ONTARIO

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UPEI, CHARLOTTETOWN,PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

TEXT CHRISTINE MACYPHOTOS STEVEN EVANS, UNLESS OTHERWISENOTED

THREE RECENT UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS LED BY MACKAY-LYONSSWEETAPPLE ARCHITECTS ILLUSTRATE THE PARTICIPATORY DESIGNPROCESS ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES IN CANADA.


19/40

place in the design process. This is participatory

design.

Participatory design has a history that goes

back to the 1970s, when landscape architect

Lawrence Halprin developed a collective creative

workshop process he called Take Part planning.

Its innovation was in being participatory and

cyclical rather than hierarchical and linear.1

Charles Moore, an early collaborator of Halprins,

was influenced by Take Part planning, in devel-

oping his own approach to participatory design.2


Moores advocacy of user participation in the

design process influenced a whole generation of

designers. One of these, Brian MacKay-Lyons of

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects (MLSA),

brought these lessons to his own work and has

increasingly employed them over the past decade

in public commissions. Of his former teacher, he

writes: In the late 1980s, the American architect

Charles Moore said that the only architectural

truth that he had discovered was that participa-

tory design always works.3

UPEI School of Business, University of

Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown,

Prince Edward Island (2008)

The School of Business at the University of Prince

Edward Island involves a new building carefully

sited near a former university residence, Marian

Hall, also renovated as part of the project. The

new addition was placed to create two new court-

yards framed by existing buildings, effectively

extending the network of quadrangles on the

UPEI campus.The Centre for Enterprise & Entrepreneurship

is comprised of a pair of lecture theatres flanked

by double-height hallways filled with daylight. A

Market Street to the east serves as an informal

meeting place for students and faculty, while the

public atrium at the buildings southern en-

trance, Schurman Market Square, accommo-

dates ceremonies and larger events. The renovat-

ed Marian Hall contains offices and meeting

rooms for the school and other organizations.

At the outset of the project, the university had

completed its programming and even developed a

preliminary scheme, which they used to preparetheir Request for Proposals, expecting firms to

follow suit. Yet from the very beginning, MLSA

were critical of this scheme. They were con-

cerned that its block-like massing didnt take

into account the quadrangles, an important fea-

ture of the campus plan they felt should be

strengthened.

For this reason, MacKay-Lyons and Sweetapple

used the first site planning workshop to step

back and look at the larger campus. They showed

that the existing School of Business corridors

framed a quadrangle and that if the new building

was oriented a certain way, it would reinforce this

and strengthen the quadrangle idea over theentire campus. According to associated architect

David Lopes of North 46 Architecture, Thats

how they got away from the original design con-

cept that everyone had signed on for.

Subsequent participatory design sessions cov-

ered a wide range of issues with many different

constituents and user groups. The major build-

ing design session was directed towards School

of Business members. The goal was to have an

exchange about design ideas with School faculty,

but these sessions also had to work out classroom

numbers, sizes and seat count. Lopes reflected,

When someone is hired to do a job in PEI, peo-ple are ready to be asked for technical feedback,

but not qualitative issues.

Although the audio-visual and acoustic ses-

sions were strictly informational, the LEED ses-

sion conducted in collaboration with consultants

Enermodal enjoyed a vigourous back-and-forth

dialogue with knowledgeable facilities manage-

ment staff from the university. One result is a

well-developed mechanical design strategy for

the facility, utilizing geothermal heating and

cooling in radiant floors, abundant daylighting in

all spaces, and sensor-activated switches in hall-

ways and washrooms.

OPPOSITE WITH ITS GLAZED FAADES, SOUTH-FACING TERRACE AND A SIMPLE MATERIAL PALETTEACKNOWLEDGING THE EXISTING BRICK BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS, THE NEW SCHOOL OF BUSINESSAT THE UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND IS BOTH AN INVITING AND FRIENDLY EDUCATIONALFACILITY FOR STUDENTS. TOP FACILITATING SOCIAL INTERACTION AMONGST STUDENTS, THE INTERI-OR CORRIDORS OF THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS OFFER IMPROMPTU PLACES TO MEET WHILE MAXI-MIZING OPPORTUNITIES TO CAPTURE THE MARITIME LIGHT.



NSCAD University Port Campus, Halifax,

Nova Scotia (2006-07)

The new Port Campus for NSCAD University

(formerly the Nova Scotia College of Art and

Design) was carved out of a continuous industrial

shed that forms Pier 21 on the Halifax waterfront.

With the construction of modern terminals in the

1980s, this area was largely neglected until the

creation of the Pier 21 Immigration Museum in

1990 (designed by Lydon Lynch Architects).

Since then, much of this industrial district hasbeen renovatedfor cruise ships, artisan studios,

and retail spaces. In 2005, NSCAD University

arranged for a long-term lease of a section of the

pier building, ensuring space for expansion.

Before preparing their Request for Proposals,

NSCAD worked out the users of the new facility,

mostly departments displaced from their former

homes in historic buildings downtown. The

largest cohort included the equipment-intensive

crafts (such as ceramics, foundry, sculpture and

metal shop), that couldnt be moved into the col-

leges other facilities. This core group would be

augmented by the Colleges Foundation Programand Continuing Education, and possibly other

craft departments as well. NSCAD had also gone

through a year-long planning exercise with

Education Space Consultants from Toronto, to

identify their space requirements, and they

incorporated this document into their RFP.

After MLSA was hired in late 2005, one big

meeting in November got everything off to a start.

People were divided into groups of 10 persons at

each table, with a mix of disciplines represented,

along with one university administrator and one

architect. MLSA had prepared three boards with

footprints of the existing building and rough

floor plates for the upper floors. They hadcolour-coded the program functions (as lecture,

office/administration, studio, or support space)

and scaled them to the floor plates. At this point

in the process, says MacKay-Lyons, the program

is incomplete and atomistic. The aim of the

workshop, according to MLSA partner Talbot

Sweetapple, is to look for adjacencies, what goes

where, how it should be organized, and to figure

out what makes an art school, in terms of its

identity.

After two hours of work arranging the blocks in

various ways, the groups gathered together to

review the results. Certain commonly heldassumptions had emerged: 1) the heavy-duty

shops should be located on the main floor to

facilitate the movement of goods; 2) faculty

offices should be clustered near their teaching

areas (a decision that would distribute faculty

over all three levels); and 3) the vast unencum-

bered space of the warehouse shed was seen as a

positive aspect, not to be carved up to replicate

the small rooms of the schools historic down-

town campus. In Sweetapples words, the big

ideas for the building developed very quickly,

through widespread consensus on the basic

moves. After the workshop, MLSA took the

TOP MARKET STREET, AN ACTIVE STUDENT SPACE AT THE UPEI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, PROVIDESINFORMAL TABLES AT WHICH TO WORK OR MEET, AS WELL AS ACCESS TO THE REQUISITE BREAK-OUT MEETING ROOMS FOUND IN MANY BUSINESS SCHOOLS. ABOVE ENTITLED MARKET SQUARE,THIS NORMALLY ACTIVE STUDENT LOUNGE PROVIDES A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS TONETWORK BETWEEN CLASSES.


21/40

boards back to their office to draw up the

schematic design.

This design workshop was followed by many,

many others specific to certain programs,

departments, operational, and facilities issues,

held with the architects, engineers, project man-

agers and members of the college. Public meet-

ings had as many as 500 people, while smaller

working sessions ranged from several dozen par-

ticipants to one-on-one conversations in coffee

shops. Artists, says NSCADs Academic Vice-President Barbara Lounder, are not by inclina-

tion used to the participatory process, preferring

rather to forge ahead on their own. A big part of

why we liked MacKay-Lyons Sweetapples pro-

posal was their willingness to work with artists

and really learn about their needs and require-

mentsthat we really appreciated.

The renovated building provides a 6,503-

square-metre new Port Campus, serving as the

primary academic centre for first-year students

and housing the industrial crafts programs. It

maintains the spacious feeling of the original

sheds, with six-metre-high ceilings and abun-

dant daylighting. An uninterrupted view of theharbour from the seafront workshops and studios

along 53 metres of glass curtain wall is among the

best in Halifax. The street side of the building is

clad in inconspicuous metal siding, in keeping

with the industrial aesthetic of the district and to

shield artists from the curious gaze of cruise-ship

passengers heading toward the citys waterfront

boardwalk.

Plaza 2006 Building, Brock University,

Saint Catharines, Ontario (2001-05)

This project, for Brock University in the Niagara

region of Ontario, had its start in 2004 under thechancellorship of the architect Raymond

Moriyama. The initial brief called for two build-

ings to be located directly south of Moriyama &

Teshima Architects Mackenzie Chown Complex

and Taro Hall, adjacent to his Alumni Student

Centre. One was to be a 4,100-square-metre

Campus Store Building that would serve as a

gateway to the campus, linking to the Student

Centre on multiple levels. A second 2,800-

square-metre Lifespan Development Research

Centre was planned for an adjacent site connect-

ed to the Mackenzie Chown Complex. The build-

ings were to be let out as a single design contract,


UPEI LONGITUDINAL SECTION AA

UPEI PLAN LEVEL 2

UPEI PLAN LEVEL 1

UPEI SITE PLAN

A A

A A

0 350

0 50

1 MARKET SQUARE2 SOUTH TERRACE3 MARIAN HALL BOARDROOMS4 OFFICES5 MARKET STREET6 BREAKOUT ROOMS7 BREAKOUT STUDY BENCH

1

2

3

3

4

44

5

66

7 8

9

10 10

4

11

12 13 13 14

SOUTH-WEST QUAD

NORTH-EAST QUAD

8 LECTURE THEATRE9 WEST HALL

10 TIERED CLASSROOMS11 MEZZANINE12 LECTURE THEATRE13 CLASSROOMS14 STUDY

PROJECT UPEI NEW SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCEEDWARD ISLANDARCHITECTS MACKAY-LYONS SWEETAPPLE ARCHITECTS LTD. (DESIGNARCHITECTS AND PRIME CONSULTANTS) IN ASSOCIATION WITH N46ARCHITECTURE AND DAVID PREMI ARCHITECT INC.CLIENT UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDARCHITECT TEAM BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS, TALBOT SWEETAPPLE, KEVINREID, CHAD JAMIESON, DAVID LOPES, EDITH GRANDBOIS, ERIC STOTTS,

JASON WARD, MATT SEEGMILLER, RAOUL KLUGE, GREG RICHARDSON,DIANA CARL, SAWA ROSTKOWSKA, MARCIN SZTABA, JEFF ATCHISONSTRUCTURAL HARLAND & ASSOCIATESMECHANICAL MCA CONSULTANTSELECTRICAL RICHARDSON CONSULTANTSLANDSCAPE EKISTICS PLANNING & DESIGNINTERIORS MACKAY-LYONS SWEETAPPLE ARCHITECTSCONTRACTORMARCO MARITIMES LTD.ACOUSTICS ACOUSTICS CONSULTANTSENVELOPE BALANCED SOLUTIONS INC.AREA 22,500 FT2 (NEW), 26,000 FT2 (RENOVATION)

BUDGET $9.6 MCOMPLETIONJANUARY 2008


22/40

CLIENT NSCAD UNIVERSITYARCHITECT TEAM BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS, TALBOTSWEETAPPLE, ERIC STOTTS, KEVIN REID, SAWA ROSTKOWSKA,MELANIE HAYNE, EDITH GRANDBOIS, MARC MACCAULL, JEFFATCHISON, JASON WARD, PETER BLACKIE, MORGAN CARTER,ALEX BOLEN, GREG RICHARDSONSTRUCTURAL CAMPBELL COMEAU ENGINEERINGMECHANICAL/ELECTRICALFC ONEILL SCRIVEN ANDASSOCIATESCIVIL OHALLORAN CAMPBELL CONSULTANTS LIMITEDCOSTING HANSCOMB LIMITED


NSCAD SITE PLAN 0 350

LEED CONSULTANT ENERMODAL ENGINEERINGENVIRONMENTAL JACQUES WHITFORDCODE DOUGLAS WHITEENVELOPE HALSALL ASSOCIATES LIMITEDFIRE RJ BARTLETT ASSOCIATES LIMITEDGENERAL CONTRACTORPCL CONSTRUCTORSCANADAAREA 2,000 FT2

BUDGET $10 MCOMPLETION SEPTEMBER 2007

PROJECT NSCAD UNIVERSITY PORT CAMPUS, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIAARCHITECT MACKAY-LYONS SWEETAPPLE ARCHITECTS

TOP LOCATED IN THE UPPER LEFT OF THE PHOTOGRAPH, PARTNERTALBOT SWEETAPPLE OVERSEES A PARTICIPATORY DESIGN SESSIONWITH NSCAD STUDENTS AND FACULTY TO DETERMINE THE FINALSHAPE OF THE NEW DESIGN SCHOOL. MIDDLE A NIGHT VIEW OF THENEW NSCAD UNIVERSITY PORT CAMPUS CAPTURES THE REAR OF THEBUILDING. ABOVE LOOKING OUT AT HALIFAX HARBOUR, THE NSCADUNIVERSITY PORT CAMPUS MAINTAINS A WAREHOUSE/PIER ARCHITEC-TURAL AESTHETIC.

PROGRAMMATIC DIAGRAM

MLSARCHITECTS

ALVIN

COMITER


23/4008/08 CANADIAN ARCHITECT 23

NSCAD PLAN LEVEL 3

NSCAD PLAN LEVEL 2

NSCAD PLAN LEVEL 1

NSCAD SECTION A

1 ENTRY2 GALLERY3 LOBBY4 OFFICE5 WOOD SHOP6 SCULPTURE7 METAL SHOP8 WOOD FINISH

9 SLURRY ROOM10 FOUNDRY11 PATINA12 PLASTIC13 PRODUCT DESIGN14 MULTIPURPOSE15 PHOTO16 COMPUTER CLUSTER17 STUDIO18 EXHIBITION19 STUDENT LOUNGE20 SUPPORT/SERVICES21 CERAMICS22 KILN ROOM23 GLAZING24 MOLD MAKING25 CLAY MIXING

44

4

20 20

20

20 20

2122

2323

24

25

4 4 4 4 4 4444

1212 13

1415

16 16

17

17

1819 19

20

20

20

20

1 1

2

3

4

4

4

4

4

4 4 4 4 4444

5

5 6 7

8

9

1011

A

A

A

A

A

A

0 30

and were envisioned as key elements in campus

expansion southwards. The raised pedestrian

circulation system continues a network that is

well-established at Brock.

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple was selected as the

design architect, in association with Rounthwaite

Dick and Hadley Architects (RDH). At the outset

of the project in the summer of 2004, they held

two design workshops at Brock: one for site plan-

ning, followed by a building workshop the day

after. In the first of these, a few dozen peopleworked with dry-erase markers and cut out

building footprints on maps of the campus, to

locate the new buildings in relation to the cam-

puss major features and its pedestrian and

vehicular circulation systems. The second work-

shop was much larger, involving over 80 people

divided into three teams, facilitated by architects

Talbot Sweetapple and Melanie Hayne from

MLSA, and Dave Premi from RDH. Brian

MacKay-Lyons and Bob Goyeche served as roving

critics, as did the engineering and landscape

consultants. Premi reflects on his experience in

the process: This was really the Integrated TeamApproach people talk about. You have to be open

to what comes out of the workshop, and not have

a pre-determined design. What I find remark-

able about this process is how Brian MacKay-

Lyons remains open to the look of the project

until very late into the process, even into

schematic design. By really listening to workshop

participants, you tend to get a much higher

degree of buy-in to the project.

In their workshops, MLSA want to understand

the users views on the spatial relationships

between different program elements and the

hierarchies of space (public, semi-public, pri-

vate) that are implicit in them.Well into the design phase, project cost esti-

mates were showing a significant escalation in

materials and labour costs, threatening the via-

bility of the project. The team went through a

complete redesign, maintaining the internal

hierarchies and spatial adjacencies within each

building by stacking the Lifespan Development

Building on top of the Campus Store. In this way,

the architects replaced two three-storey build-

ings, with all their associated foundation and

envelope costs, with one five-storey building.

One consequent challenge was bringing light into

the central area of the block. While on mostfloors, this zone could be programmed with labs

or transient functions, on a few floors, offices

had to be located in these areas. The solution was

to provide translucent panels next to the doors to

peripheral offices, so that light would pass into

the inner offices. Another economy was achieved

by switching to the Thermodeck system, which

supplies warm air through plenums built into the

structural decking. In Sweetapples words, This

allowed us to get rid of the ceilings and ductwork,

and delete three feet from each floor.

We see then, through these three university

buildings designed by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple



BROCK UNIVERSITYTYPICAL FLOOR PLAN

BROCK UNIVERSITYGROUND-FLOOR PLAN

1 ENTRY2 ATRIUM3 COURTYARD4 STREET5 DISPLAY

1

2

3

4

5

6

7 8

8

9

10 10 1111

12

13

14

0 10M

8

BROCK SITE PLAN 0 30M

ARTHURSCHMONTOWER

TARO HALL

JUBILEECOURT

MACKENZIECHOWNCOMPLEX

PLAZA 2006ALUMNISTUDENTCENTRE

IsaacBrock

Blvd.

East

IsaacBrock

Blvd.

East

University Road WestMeterRoad

University Road

6 CHECK-OUT7 CAMPUS STORE8 BENCH9 SHIPPING/RECEIVING

10 CLASSROOM

TOP INSIDE BROCKS NEWEST CAMPUS BUILDING, THE STEEL STRUCTURE IS

CLEARLY EXPRESSED WHILE THE SPATIAL QUALITIES OF THE ATRIUM DEFINETHE LIMESTONE-CLAD SERVICE CORRIDORS AT EACH END OF THE FACILITY,

SERVING AS ARCHITECTURAL BOOKENDS. ABOVE THE CAREFULLY DETAILEDSTONE AND COPPER ELEMENTS CREATE A SOBER YET ELEGANT STUDENT

FACILITY AMIDST A CAMPUS LARGELY DOMINATED BY PARKING LOTS.

11 COMPUTER ROOM12 STUDY LOUNGE13 SEMINAR ROOM14 OFFICES



FACULTY OFFICES(COPPER)

CAMPUS STORE/ATRIUM(GLASS)

CAMPUSSTORE/ATRIUM(GLASS)

FACULTY OFFICES(CHERRY WOOD)

SERVICE CORES(ESCARPMENTLIMESTONE)

SERVICE CORES(ESCARPMENTLIMESTONE)

PROGRAMMATIC DIAGRAM

Architects, that participatory design is a highly creative and evolving

process. Dave Premi reflects on this, looking back on his experience of the

collaboration: I have been involved with MacKay-Lyons SweetappleArchitects participatory design process on a number of buildings. Each

time we created a new process, since every client has its own requirements.

You have to mold the process each time to suit the requirements. Its not a

one-size-fits-all method.

The resulting buildings reflect each unique condition. While the projects

share a simplicity and clarity of form that mark them as distinctively

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple works, they appear to have left behind a large

body of satisfied users, people who will inhabit these dwellings and appre-

ciate them, having had a part in their conception and making. CA

1 Lawrence Halprin and Jim Burns, Taking Part: A Workshop approach to Collective Creativity

(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1 974) 27-29.2 The idea of participatory design has been developed further by Randy Hester, Henry

Sanoff, and architects such as Lucien Kroll and Giancarlo di Carlo. See Randolph T. Hester,Community Design Primer(Caspar, CA: Ridge Times Press, 1990); E. Henry Sanoff, Designing

With Community Participation (Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, 1978); Nan

Ellin, Participatory Architecture on the Parisian Periphery: Lucien Krolls VignesBlanches in theJournal of Architectural Education 53, no. 3 (February 2000): 178-183.3 Malcolm Quantrill, Kenneth Frampton, Glen Murcutt,Plain Modern: the Architecture of

Brian MacKay-Lyons (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005) 176.

Christine Macy is the incoming Dean at the Faculty of Architecture and Planning

at Dalhousie University, where she has taught since 1993. Her books include

Architecture and Nature (2003), Festival Architecture (2007) and the forth-

coming Dams (2008).

CLIENT BROCK UNIVERSITYARCHITECT TEAM BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS, TALBOTSWEETAPPLE, BOB GOYECHE, DAVID PREMI, MELANIEHAYNE, SANJOY PAL, JUSTIN BENNETT, SHELLEY VANDERWAL,CHAD JAMIESON, SAWA ROSTKOWSKA, KEVIN REIDCONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DAVID PREMI ARCHITECTINC.STRUCTURAL HALSALL ENGINEERS AND CONSULTANTSMECHANICAL/ELECTRICALJAIN AND ASSOCIATES

LANDSCAPE NAK DESIGN GROUPINTERIORS GHA DESIGN STUDIOS (CAMPUS STORE)CONTRACTORMERIT CONTRACTORS NIAGARAOTHER SPECIALIST CONSULTANTS TERMODECKCANADA, ENERMODAL ENGINEERING, CFMS-WESTCONSULTING INC.AREA 86,000 FT2

BUDGET $22 MCOMPLETION SEPTEMBER 2007

PROJECT PLAZA 2006, BROCK UNIVERSITY, ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIOARCHITECT MACKAY-LYONS SWEETAPPLE ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH ROUNTHWAITE, DICK & HADLEYARCHITECTS

TOP AND MIDDLE DERIVED FROM A SERIES OF CLEARLY STATED ORGANIZA-TIONAL PRINCIPLES (AND SEEN IN THE PROGRAMMATIC DIAGRAMSLOCATED ABOVE LEFT), THE NEW PLAZA 2006 AT BROCK UNIVERSITY DIS-PLAYS ITS STOIC COMPOSITION OF LIMESTONE, GLASS AND COPPER.ABOVE BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS LEADS A PARTICIPATORY DESIGN SESSIONWITH UNIVERSITY STAFF AND FACULTY.


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TM

A sound investment fora sound environment

Sound-control and

crack-isolation membrane

Mapesonic SM

Mapesonic

SMMapesonic

SM



28/40

The Huang River flows north through Shanghai

toward the East China Sea. On its eastern bank is

the economic region of Pudong, a free-market

trade zone set up by the Chinese government in

the early 1990s. Technically part of the larger city,

Pudong functions semi-autonomously; it has

become cosmopolitan and wealthy. In little more

than 15 years, farm fields have morphed into a

city: teeming streets, high-rise apartments, con-

gestion, a giant airport, and a skyline thick with

construction cranes.

In 1989, Toronto-based B+H, formerly known

as Bregman + Hamann Architects, set up an officein Shanghai. With great foresight, they entered

the Chinese market at an auspicious time. One of

the legacies of the Cultural Revolution was the

eradication of technical knowledge related to

building science and construction. As certain

aspects of the Communist grip on the economy

relaxed, the country began looking to foreign

firms whose expertise and knowledge could bring

an international quality to the infrastructure they

were rebuilding. And in the beginning, B+H

worked on large government-sponsored civic

projects like hospitals, universities and airports.

Chinas economic boom allowed already large

Shanghai to grow rapidly. In an effort to modern-ize, the government began expropriating farm-

land around the city, where housing and industry

could be built without constraint. At the same

time, ginseng, an herbal plant which was once

little known outside Asia, became popular in the

West for its reputed healing powers. Demand for

it caused prices to spike. A wealthy ginseng

farmer known as Mr. San (or Mr. Big to his staff

and clients), convinced the government to spare

his land from development. His farm was used as

a showcase to mitigate the media outcry over land

seizures. As development increased in the sur-

rounding area, so did the value of his land.San began to develop his property in 2004. His

parcel of land was now in the middle of a growing

urban area, and was located above a future subway

station. The project undertaken by San is named

the You You International Plaza, and called for

2.1 million square feet comprising a hotel, resi-

dences, office and retail space. An international

ONLY YOU YOUPROJECT YOU YOU INTERNATIONAL PLAZA,PUDONG DISTRICT, SHANGHAI, CHINAARCHITE CTS B+H ARCHITECTS AND ECADITEXT DAVID STEINERPHOTOS KERUN IP

RIGHT A WOMAN WALKS BENEATH THE SER-RATED BUILDING ENVELOPE OF THE NEWRENTAL TOWER. OPPOSITE THE ATRIUM OF THEBUSTLING SHOPPING CENTRE LOCATED IN THEYOU YOU INTERNATIONAL PLAZA.



HAVING OPERATED A SIZEABLE SHANGHAI OFFICE FOR MANY YEARS, TORONTOFIRM B+H HAS DESIGNED AND BUILT SEVERAL PROJECTS IN CHINA, ONE OF WHICHIS THIS $250-MILLION COMPLEX ON THE SITE OF A FORMER GINSENG FARM.



GROUND FLOOR 0 10M

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1 SUBWAY ENTRANCE2 MAIN ENTRY3 ACCESS TO BELOW-GRADE PARKING4 HOTEL LOBBY5 FRONT DESK6 80-SEAT RESTAURANT7 CAF8 LOADING AREA9 COURTYARD

10 PUBLIC PROMENADE11 300-SEAT RESTAURANT12 APARTMENT DROP-OFF13 ENTRY TO APARTMENTS14 APARTMENT LOBBY15 ENTRY TO CONFERENCE CENTRE ABOVE16 ENTRY TO SPA17 PIANO BAR18 GIFT SHOP


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competition was held, as mandated by the govern-ment, and B+H won. They partnered with a local

institutea quasi-private company comprised of

architects, engineers and draftspeopleto handle

the production drawings and site supervision. The

entry proposal consisted of two podium pieces

divided by a small road, and a series of four point

towers set on top. Three towers, oblong in shape,

were originally lined up on one podium, and

angled on the site to maximize views and sunlight.

The fourth tower was set on another podium and

would be twice the height and girth of the others.

The shorter three would be for housing, while the

fourth was to be allocated for a hotel and officecomplex. Retail space would be accommodated

beneath the towers.

Building codes are strict in Shanghai: all

rooms, including kitchens and bathrooms, must

have access to light and natural ventilation re-

gardless of their height from the ground. Primary

rooms, such as the master bedroom and living

area, are required to face south. Long, double-

loaded corridors are not valued by Chinese con-

sumers, and this results in compact, elegant

building forms. This is what B+H eventually

delivered for the You You project.

Ultimately, the design shifted from four towers

to three: one is currently a Sheraton Hotel, anoth-er is filled with rental apartments, and the third is

devoted to office space. The client is changing

the entire project all the time, said Toronto-

based Douglas Birkenshaw, the lead design part-

ner for You You. Nothing in the program was defi-

nite as the project pieces developed through an

iterative process. Construction financing is dif-

ferent in China: a solid business plan isnt needed

nor is a definitive timeline. It is far easier to

acquire financing, assuming you have the right

connections. San even began construction without

a hotel partnerthe prime tenant.

They are unusually cavalier about it all, saidKevin Stelzer, a senior associate in the Toronto

office, referring to the clients appetite for risk.

Meetings with San and his staff were filled with

brief presentations by B+H, social protocol, and

heavy smoking. San would speak the least and

always last. Wendy Qiu, a Chinese architect, led the

work in B+Hs China office. The studio is bilingual

and staffed mostly by local architects, though

translators were part of the project team. Despite

cultural differences, the client and the city are

serious about quality, both in urban design and

architecture. Many of the citys planners are young,

fluent in numerous languages, and educated in


RIGHT DESIGNERS AND LANDSCAPE ARCHI-TECTS HAD TO WORK HARD IN CONCEALINGTHE NUMEROUS MECHANICAL VENTS LOCAT-ED AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE COMPLEX.MULTIPLE ENTRANCES SIGNALLED A NEED FORA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE SENSITIVE TOPEDESTRIANS. MIDDLE A VIEW OF THE ENTIREPROJECT. BOTTOM THE SITE PLAN ILLUSTRATES THELOCATION OF THE THREE TOWERS AND THESHOPPING PLAZA.

SITE PLAN



Canadian who has lived there for five years. For

this reason, government control is strenuous.

A majority of the labour is unskilled, resulting in

increased legislation to deal with its quality. When

projects are complete, the contractor simply adds

more workers, compounding the difficulties of

quality control. Cvornyek believes that the regula-

tions in Chinas main cities are rigorous and that a

repeat of the rural building failures caused by the

earthquakes in May 2008 would be unlikely.

After four years of design and construction, theYou You International Plaza opened. B+Hs scheme

was taken to a level of advanced design develop-

ment and then detailed by the local institute in a

manner consistent with the design drawings. In

the hotel tower, an interior atrium garden carved

out of the south side rises up the height of the

building, and is defined on the exterior by a sub-

tle change in glass treatment. The atrium air

forms a dynamic buffer zone to reduce the mech-

anical loads. Displacement ventilation under the

raised flooring of the offices and a green roof over

the lobby of the hotel were also retained. A court-

yard garden set in the middle of the block intowhich the restaurants, apartments and hotel lobby

face, was built symmetrically. Originally not en-

dorsed by Birkenshaws team, it was nevertheless

well-crafted and in general conformity with B+Hs

intent. In recent years, Chinese building codes

have been published in a series of books and are

changing constantly, but have been adapted to

enforce greater energy savings. Insulation is not

common in Shanghai, a climate milder than

Vancouver, and the client asked that it not be in-

cluded. B+H advised to the contrary and installed

insulation to a thickness of 50 millimetres. The

windows, originally single pane, were installed as

double-glazed units.The You You Plaza is defined by mature land-

scaping, spare detailing, an urbane street canopy

at the hotel entrance, and sunny, skylit retail

spaces. All this signals a desire by Chinese clients

to create structures that depart from dreary con-

crete blocks or garish icons. Simple apartment

housing, considered old after only 10 to 20 years,

is being replaced with architecture that is con-

temporary and sophisticated. However, it is

important to note that the replacements evidence

high standards of quality and design. There is an

overwhelming optimism and excitement, says

Cvornyek. The majority of the country isinvolved in recreating the nation as a world

power, and there is certainly collective agree-

ment on realizing that vision. CA

David Steiner is a freelance writer living in Ontar io.

TOP A VIEW OF THE LANDSCAPED INTERIOR COURTYARD. ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT A SCULPTURAL STAIR TAKESVISITORS UP TOWARD THE CONFERENCE CENTRE; THE CENTRAL TOWER WITH A VIEW OF SHANG-HAIS PUDONG REGION IN THE BACKGROUND.

other places, often North America.

Much of the sophistication comes from a will-

ingness to improve. The spirit of the place, says

Birkenshaw, is about embracing the future and a

young culture that is keen on experimentation.

Working with consultants like B+H, the Chinese

construction industry is reacquiring an inter-

national expertise. Quality materials are now

locally available, and much of the You You complex

was fabricated nearby. A penchant by Chinese

engineers for outsized, conservative concrete

structure has given way to steel and curtain-wall

construction. It also helps that labour is cheap.

The skin of the You You towers would be too

expensive for a rental building anywhere other

than perhaps New York or London. It takes on a

zig-zag shape where the operable windows are

located on the short, projecting side, and a frit

pattern covers the top and bottom of each glass

panel. Any piece of construction is dependent on

the individual assembling it, said Karen

Cvornyek, principal of B+Hs China office and a

CLIENT SHANGHAI YOU YOU INTERNATIONAL PLAZA CO., LTD.ARCHIT ECT TEAM KAREN CVORNYEK, DOUGLAS BIRKENSHAW, WENDYQIU, MARK BEREST, KEVIN STELZER, SUSAN JIANG, YOUSUN XIE, BIN LIN,PHILIP SHEN, KAIYAN SU, HAZEL CHENG, CHRISTINE LUK, GEOFFHODGETTS, GABRIELA SAVU, TANTAN LISTRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/LANDSCAPEECADIINTERIORS HONGKONG HBACONTRACTORSHANGHAI CONSTRUCTION GROUP DIVISION 1AREA 200,000 M2

BUDGET $251.5 M/1,700,000,000 RMB (INCLUDING INTERIOR)COMPLETION 2007


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EligibilityProjects must be in the design stage, scheduled for construction or underconstruction but not substantially complete by September 16, 2008. Allprojects must be commissioned by a client with the intention to build thesubmitted proposal. All building types and concisely presented urbandesign schemes are eligible.

Judging CriteriaAwards are given for architectural design excellence. Jurors will consider theschemes response to the clients program, site, and geographic and socialcontext. They will evaluate its physical organization, form, structure, mate-rials and environmental features.

Presentation1. Anonymity. The designers name must not appear on the submission except

on the entry form. The project name and location should be identified.2. Each entry must be securely fastened in a folder or binder of dimensions

no greater than 14 17; oversized panels will not be accepted. One (1)copy of this entry form must be enclosed within an envelope and affixedto the front of each folder, preferably without the use of Scotch tape oradhesives. Clips are ideal.

3. Each project folder must include:a) first pagea brief description of the projectb) second pagea brief description indicating the projects ability to

address some or all of the following issues:i) context and/or urban design componentsii) integration of sustainable designiii) innovation in addressing program and/or the clients require-

mentsiv) technical considerations through building materials and/or sys-

temsc) drawings/images including site plan, floor plans, sections, elevations

and/or model views

4. Please do not submit any material in CD, DVD, or any other audio-visualformat not confined to two dimensions, as it will not be considered.

Entry Fee$50.00 per entry ($47.62 + $2.38 GST). Please make cheques payable toCanadian Architect. GST registration #890939689RT0001.

PublicationWinners will be published in a special issue of Canadian Architect inDecember 2008. Winners grant Canadian Architect first publication rightsfor their winning submissions.

AwardsFramed certificates will be given to each winning architect team and client.Details to follow upon notification of winners.

Notification of WinnersAward winners will be notified after judging takes place in October 2008.

DeadlineEntries will be accepted after August 14, 2008. Send all entries to arrive by

5:00 pm on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 to:

Awards of Excellence 2008Canadian Architect

12 Concorde PlaceSuite 800Toronto, OntarioM3C 4J2

Return of EntriesEntries will not be returned.

Name of Project

Name of Firm

Address City & Province Postal Code

Telephone Fax E-mail

Architect/Architectural Graduate submitting the project Signature

according to the conditions above

Client Client Telephone

2008 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCECanadian Architectinvites architects registered in Canada and architectural graduatesto enter the magazines 2008 Awards of Excellence.



TECHNICAL

the junket itself revealed a great deal about the

future of architecture. Over 100 journalists

including myselffrom all over the world wereflown to San Francisco where we were wined,

dined and entertained at the luxurious MarkHopkins Hotel. There is little doubt that the

event was superbly organized. Theatrical lightingaccented well-prepared speeches and announce-

ments that rolled off teleprompters with clock-work precision. The PowerPoint presentations

were carefully designed with a high degree ofprofessionalism and sophistication, and each was

informative and to the point. A promotional ani-mation about Santiago Calatravas Spire in

Chicago was created by a rising Hollywood direc-tor using various Autodesk packages, and its

screening was worthy of consideration by theAcademy. Key Autodesk personnel made them-

selves readily available for carefully scheduledone-on-one interviews. There was even a bag of

swag that included a free graphics card.There was also much to admire in Autodesks

commitment to the critical issues of design. Theyare proactive in promoting and facilitating sus-

tainable design; they are committed to BuildingInformation Modelling or BIM; and they have

funded a research chair in design education and

innovation at the National Institute of Design inIndia.

It was so impressive that it made me long forthe days when dorks and weirdos would congre-

gate in poorly organized panels to rant about thefuture of CAD in forums such as the now-defunct

A/E/C Systems, to demonstrate software thatrarely worked (but which they had made them-

selves), and to show off awkward graphics in gar-ish colours that had taken days to render. These

were the days when Autodesks only real productwas AutoCAD and, as I often reminded readers, it

wasnt very good. Nonetheless, by bringing CADto the personal computer in 1982 at a price of

around $1,000 US, there is little doubt thatAutodesk revolutionized the world of CAD and

architecture.Autodesks current position was by no means

guaranteed in those days. Its early attempts todiversify with products such as Xanadu for hyper-

text and Cyberspace for virtual reality were fail-ures and its rat line for reporting illegal copies of

AutoCAD was an unfortunate exercise in publicrelations. Quietly (but aggressively), however,AutoDesk came to dominate the world of visuali-

zation through a series of strategic acquisitions.In 1998 they purchased Montreal-based Discreet

Logic, known for its digital special-effects soft-ware, for $520 million US in stock. In 2002 they

acquired Revit for $133 million US in cash. In2005 they purchased Toronto-based Alias for

$182 million US in cash, which gave them pack-ages such as Maya (for animation) and Studio (for

automotive and industrial design). And in 2007,they bought construction-management software

maker NavisWorks for $25 million US in cash.During World Press Days, they announced that

they would acquire both Green Building Studioand Carmel Software for undisclosed amounts to

strengthen their offerings in the area of sustain-able design. Combined with their own offerings

Writing about architecture and computers is not alucrative profession, nor is it filled with the perks

of more glamorous forms of journalism. In themore than 20 years that I have written for Cana-dian Architect, the free lunches have been few andfar betweenwhich at least keeps me honest. Last

spring, however, I was invited on what can onlybe described as a junket to attend Autodesks

World Press Days in San Francisco. What I saw

and heard surprised, delighted, amused andoccasionally disturbed me.

The nature of the event is worth noting since

TOP AND ABOVE LEFT DESIGNED BY FOSTER +PARTNERS AND THE ZEIDLER PARTNERSHIP, THE

ENCANA CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS INCALGARY WAS DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED

WITH THE HELP OF AUTODESKS REVIT, A BIMPROGRAM DESTINED TO OVERTAKE AUTOCAD

IN A FEW YEARS.

ROLL UP THE BIM TO WIN

SOFTWARE COMPANIES CONTINUE TO ROLL OUT

NEW BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM)SOFTWARE AS ARCHITECTS LEARN TO ADJUST TO

THE NEW REALITIES OF CAD PRODUCTION IN

THEIR OFFICES.

TEXT DOUGLAS MACLEOD

COURTESYZEIDLER

PARTNERSHIP

COURTESYZEIDLERPARTNERSHIP


35/40

true of products such as Maya and 3ds Max.

Nonetheless, it is clear that they now have suf-ficient resources and market share to drive the

acceptance of BIM or any other approach theychoose. BIM could be the most important devel-

opment in CAD (and architecture) of this decadebecause it could transform our approach to

design and documentation. Theoretically, BIMwould allow architects to develop a data-driven

model that would not only form the source of allrepresentations of a building but would also be

shared across all phases and disciplines involved

in the design, construction and operation of abuilding. In effect, the model would be the con-

tract and its documentation. Such a model wouldinclude not only the geometries of building com-

ponents but also information such as their cost,performance specifications and even their car-

bon footprint. A complete model developed usingBIM would provide architects and engineers with

unprecedented opportunities for analyzing thebehaviour of a building before it was built. The

problem is that a complete model may be anunattainable goal.

Given that one piece of inaccurate data canundermine the integrity of the model, who

should enter, verify and maintain that data? Thearchitect? The engineer? The manufacturer? Or a

company such as Autodesk? Given the domi-nance of Autodesk, will BIM become a propri-

etary standard or an open-source format? Whatabout transferring data between models? Given

the vast array of Autodesk packages, it was not

surprising to find that files and data could not beeasily transferred between its own products, but

BIM demands that data be easily and accuratelytransferred between multiple packages by multi-

ple vendors. The profession needs to think verycarefully about BIM and its implementation.

BIM could add a whole new layer of functional-

ity to CAD, but it will probably mean more work(and perhaps liability) for architects and design-

ers as they try to maintain an accurate modelthroughout the life cycle of a building. Unfortu-

nately, if past history is any indication, the pro-fession probably wont be able to profit from this

development although Autodesk probably will.Architects gave away the store when they began

providing their AutoCAD files to clients at noextra cost so its hard to imagine that they wont

do the same with BIM. Unlike AutoDesk, archi-tects have a poor track record in understanding

the business of building. CA

Douglas MacLeod is the Executive Director of the

Okanagan Science and Technology Council and the

former Executive Director of the Canadian Design

Research Network. He invites you to participate in his

latest research project, the Architecture of Cyberspace,

by visiting the following URL and filling out the

online survey: http://websurvey.sfu.ca/survey/

13230518. For more information, please contact Doug

at [email protected].

and packages, this means that Autodesk domi-

nates or has major products in every area of visu-alization from GIS to character animation. As

former CEO Carol Bartz is reported to have said,

Look around you: if God didnt create it,AutoCAD did.

The only challenge to Autodesk in the foresee-able future may come from open-source or free

products such as Google SketchUp. The latest ver-sion of AutoCAD retails for $3,995 US so while

SketchUp doesnt have anywhere near the capabil-ities of Revit or AutoCAD, it does have a distinct

price advantage and is popular with students.Today, however, according to company presi-

dent and CEO Carl Bass, the installed base ofAutodesk products is 9 million worldwide with

750,000 new users being added each year. In avery real sense, the future of computer-aided

design is the future of Autodesk. Such marketdominance is always worrisome but in this case it

is also confusing. AutoCAD and Revit, for exam-ple, would

canadian architect - 2008 august

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