Reimagine Magazine | Issue 8 by reimaginearch

ENERGIZING THE RESIDENCE

Evolving an unloved building typology

ISSUE 8

Creating Joyful Journeys Toward Regenerative Architecture

Northern Exposure

Net-zero at a northern Albertan community college

WINNING DESIGNS

A design competition yields three visions for a Yellowknife eyesore

ENVELOPE: EVOLVED

An innovative funding model leads to an innovative facade for an Edmonton post-secondary

“Dance with nature, but let nature lead.” - Jamie Miller Biomimicry Frontiers COVER PHOTO: COOPER & O’HARA CONTENTS PHOTOS: REIMAGINE ARCHITECTS TI SHEFFIELD COOPER & O’HARA

ISSUE 8

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

contents 13 16 30 39 57

CELEBRATING WATER ON THE PRAIRIES

BIOMORPHIC DESIGN AT A BOTANICAL GARDEN

A NEW COMMUNITY HUB FOR KWANLIN DÜN

TO EDMONTON, LOVE AMII

A PETER HEMINGWAY CHURCH TRANSFORMS INTO A VERY SPECIAL SCHOOL

EDITORIAL STAFF editor - in - chief

Vivian Manasc managing editor

Kent McKay

creative director / designer

Carey van der Zalm

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gloria Alamrew, Tiffany Creyke, Mariam Djalili, Beth Evasiw, Theresa Faulder, Cheryl Mahaffy, Graeme Matichuk, Kent McKay, Vedran Škopac, Shelley Williamson

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CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS Alberta Emerald Foundation, Marwa Alshara, Curtis Comeau, Cooper & O’Hara, Imran Dar, Spencer Gatt, Jeff Hilbrecht, Richard Isaac, Jordan Polanski, Ti Sheffield, Vedran Škopac, Ava Xu

Reimagine is a publication produced by architectural, engineering and design firm Reimagine Architects, a Canadian leader in integrated sustainable building design with a focus on net-zero design and regenerative architecture.

reimagination

Reimagination Welcome back to the future!

It’s been almost four years since the start of the global pandemic that shifted our perceptions about work and collaboration. Through the pandemic, designing integrated sustainable buildings became both more urgent and more difficult. Our traditional practices of gathering communities, engineers and builders to push and pull at design ideas morphed into a web of zoom squares and jamboards. We had to develop new practices and processes for design. For our firm, it seemed a good time to rebrand and refresh our design practice to reflect this shifted paradigm. It’s also been about four years since we published this magazine. The pandemic offered us a pause: a time to reflect on the meaning of reimagining existing buildings, and expand our aspirations to reimagine everything that we touch. Reimagine became a rallying cry: a call to action, to do more with every opportunity in every community. To actualize the journey from dream to reality. To create more regenerative buildings. The Canada Green Building Council has launched a net-zero carbon standard, to complement existing standards. More and more owners are chasing net-zero. Consequently, we design more ambitious buildings that tread ever more lightly upon the earth. Buildings both new and old can be fully reimagined into regenerative spaces. We are looking deeply into biomimicry to inform fresh design directions, and integrating Indigenous ways of knowing into our design processes. Over the past four years we have been involved in a research project about the impact of the pandemic on the design of spaces, and we have explored ways in which this post-pandemic reality offers new insights into regenerative design. Our striking regenerative buildings are garnering awards and recognition, and they are serving their communities well. Some of our 30-year-old buildings are being refreshed to extend their lives, and by revisiting these buildings we designed, we learn more about how to make future facilities even more durable and regenerative.

As we acclimate to the post-pandemic reality, we have as many questions and curiosities as ever. We are now, as a firm, called Reimagine, with studios in Bucharest, Vancouver and Calgary, as well as our home office in Edmonton. To reflect our growing team, this magazine has shifted to focus almost entirely on our work, and, in particular, our leadership in sustainability and regenerative design. We are continuously reimagining the way we plan, design and build the future. Join us on this joyful journey!

Vivian Manasc, Principal Architect, Reimagine Architects Editor-In-Chief | vivian@reimagine.ca

To learn more about Reimagine’s post-pandemic research, scan this QR code!

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

eimagine is a new idea for the post-pandemic era. A new idea that embodies the past, present and future of sustainable architecture. Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture is more urgent than ever as climate change crises like floods and wildfires multiply. So, where are we today?

photo: cooper & o’hara

Subdued Substation

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A new substation makes an elegant addition to Edmonton’s Garneau neighbourhood

The Garneau neighbourhood is one of Edmonton’s most vibrant and beloved areas. Adjacent to the University of Alberta and steps away from the popular Whyte Avenue area, it’s one of the city’s oldest residential neighbourhoods. EPCOR invited Reimagine to replace its aging Garneau Substation, with a mandate to create a building that would be embraced by its com-

munity through an unobtrusive construction process — all while providing uninterrupted power to the area. Reimagine’s design was inspired by an EPCORowned house located west of the substation: a clapboard Craftsman-style house built in the 1950s. The resulting building is subtle, understated, and elegant. At 22 metres long and 10 metres wide, the substation integrates seamlessly with its residential neighbourhood; the clean lines, peaked roof, and dark metal slats give the impression of a contemporary home, while inside, 15 kilovolts of energy are housed. On the building’s front façade, a window strip reaches from the ground to the peaked roof, bringing natural light to the substation occupants while inviting passing pedestrians to look inside. The project proves that utility buildings can be highly technical and functional, yet attractive, refined, and harmonious with their environments.

reframe

Innovation in Ikaluktutiak A new research centre in Cambridge Bay serves as a test-bed for sustainable cold-climate design

When the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) asked Reimagine to support students from the Green Building Technologies (GBT) program to design a building in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, we tapped designer Derek Heslop to share his unique knowledge of the challenges and opportunities particular to detailing buildings in the North and to help design a highly sustainable new research building for the community.

photo: margaret thompson

The building is a test-bed for an innovation: a Structural Insulated Panel or SIP that is made in Alberta. The manufacturers of the innovative high-performance ZS2 panels were keen to test their ideas for extreme climate constructions. Working with SAIT’s team and the manufacturer, Reimagine created details that perform well, to allow this building to be assembled and to operate effectively at -40°C. The Kuugalak Research Centre will also help to revitalize Inuinnait vernacular architecture and spatial concepts, and is designed to be added to in ways similar to an igloo, allowing for panels to be removed and connecting to future spaces. Indoor/outdoor spaces are especially important to the success of the facility which features large outdoor decks to support seasonal activities such as meat preparation, hide drying, and outdoor cooking spaces: activities that are necessary for upholding traditional cultural ecosystems and ways of life.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

The Cambridge Bay (or Ikaluktutiak, as it is known in Inuinnaqtun) area has witnessed substantial environmental shifts as a result of climate change. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the Pitquhirnikkut Ilihautiniq / Kitikmeot Heritage Society (PI/ KHS), an Inuit-directed cultural research centre, partnered with industry leaders in sustainable design and green technology to create a local strategy for resilient and sustainable infrastructure. This plan included the creation of a 120 m2 modular cultural work space.

hand sketch: imran dar

Reimagine retrofits an aging provincial building in Peace River

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Pushing The Envelope

photo: jeff hilbrecht

Peace River’s provincial building, built in the 1970s, needed some TLC, and Reimagine leveraged its building envelope expertise to give it new life. The building’s original envelope used non-thermally broken aluminium strip window frames, which meant that when temperatures dropped, there was little barrier between the cold temperature of the air outside and the interior of the building, resulting in heat loss and condensation. These frames were replaced with a high-performance, thermally broken, small-box curtainwall system. Heavily tinted double-glazed sealed units were replaced with contemporary triple-glazed units: the more panes, the greater the protection against unwanted heat transfer. By ‘breaking’ the frame between the interior and exterior, the building’s interior environment is protected against the extreme temperature fluctuations of its northern climate.

Ultimately, the projected net result of the building’s envelope improvements add up to an energy savings of 20% for the building as a whole!

reframe

photo: spencer gatt

Dancing with Nature Jamie Miller on biomimetic design Biomimicry, though a relatively new term, is an ancient concept. Defined as the practice of design as inspired by nature, this field offers fresh solutions to some of the world’s most enduring environmental challenges and follows the guiding principle of “Nature knows best.” Biomimicry allows designers to not only consider how to prevent further damage to the environment but also to actively improve our environment.

We live in a “bad news” era. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed about the state of the earth and the environmental issues that we face. Biomimicry offers a sliver of optimism. Jamie Miller stated that his hope is that “biomimicry becomes irrelevant as a tool” and that it becomes design’s default mode. In this ideal future, we practise biomimetic design in everything that we do, naturally and without doubt or insecurity. Through the lens of biomimicry, we will meet every challenge with the question: “What would nature do?”

To read about the Living Story Site Assessment that Biomimicry Frontiers created for Métis Crossing, scan this QR code!

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

The Reimagine studio recently held a workshop led by Jamie Miller, Founder and President of Biomimicry Frontiers. Miller outlined the key guiding principles of biomimicry and asked the team to consider how its own projects and design ideas can be informed and bettered by biomimetic thinking. One former project, the Driftpile First Nation School, was used as a case study, and the team explored the various features and challenges of the project through a biomimicry lens. Moving through the exercise, it emerged that Reimagine’s design practice was grounded in biomimetic thinking all along—the team just didn’t know it. Flow and circulation, energy, water, and air; these are all elements of thoughtful and sustainable design that have long been integrated into Reimagine’s projects, flagship buildings and small interventions alike.

Friendly Competition Reimagine Magazine sits down with three design teams, each with their own vision to refresh a 1970s Yellowknife eyesore by mariam djalili

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Making buildings—and the people living inside them—resilient to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by the built environment requires us to reimagine existing buildings and do so at scale! Reimagine Architects has been given exactly that opportunity with the retrofit of Northern United Place.

Northern United Place (NUP) was built in 1976 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It consists of two ten-storey towers containing 125 apartment units, with commercial occupancies in the bottom three floors. An ambitious retrofit scheme has been put into place: to replace the existing stucco envelope, including the replacement of

windows and doors, with high-performance glazing and upgrade the building’s mechanical equipment. This retrofit will extend the building’s life and improve the urban design landscape of downtown Yellowknife while significantly reducing energy use by 70% and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. Reimagine Architects held an internal design competition to generate three distinct concepts for the retrofit, offering a chance to augment the technical ambitions for NUP with beautiful design. After all, making a building beautiful not only enhances the quality of life of its occupants but also adds to its durability and longevity.

internal dialogue

NUP will be a beacon of warmth and comfort in the cold climate

warmth colour

Concept 2: “Chromacast” by Jordan Polanski & Brady Horner

light

Dynamic Building Facade

Glossy white metal panel, varying depths

Smooth metal panels, blue

Smooth metal panels, yellow

East corner

Copper panels

Concept 1: “Beacon” by Graeme Matichuk & Lindsay Farr

Jordan: Our starting parti was “What if the building façade was a canvas to paint on?” We wanted to celebrate the sun and the sky especially in the north where the sun is up for long periods of time in summer, and then down for long weeks in the winter. We wanted to bring colour and vibrancy to the urban context. The design intent was to simplify the building massing and create a cohesive design. We took inspiration from the slant wall of a nearby church that inspired the slope of the fins. Brady: I wanted to add that the design competition is a great opportunity to bring a lot of diverse opinions and ideas together. Those ideas are more reaching and diverse and provide more options without immediate restraints. Our design idea is playing with light, and borealis to capture and paint the building with light, and create a dynamic pattern. A play with natural elements. Jordan: Brady joined the team right after the one-day competition and it was great to get an outside person to come in and help refine the concept. This worked very well. To produce the effect of the lights through the fins and the different colours on the facade, we had to use several tools and software.

Graeme: As a first step, we assessed what the building currently looks like, and found it looking very monotonous and uninviting.Colours We Painted by the Sun were brainstorming keywords that we associate with a successful Colours Painted by the Sun design for the project such as: “warm, inviting home, pleasant sense of arrival etc.” Lindsay: We wanted to create an uplifting place for gathering. Graeme: The beacon of light, the snowscape and the campfire were some of the inspirations we used for our colour palette. Using metal panels with different levels of finishes to be matte and shiny and reflect the landscape. Lindsay: Another inspiration was a campfire and the gathering around a campfire with community. We integrated this in the base of the design, to make the building more dynamic and [with] contrasting colours. Graeme: It was important to us to create a more approachable transparent street level. We also intended to include renewable energy, such as photovoltaic panels.

NIGHT TEST if we were to use LED’s NIGHT TEST if we were to use LED’s

NIGHT TEST if we were to use LED’s

Lindsay: The condensed timeline for the competition required us to test and fail fast, and come up with many design iterations in a short period of time. 11

materials Concept 3: “Emerge” by Elizabeth Daniels & Tiffany Shaw

Tiffany: We researched the history of the place, including the history of the Dene people. We used a few sources for our inspiration rooting the building in the place: particularly the Dene group of Tetsǫ́t’ıné, which translates as the copper or metal people. The place is near the Kam Lake; so the flow of the water inspires us. Elizabeth: We tried different inspirations: fire, water, and Northern lights and found that they all had a common theme with the ripple effect that we introduced to the design. Tiffany: The form is seen in the fins that represent the rippled water. And [on] the other side we had North/South facing façades that were treated differently. It is capturing the sun with the vertical shading: the treatment of the façade reacts to the different orientations. We also had the concept of darkness and lightness. Elizabeth: The integrated PV in the south façade uses different shades of PV panels to create the pattern. For me, it was my first time working on a project in the NWT with the extreme cold climate and how to incorporate metal and materiality in a building through a textural and playful context.

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Tiffany: If the project was to move forward, what we would recommend is a community engagement. This was very much desktop research and done in silo, and if this was to go forward, we recommend community outreach to include the community and get feedback. re

This retrofit will reduce energy use by 70% and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%

The complex design and technical challenges at Northern United Place offer myriad exciting opportunities to the project team, and Reimagine is excited to undertake this joyful journey.

Exterior render of the Aquatic Biosphere project, nestled in Edmonton’s extensive River Valley

The Story Of Water A visionary project that celebrates aquatic life, from a landlocked Prairie city by jordan polanski | renders : reimagine architects

Water: an element that unites us all. It feeds us, shapes our geological landscapes, and transcends time. It knows no borders.

dmonton, and Alberta for that matter, isn’t often associated with water. Although an abundance of lakes and rivers nourish the prairies, water doesn’t shape our landscape as obviously as our coastal neighbours; and so, we often take it for granted. This indifference, ingratitude even, characterizes most of Canada, where clean drinking water flows freely (though, for Indigenous communities, the journey toward clean water has been a long, painful and arduous one). In landlocked Edmonton, there aren’t many opportunities to engage with water; residents are generally advised against swimming in the North Saskatchewan River, which runs through the city. Hoping to strengthen our knowledge of, and connection to water, The Aquatic Biosphere Society of Canada (ABSC) has a bold new vision for the city: the Aquatic Biosphere, a facility unique in both its storytelling approach, and the vastness of the story it seeks to tell.

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The ABSC recently used their winning submission to Reimagine’s Blue Sky Award, an initiative that provides pro-bono consultation to not-for-profits in Alberta, to conceptualize what such a facility might look like, where it would best be situated, and how the storytelling might be influenced by the architecture, and vice versa.

Surprisingly, Edmonton is the perfect place for an Aquatic Biosphere. It proves the Society’s point: that all of our treasured oceans, rivers, lakes and watersheds are interconnected with everything. Albertan

water connects us to people and places we have yet to visit. Albertan rivers flow all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, the Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean, spreading out like tentacles to touch the lives of the flora, fauna and people thousands of kilometers away and connecting us to the past, present and future cultural practices of the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Alberta’s geology is unique; it is the only province in Canada to host three continental divides. This means we have three geological high points, or drainage divides: the Great Divide, the Arctic Divide and the Laurentian Divide. Alberta also contains seven different watersheds, and although we are physically landlocked, our water is not. Our water ignores the arbitrary borders of Alberta and connects to great bodies of water, supporting a plethora of life along the way and feeding complex ecosystems. How we manage and take care of our water here in landlocked Alberta affects everyone and everything downstream — and upstream, for that matter. Once water evaporates, it ends up back in our atmosphere, forms clouds, is transported by wind, and falls back to land, ending up back in our watersheds or to be frozen, once again, in our glaciers, waiting for its next cycle to provide life. Alberta is also home to a monumental glacier called the Snow Dome. It sits on top of the continental divide in the Columbia Icefield where both the Banff and Jasper National Parks meet the British Columbia border. It is the only hydrological apex

in Canada and one of only two in North America where ice can melt into water and potentially flow into the three different oceans, depending on how close to which divide the water droplet fell and subsequently froze. As far as headwaters go, Alberta is the king of the castle: a crossroads of potential, both the beginning and end of a drop of water’s journey. Consequently, we have a responsibility to our neighbours to protect the watersheds and all of the life that depends on them. While there are certainly conservation and educational initiatives underway, there needs to be more momentum. The Aquatic Biosphere Society of Canada wants to bring water back to our attention. The project’s mission is to enhance education and general awareness of life in, on and around aquatic ecosystems, and the roles they play in overall diversity and water issues both locally and globally. Initiated by Paula Polman, the Aquatic Biosphere project has garnered a lot of traction working with K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions in the area. They have also been reaching out both locally and globally to the likes of tourism groups, universities and other aquariums and biospheres to learn, understand and forge national and international relationships. Throughout the development of its business case, Reimagine facilitated many conversations locally and globally to conceptualize how the facility could impact and benefit the greatest number of people. Key stakeholders were identified in an initial workshop and constituted groups from post secondary institutions, other not-for-profits, government groups, local and global attractions, K-12 schools, Indigenous groups, arts groups, agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries groups, research and technology groups and local businesses. These conversations ultimately informed the business case and concept for the Aquatic Bisophere. The research as part of the business case also studied the current market trends of the visitor economy and eco-tourism economy, laid out the facility design criteria, space needs and size, studied multiple potential site locations within Edmonton’s River

PRECEPITATION Water droplets fall from clouds as drizzle, rain, snow or ice. ADVECTION Winds move clouds through the atmosphere.

SNOWMELT, MELTWATER Snow and ice accumulate, later melting back into liquid water, or turning into vapor.

CONDENSATION, CLOUDS, FOG Water vapor rises and condenses as clouds.

SURFACE RUNOFF Water flows above the ground as runoff, forming streams, rivers, swamps, ponds, and lakes.

OCEANS The oceans contain 97% of Earth’s water.

Valley and put together probable costs for both the construction and operation of the Aquatic Biosphere. The ultimate goal is to build a facility that will tell the stories of water and its impact through both a local and global lens. It hopes to shift the tides and make water a top of mind consideration by connecting what happens in our backyard to global water systems and aquatic life. It builds on the traditional model of an aquarium and fuses it with a cultural centre, a scientific research, conservation and education centre, an aquaponics centre, a health and wellness centre, a scuba and free-diving centre, a community centre and more. Visitors will start at the beginning: on top of a glacier, and follow the story of a water

SUBSURFACE FLOW, WATER TABLE Water is soaked into the ground, flows below it and seeps back out enriched in minerals.

droplet along its infinite trajectory from glacier, to ocean, and back again, exploring all that it encounters and impacts along the way. Various experiences are being designed to use tactile and hands-on experiences, live displays and the latest augmented reality technology to transport visitors from the Snow Dome in Alberta across the planet’s interconnected world of water. At its heart, visitors will experience the Story of Water. Everyone will leave with a greater understanding of the intertwined roles of water, aquatic life and human life. Eco-tourism and Indigenous tourism are gaining momentum as the climate crisis takes centre stage. A water droplet’s journey is ever-expedited and thrown off balance

The Biosphere will celebrate the infinite and eternal journey of water.

as our glaciers melt more rapidly. Floods, hurricanes and mudslides are becoming more frequent and powerful. It is increasingly urgent that we understand the journey of water and our role in the larger picture— and the Aquatic Biosphere Project provides us that chance. re

For updates on this exciting project, scan below!

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

EVAPORATION Heat from the sun causes water to evaporate.

PLANT UPTAKE Plants take up water from the ground, and later transpire it back into the air.

TURNING A NEW LEAF How biomorphic design inspired a new addition to the beloved University of Alberta Botanic Gardens by beth evasiw | photography : cooper & o ’hara

re Home to 25,000 distinct plant varieties, the Garden spans 97 hectares (240 acres).

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estled in the countryside near Devon, you’ll find a hidden gem: the University of Alberta Botanic Garden, one of the institution’s most distinctive offerings. Established in 1959 for the Department of Botany and later opened to the public, the Garden greets thousands of visitors annually, inviting them to explore its extensive array of flora. As guests move through the site, the Garden unfolds to reveal special feature displays, including the beautiful Aga Khan Garden, Kurimoto Japanese Garden, Native Peoples Garden, Temperate and Arid Showhouses and other curated plant collections.

The Pavilion should serve as a catalyst for discovery, experiences, and inspiration within the Garden, compelling visitors to say, we are glad to be here.

The Garden’s growth has been a gradual progression, beginning from modest origins on donated land and featuring only 2,500 distinct plant varieties. In the 1970s, a flood destroyed much of the Garden, prompting the town of Devon and the Friends of the Botanic Garden society to provide funds to restore and expand the Garden. Consequently, its name was altered, and it was called the Devonian Botanic Garden until 2017, when it reclaimed its original name. Today, it spans 97 hectares (240 acres) with an impressive collection of over 25,000 distinct plant varieties, and it hosts various year-round attractions designed to celebrate different aspects of the Garden’s beauty and offerings. Previously, the only structure that greeted visitors at the Garden was a derelict log house containing a ticket booth and washroom. As part of its commitment to enhancing the facility for future generations, the University wanted to establish a more welcoming and functional entrypoint, to accommodate the anticipated influx of visitors in the years ahead.

The Garden needed a new multi-purpose entry for guests and staff alike one that would enhance the beauty of its surroundings and respond to the future needs of the Garden. The University engaged Reimagine Architects as the design team for their new Main Entry Pavilion, and Reimagine assembled a full consulting team with Fast + Epp as Structural Engineers. At the outset, the University flagged that the Pavilion should serve as a catalyst for discovery, experiences and inspiration within the Garden, compelling visitors to say, “we are glad to be here.” Like a child filled with excitement as it sees a carnival tent ahead, visitors to the Garden are meant to feel anticipation and a promise of discovery when they see the Pavilion, and when they’ve experienced the garden, passing by the building again ends their visit on an elegant note.

Since the Pavilion aspired to prime its guests for the beauty they were about to experience, the design intention was to enhance its idyllic environment. Reimagine Architects’ Richard Isaac and Cody Jew were particularly drawn to a statement made at the initial design workshop, proposing to create an “attractive and attracting facility with curving, organic form,” and they resolved to design a Pavilion that echoed the shapes of nature.

All three parts of a leaf were present in the Pavilion design: the petiole manifesting as the central columns, the veins as the heavy timber beams splayed across the ceiling, and the blade as the roof panels.

Jew noted that biomorphic design principles served as a natural starting point for the design of the Pavilion.

Isaac described the biomorphic informed design as a “leaf that floats down over the Garden and provides shelter and shade to the building and the people around it from the elements.” Heavy timber and steel were chosen for the structure of this design. The parti, or, the design essence of the project, was the form of a fallen leaf, imitating a familiar and yet surprising natural shape. All three parts of a leaf were present in the Pavilion design: the petiole manifesting as the central columns, the veins as the heavy timber beams splayed across the ceiling and the blade as the roof panels. This idea would also inform some of the sustainability strategies that were incorporated into the design.

hand sketches by: richard isaac

re Early sketches drew upon biomorphic design thinking, ultimately inspiring a leaf-shaped roof for the Pavilion.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

“We were designing the first building that guests would see at the Garden,” he said. “It would make sense to use elements of naturally occurring patterns and shapes as drivers for design.”

” It [makes] sense to use elements of naturally occurring patterns and shapes as drivers for design.” – CODY JEW

re The project won a Prairie Wood Design Award in 2021 in the “Recreational” category.

From there, a stormwater management strategy developed using the folded-in structure of the “leaf” roof. Each segment of the roof gently slopes inward, allowing the water to flow into one location. In the event of a light downpour, rainwater drips into the nearby rocks down an historic Japanese irrigation technology called a chain rainwater leader. During a heavy downpour, the water flows past the chain and discharges into the rocks through a chute. “We initially tested the design out with a small-scale 3D printed model,” Jew says, “which actually worked well, surprisingly. Later on, we saw a video during a rainstorm that proved this concept worked very well in real life.”

re The Pavilion uses a Japanese water management technique called a chain rainwater leader. During a heavy Reimagine

downpour, the water flows past the

chain and discharges into the rocks through a chute.

Sustainable strategies included a highperformance building envelope, working in tandem with the mechanical system to minimize the Pavilion’s energy use. Clear triple glazing maximizes the infusion of natural light into the space. Outside the windows, vertical metal wires were strung along the south and west sides of the building to provide support for the growth of vines. “The vines will help to shade the interior of the building during the summer,” Isaac said of this design. “During winter, when the leaves have fallen, sunlight will once more fill the space and help heat the building.”

Inspired by the principles of circular economy, Reimagine was apprised of an interesting opportunity. At the time that the Pavilion was being designed, the former University of Alberta Dental/Pharmacy administrative building was undergoing demolition. The design team saw an opportunity to recycle materials from the demolished building, and salvaged Tyndall Stone cladding, integrating this durable material into a base for the new Pavilion. Today, the Pavilion stands as a testament to how a structure can harmoniously integrate into its natural surroundings. A substantial improvement from the modest wooden ticket booth that once stood at the Garden gates, the new Pavilion is poised to receive 160,000 guests in the coming years. It is a welcome marker for newcomers and a gateway to the delightful programmes the Garden hosts, and the Pavilion has already been used for all sorts of purposes, sometimes serving as a venue for special events such as the Edmonton Opera’s annual Opera al Fresco and other days providing an enchanting setting for picturesque wedding ceremonies. It truly does, as the University hoped, “introduce the Garden as a place of discovery.” re

re The new Pavilion is expected to greet 160,000 visitors in the coming years. 21

NORTHERN EXPOSURE high prairie nlc campus a leading example of net-zero ready design

by shelley williamson | photography : cooper & o ’hara

he Reimagine Architects team is never one to shy away from a challenge, so when the opportunity came up to design a new student building on Northern Lakes College’s High Prairie campus in 2018, principal Vedran Škopac and his project partners jumped at it.

“The proposal call was heavily weighted on the design component, which we loved says Škopac, Reimagine Architects Principal and team lead for the NLC’s High Prairie Campus Building project. Unusual for Alberta public institutions, NLC included a paid design competition in their procurement projects. “We brought a 3-D model to the interview, and we had Google glasses available so we would slide the model into them and allow clients to walk through and up and down the stairs.” The project was publicly funded, and exploring the feasibility of net-zero was a priority of the college’s president. When Alberta Infrastructure’s Technical Services groups got involved in reviewing the project, they were impressed that this project was well on its way to a full net-zero design,” explains Škopac.

renewable sources, to compensate for its own energy use. In this case, the building’s design allows it to harness the power of the ground and the sun by incorporating both geothermal energy capture and more than 1,000 photovoltaic panels to attract solar power through the roof. “The geothermal system is something that uses the differential of the ground temperature. It helps your mechanical system by allowing it to work less, explains Škopac. “The implications are quite huge ... Photovoltaic panels not only cost money, but they also consume area. Our task was to design a net-zero ready building so that the PV (photovoltaic) component can be added and you basically plug them in and they perform.”

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

To fit net-zero readiness a building is designed and built with materials and systems to generate its own energy, from clean and

re A 3D model was brought to the interview, to allow clients to walk through and up and down the stairs.

Reimagine

The college was committed to making the 3,161-square-metre building net-zero ready and LEED Silver®-certified. The latter was always part of his team’s proposal, and the net-zero aspect came up in discussions. “In the design development stage we posed the question, ‘What would it entail to do net-zero?’ and the college president was interested,” says Škopac. “We developed a feasibility study with several different options that included passive, active and hybrid strategies.”

Originally slated for a different site, the team had to pivot when it became clear the High Prairie main campus was the best location. The shift brought challenges, including having to tear down the old building, change the elevation of the site and mitigate potential for flooding from a nearby creek. A former helicopter pad also had to be cleaned up to net-zero and LEED® Silver specifications. “There is no storm sewer, so we had to design the site so that it naturally takes all the water around the building diagonally, and

to mitigate the risk of flooding, the solution was to raise the building on a plank that was about four feet tall,” says Škopac. “Once you know this you might notice it. And it does make a difference on the experience of the outside of the building, with it raised ... you are sort of walking up to a temple of knowledge.” The campus building was oriented on the site to maximize natural light and lend views of the dramatic ravine to the west, which now serves as a not only beautiful point of interest but also a source of visual and acoustic control for the building’s occupants. The post-secondary education facility, offering courses from health sciences to welding, was also planning to add a new program to its menu: culinary arts. Something important to the college’s president, this program would also up the ante on cost and energy considerations, given the need to include a commercial kitchen. Mechanical, carpentry and welding bays also had to be included in the new structure, to facilitate practical learning spaces for students in the trades.

Now in operation since 2020, classroom and laboratory spaces in the new NLC campus building are open, bright, and flooded with natural daylight via overheard clerestory windows. In addition to its geo-exchange (geothermal) system and electric-based HVAC system, the building boasts a highperformance envelope with a rain-screen façade and operable fibreglass windows. The building’s impressive sustainability profile owes largely to the design team’s collaborative and integrative process, says Škopac. Finishes, energy performance, fire-rating, and structural materials were each considered, along with cost. The design team implemented high-efficiency mechanical systems, which consist of a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) and local heat pumps, to distribute the energy through the building by communicating through the central building management system, to balance extreme temperatures between mechanical zones.

re The building is a “living learning laboratory,” showcasing its mechanical, plumbing and electrical and HVAC for students to learn from.

Unusual for Alberta public institutions, NLC included a paid design competition in their procurement projects.

The initial design also called for the inclusion of portables, or modular spaces, often used by schools to allow for future expansion. Though useful, they are not typically known for their aesthetic value. “They are generally designed as a shotgun approach to the market,” says Škopac. “What we designed in the proposal stage was to not put them on the ground, but to put them on the second floor on the terraces, that can otherwise be used by the students and be behind the veil. That was a trick to avoid having a negative appearance of modular classrooms, and to ensure flexibility.”

re The building incorporates both geothermal energy capture and more than 1,000 photovoltaic panels to attract solar power through the roof.

To help meet net-zero specifications, the college and design team realized a better approach was to build a larger envelope the college could grow into. The result was to go with a predominantly single-storey building with some taller points, and a two-storey

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

Mass timber, or glulam, was chosen as the best structural material for the building, for its strength, availability and sustainability. “It is not only a truly Canadian product, but it’s also a way to reduce carbon,” says Škopac. “It’s the only real sustainable way to build, and it can be easily modified on site. You have much better chances of adjusting to the impact of something else, like the height of the ceilings, if you are using a malleable material such as wood than if you are using steel. For this particular application, including the welding bay, it was very easy to meet the (safety) requirements by using wood.”

Reimagine

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

“ Mechanical, carpentry and welding bays, as well as a commercial kitchen, were needed to facilitate practical learning spaces for students in the trades.”

main floor plan legend

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Computer Sciences Lab Storage Nursing Simulation Lab Shared Meeting Room Server Room Electrical Room Sprinkler & Fire Pump Room Loading Dock Recycling Centre Nursing Training Women’s Changeroom Men’s Changeroom Mechanics Trades Lab Welding Trades Lab Utility Storage Trades Storage

25 26

portion of the building. Now three years into its tenure as the new campus space for NLC in High Prairie, most of the “extra” space is already being used for classes and administrative staff.

second floor plan legend

Reception Testing Room Counselor Teaching Kitchen Gathering Space Multi-Purpose Room Distance Learning Room E-Learning

12 13 14 15

Space for Program Growth Universal Washroom Student Breakout Space for Program Growth

The client wanted the new campus building to be not just sustainable, but also as a “living learning laboratory,” a factor which closely affected the design decisions, right down (or up) to where to place wires, lights and sprinklers without interfering with the cleanness and open concept of the finished space. Not just a space for students to learn in classrooms, the building’s mechanical, plumbing and electrical design, as well as its HVAC systems, are equally designed as demonstration spaces for students to learn from. “To make it more elegant without elevating everything up, and impacting the height of the ceiling, we decided to drop the beam down and have the services installed directly above the beam,” explains Škopac. “We had to come up with a system that would transfer the load from a horizontal structure to the beams. We knew that it might be tricky, but it worked brilliantly.”

Janitor Room Space for Program Growth Student Breakout Student Breakout Space for Program Growth Multifunctional Room Gathering Space Mechanical Service Roof

Trades Classroom Carpentry Lab

6 OPEN TO BELOW

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7 OPEN TO BELOW

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SECOND FLOOR PLAN floor plan second

6 OPEN TO BELOW

11 17 26

Reimagine

SECOND FLOOR PLANfloor plan main

2 3

A unique feature of the campus building’s envelope is a slatted veil system to mitigate unwanted glare from the sun in certain spaces and at certain times of the day, while still allowing for ample daylight. The veil, which acts as a privacy filter, was carefully designed via energy model simulations, with the goal of saving energy and creating a comfortable interior environment free of heat gain and glare. The added cost of making the NLC’s High Prairie campus net-zero ready was relatively inexpensive, adding about $400,000 to the initial $20-million budget. That’s a value the college will inevitably see a return for on its investment, when long-term operational and maintenance costs are factored in. Crafted for a 200-plus-year lifespan, the Northern Lakes College campus building shines as a strong example of the sustainability and energy efficiency a net-zero ready building can bring. re

re The building is oriented on the site to maximize natural light and lend views of the dramatic ravine to the west.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

“ [Wood] is not only a truly Canadian product, but it’s also a way to reduce carbon. It’s the only real sustainable way to build.”- VEDRAN ŠKOPAC

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT Kwanlin Dün First Nation’s Kashgêk’ Building is a Masterclass in Innovation, Sustainability, and Storytelling by gloria alamrew | photography : ti sheffield

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

re A reception desk echoes the shape of the Chu Níikwän (Yukon River) that has shaped Kwanlin Dün.

Reimagine

“I

t’s all about the story,” says Larry Turner, Kwanlin Dün First Nation’s current Director of Major Capital Projects. The Tagish Kwan, the original people who lived and gathered on this land known today as Whitehorse, called the area Kwanlin, which means “running water through canyon.” They knew that the land upon which a people lived, played and celebrated together was its greatest storyteller. The Chu Níikwän (Yukon River), a bountiful fishing area, and the well-worn paths on the banks of Miles Canyon echo centuries of footsteps that have traveled in search of game to hunt. A millennia of history, traditions and language is cradled within this land. It’s felt in the burial sites, seen in the fishing camps and heard in the whispers of the river’s headwaters. So when it came to the design of Kwanlin Dün’s new central administrative building—Kashgêk’ Building—the Nation knew they didn’t want a run-of-the-mill rectangular box. No, this building needed to tell the story of their people in a way that captured both the imagination, ethos and futurism of the people it intended to serve.

“With a site so physically separated from the actual river, we had to be clever about how we brought it into the visual language.”- Heidi Redman The final competition stage of this important project saw Reimagine Architects up against one other firm, and Turner, Kwanlin Dün First Nation’s (KDFN) then Director of Community Services and Owner’s Representative for the duration of the project, recalls the decision-making process and eventual selection of Reimagine as the successful proponent: “The village had been moved several times in nearly half a century since the Alaska highway was built. Council wanted this building to be a landmark a showcase piece to anchor the Nation and let people know they are here to stay.” The Nation and Council could have gone with a simplistic design that checked off the programming boxes and was budget-friendly, but a showcase piece fit for the KDFN required a firm with a keen sense of intentionality, resourcefulness and the ability to see beyond square footage and use the process of designing and storytelling to guide and shape the final result.

re From above the building resembles a fish in everlasting motion, a nod to the salmon found in the ancient fishing grounds.

Leading a fully integrated design team from the proposal-writing all the way through to move-in day, Reimagine understood the importance—and power—of collaboration. By harnessing the wealth of knowledge the team holds and remaining curious about the many lessons to learn from the client, Reimagine knows that regenerative architecture is the pursuit of architecture as a verb, designing spaces that continue to positively shape and mold people, experiences and futures long after construction is complete. Sustainability, for Reimagine, is much more than the crucial but limited framing of energy-efficiency and resource conservation; sustainability is also about the preservation of pasts and the protecting of futures. “This is a building that is meant to last for the next 100 years,” says Richard Isaac, one of Reimagine Architects two Founding Principals and Kashgêk’ Building’s Project Architect, when asked about its regenerative features. The opportunity for a full circle moment also drew Isaac to the project. When he and Vivian Manasc, Reimagine’s second Founding Principal, first started working together in the late 1980s, much of their work led them to remote northern regions of Canada, working with Indigenous communities in the Yukon. Isaac and Manasc, along with colleague Jeremy Sturgess, designed the Museum of the Beringia (formerly known as the Yukon Visitor’s Centre) in Whitehorse, and Turner just so happened to be the contractor for that Governor General’s

Medal of Excellence award-winning project. So for Isaac, the chance to return to Whitehorse 30 plus years later to continue the important work of storytelling for this region with the KDFN alongside some of the same partners felt like serendipity. For others, like Toni Chui, Reimagine’s senior Interior Designer, the Kashgêk’ Building project was an introduction to the Yukon and the KDFN, and it was an exciting—and intimidating—design challenge. “I knew that the community is very vibrant and proud of their history and culture. This was an opportunity to both do good for the Nation’s citizens and really challenge myself as an interior designer. It was a steep responsibility and one I didn’t take lightly,” says Chui. The resounding note that the design team kept hearing from the community was that the Nation’s connection to the river must be reflected in the building’s final design. Working on a site with no direct views of the river, Heidi Redman, the project’s Landscape Architect from Lees + Associates, knew they had their work cut out for them. “With a site so physically separated from the actual

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

“The feeling you get when you walk in is palpable. It’s very welcoming and you can clearly see that it’s attuned to the Nation’s culture and history.”- Larry Turner

“ The stories were shared with us by citizens and Elders and it’s this kind of knowledge sharing that was crucial to the design, and ultimately, the success of the building.”

Reimagine

- RICHARD ISAAC

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

LEGEND

Universal Washroom Student Breakout Space for Program Growth

Offices Janitor Room Space for Program Growth Student Breakout Student Breakout Space for Program Growth Multifunctional Room Gathering Space

Mechanical Service Roof

1 14Admin Office 2 Space for Program Growth

3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15

OPEN TO BELOW

B A

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SECOND FLOOR PLAN

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Key: 1. Healing Room 2. Elders Room 3. Council Chamber 4. Offices 5. Meeting Room 6. Mechanical Room 7. Kitchenette 8. Washroom 9. Elevator 10. Staff Area 11. Filing Room 12. Reception 13. Records 14. Reference and Research 15. Electrical Room

8 5 15

1:500

4 UP

3 23

OPEN TO BELOW

legend

LEGEND

Universal Washroom Student Breakout Space for Program Growth 5

OPEN TO BELOW

3 4 5

Offices Janitor Room Space for Program Growth Student Breakout Student Breakout Space for Program Growth Multifunctional Room Gathering Space

Mechanical Service Roof

1 Admin Office 14 12 2 Space for Program Growth

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15

second floor plan

OPEN TO BELOW

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

OPEN TO BELOW

Key: 1. Healing Room Key: 2. Elders Room 1. Healing Room 3. Council Chamber 2. Elders Room 4. Offices 3. Council Chamber 5. Meeting Room 4. Offices 5. MeetingRoom Room 6. Mechanical 6. Mechanical Room 7. Kitchenette 7. Kitchenette 8. Washroom 8. Washroom 9. Elevator 9. Elevator 10. Staff AreaArea 10. Staff 11. Filing Room 11. Filing Room 12. Reception 12. Reception 13. Records 13. Records 14. Reference and Research 14. Reference and Research 15. Electrical Room 15. Electrical Room

C 15

main floor plan

1:500

By placing regenerative architecture as the benchmark, what results is a building that embodies the histories shared and the inﬁnite futures to come. Key:

OPEN TO BELOW

B OPEN TO BELOW

OPEN TO BELOW

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

Reimagine

basement floor plan

river, we had to be clever about how we brought it into the visual language.” The landscape design features a dry river bed that meanders across the site so that visitors who arrive at the building cross over it and through several planted berms that mimic the channels the river would naturally create over time. “The headwaters of the dry river bed are right outside the healing room. And the basalt pavers in the exterior courtyard are reflected in the basalt in the reception area.” It becomes clear, then, that the story of the Kashgêk’ Building isn’t just one of a building sitting on top of land, it’s a building that was born from it—a design made entirely possible by the land it inhabits.

1. Healing Room 2. Elders Room 3. Council Chamber Indeed, the building as a whole is a thoughtful mirror held up to 4. Offices 5. Meeting Room the sacred land it is enveloped by. The building, when seen from 6. Mechanical Room 7. resembles Kitchenette above, a fish in everlasting motion, a nod to the salmon 8. Washroom found9. inElevator the ancient fishing grounds. The hexagonal columns along 10. Staff Area 11. Filing Room the exterior mirror the basalt columns found in Miles Canyon while 12. Reception 13. Records the practical purpose of forming a dynamic curtainwall, also serving 14. Reference and Research flooding the interior with lush and plentiful natural light and signifi15. Electrical Room

cantly reducing the need for electrical lighting. The sacred geometry 1:500 of the building’s exterior was then masterfully translated through the interiors by Chui, who worked to ensure that the design story was able to seamlessly flow throughout the space. A series of murals on the glazing tell of the importance of seasonality and the changing of the seasons, with careful attention to detail being paid, like the inclusion of fireweed in the summer mural. This prolific plant, found growing nearly everywhere in the Yukon, is one of the first plants to appear after a forest fire. It is a quiet but poignant symbol of the resilience of KDFN and the survival of its people. Regenerative architecture bears a great responsibility to the environment it sits upon. Materials and resources, especially in a northern, cold-climate context, become even more critical components, with respect to both budgets and respecting the land. “We always have

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

re The hexagonal columns along the exterior mirror the basalt columns found in Miles Canyon.

Reimagine

to go back to that central responsibility to the communities: that we’re spending their money wisely and making design choices that are meaningful,” Chui says. Using local, renewable and easily accessible resources was of the utmost importance. Two different types of cedars were used in the facade, and the interiors feature robust, rarely-seen materials for a building like this, such as the hexagonal porcelain tile whose shape subtly reminds guests of the canyon and the exterior of the building. Higher quality finishes were a necessary and crucial investment for this northern, cold-climate building. The high-performance building envelope systems and fiberglass-framed curtainwall, as well as the solar panels on the roof, ensure a light footprint and occupant well-being, which are key tenets of the regenerative and sustainable architecture that Reimagine champions in all its projects. For the landscape design, Redman used exclusively local stone and native plants like spruce, pine and aspen, which were trees that would have been originally found on this site and held traditional uses for the KDFN. This offered a twofold benefit to the community: the first being longevity and ease of maintenance and the second being the cultural significance to the Nation. Ensuring that native plant species would remain on this land for the next 100 years is an honouring of generations going both backwards and forwards. It’s a promise to the Nation that their story will not be forgotten.

Architecture, when done right, is inherently an educational tool, Isaac says. “Architecture is a medium to express a people’s culture, history, art, and values: a celebration of where you come from.” Critically, to this end, regenerative architecture is not a solitary

practice. It needs collaborators. The story of the Kashgêk’ Building reminds us that we need each other to get to the futurescapes we seek and dream of. “The feeling you get when you walk in is palpable. It’s very welcoming and you can clearly see that it’s attuned to the Nation’s culture and history,” Turner remarks, a sentiment shared by the larger design team as well. “You can immediately tell that this is Kwanlin Dün’s building. It’s very specific to them and their story,” Chui adds. “You won’t see these details on another project because every piece belongs to them.” Whether it was in the creation of multi-functional spaces that are welcoming for all 14 Nations and citizens or bringing in a KDFN artist to design the stainless steel fish inlays, integrated into the paving that circles the site, the Kashgêk’ Building is a testament to what can be achieved through the singular, powerful act of listening. Isaac says, “Indigenous storytelling was the star of the show for this project. The stories were shared with us by citizens and Elders and it’s this kind of knowledge sharing that was crucial to the design, and ultimately, the success of the building.” Collaboration is what Reimagine does. By placing regenerative architecture as the benchmark, what results is a building that embodies the histories shared and the infinite futures to come. What the Kashgêk’ Building teaches us is that everything is a teacher, whether it’s the Elders, the trees, the salmon, or the headwaters of a river—everything has a lesson to share and wisdom to impart. You just have to listen. re

OUTSIDE OF THE BOX An historic Peter Hemingway church is retrofitted as a unique high school for Edmonton’s youth by cheryl mahaffy | photography : cooper & o ’hara

re Designed in 1976 by Peter Hemingway as People’s Church, the building boasts a boxlike Brutalist facade.

or youth who’ve given up on schooling and taken to the streets, Edmonton’s Inner City High School offers hope for a future with purpose.

Reimagine

The school meets marginalized youth where they’re at, reeling in 300 a year with music, sports, art, food and wrap-around support – and enticing many to delve deeper into learning. Most who come are Indigenous and many have no real home, or have bounced from home to home, school to school. “They see this school as the last chance to change their lives,” says Joe Cloutier, cofounder and member of the administration team.

But given personal and family traumas (including residential schooling), the very word “school” can stop a troubled youth at the door. Especially if what’s inside looks conventional. So it was a godsend, in 2010, when the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation raised money to purchase and renovate a truly unconventional building just north of downtown to serve as the high school’s homebase. As a bonus, some students had good memories of visiting

this space during years when it served as a Native Friendship Centre. Designed in 1976 by the late great architect Peter Hemingway as Peoples Church, the building’s boxlike Brutalist facade opens to an airy gymnasium set at a 45-degree angle to the exterior. This offset “box within a box” creates intriguing triangular spaces on the first and second floors. Despite appearing largely windowless, the building is flooded with natural light thanks to banks of skylights, both up top and angled into the basement.

“The building is not a church in the conventional sense – a departure from existing concepts, it presents a series of multi-purpose spaces which affords an extension of the congregation’s religious and social philosophies.” – THE CANADIAN ARCHITECT, OCTOBER 1977

The building’s purchase came at a critical time for the school. Begun in the late 1980s as outreach through drama, it morphed into an accredited school at the request of its young actors. For 17 years the school enjoyed free space in exchange for operating and maintaining the downtown Boyle Street Community League. Then the league building was demolished to make way for Boyle Renaissance, whose mix of new tenants includes a childcare centre. To ensure everyone’s safety while working with sometimes volatile street kids, the school needed a home of its own. After extensive renovations (including a time when Cloutier taped an umbrella to his chair to avoid being rained on), the building was ready to facilitate wrap-around learning. Ground-floor offices hold the mix of counsellors who shepherd students through life traumas, court appearances, home evictions and more. The second story invites creativity with multiple recording studios, open spaces for physical and digital arts and classrooms for introductory courses. In the basement, rooms for more advanced classes surround a much-used kitchen and cafeteria.

Two years ago, the Oilers Foundation gifted the building to the Inner City Youth Development Association, the non-profit organization managing the school. The gift brought a welcome sense of permanence. But with it came energy bills, putting heavy strain on an already lean budget.

Baby box. A new two-story structure, “a

baby box beside the big box,” as Manasc puts it, will house a music room, performance space, storage and a garage to protect the school’s van from vandalism. A second-floor walkway will connect the two buildings.

Inclusive signage. Rooms are being renamed to reflect Indigenous teachings. Student input in that process fostered a sense of ownership and pride in the Indigenous heritage many share. Signage will point the way in three languages: Cree, English and Braille.

RETROFIT ROADMAP

Sound absorption. Acoustic treat-

Comfort and safety. Redesigned

Recognizing the need for extensive energy retrofits, the school teamed up with Reimagine Architects to secure more than $2.9 million in funding, via the infrastructure Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program, along with further funding from Indigenous Services Canada’s Urban Programme for Indigenous People. As a crucial first step, Reimagine engaged staff and students in workshops and walk-throughs that bubbled up insightful suggestions for reducing utility costs and improving overall liveability. Those insights are imbedded in the workplan, which includes the following key elements:

Energy savings. Photovoltaic panels covering the entire roof will generate an anticipated 48kW of electricity a year, reducing energy consumption despite upgrades such as EV chargers. “The photovoltaics will also shade the roof, extending its life by reducing the amount it expands and contracts,” predicts Vivian Manasc, Reimagine founding principal. All light fixtures will be changed to LED, reducing energy used for lighting by about 17 kW a year, or 60 per cent.

ment will absorb unwanted sound from the gymnasium, classrooms and music rooms. “The space has been fantastic, but sound bleed from the gym to the second floor has been a real challenge,” observes Executive Director Nikolai Linden, who attended this school and returned to give back, as others have.

Motorized blinds. Remote controlled

blinds over the upper skylights will reduce glare during the heat of the day and allow the space to be used for events that call for darkness.

Expanded kitchen. A new commercial grade kitchen will include space for food classes so students no longer bump elbows with cooks preparing the meals and snacks that fuel their learning.

front and back vestibules will reduce the cold air coming in and improve sightlines. The building will also gain sprinklers to meet current code.

Accessibility. Enhanced accessibility

features include a new elevator, barrier-free washrooms, ramped entrances with powered doors and designated loading and parking areas.

Exterior enhancements. Lighting, native plants and gathering spaces will soften the building’s face, making it look warmer, livelier, more inviting. There’ll be space designed for outdoor performances, including the ability to project images onto the baby box.

Maximizing space. Basement rooms are being reconfigured to hide pillars that interrupted sightlines, resulting in more but smaller classrooms – exactly what the school needs.

“Vacuum” glazing in high-performance frames. Vac-

uum-insulated glazing replaces existing double glazing in all skylights, to achieve the equivalent of triple pane glass, but with the thickness of just two. The same strategy, along with new high-performance fibreglass frames, will moderate temperatures in an office with large expanses of curtain wall – an office created when the high school moved in by closing the building’s original entrance.

Ceremonial room. For the first time,

the school’s elders will have dedicated space to lead classes and ceremonies. Located near the cafeteria, the area will set a welcoming tone with a medicine wheel and a fireplace.

re The school supports 300 youth each year, with music, sports, art, food and wrap-around support. 41

The building’s most impressive feature is its generous skylights. Vacuum-insulated glazing will replace the existing double glazing in all skylights, to achieve the equivalent of triple pane glass, but with the thickness of just two.

New lease on life

The team has had its share of surprises since construction began in mid-2023. For example, crews found two hidden rooms behind basement drywall, flooded with water due to cracks in the foundation. “Those cracks are likely the cause of cold air people complained about in the basement,” says Miguel Queponds, lead architect on the project. The surprises are due in part to the fact that this is the building’s fifth renovation. Hemingway’s original drawings were found in architectural archives at the University of Calgary, Manasc says, but documentation of work done since has been pieced together “like Frankenstein.” These latest renovations, due for completion in summer 2024, will equip the school to serve 20 per cent more youth while saving more than $60,000 a year, Cloutier says. But what truly excites him is the fact that kids on the margins will study in a building that showcases state-of-the-art sustainability. “A building like this will be a shining spot for the community and a living lesson for the youth.” Manasc agrees. “This will give a whole new lease on life to a distinctive, elegantly proportioned brutalist building, one of the few remaining in Edmonton. When we’re finished, this will be one of the most energy efficient buildings in town. There’s a lot of pride in that.” re

Reimagine

“It’s important for these students to see they’re not getting a poor man’s building.” – VIVIAN MANASC

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

RESIDENCE, ENERGIZED A small-city Polytechnic innovates and elevates the student residence building typology by kent mckay | photography : cooper & o ’hara

ost-secondary campus life is a cherished experience for students. Many travel across the province or country to attend their institution of choice; some even come from abroad. All of them need a place to live. It is hoped that these students will leave their alma mater with an address book full of connections, lifelong friends and formative adventures.

Yet the student residence is not a particularly beloved building type. Institutional in feel, traditional residences provide small segregated rooms to students, along with a handful of sterile common areas to meet basic social and functional needs. When former students look back at life “in res” with fondness, it’s despite the gloomy buildings they called home for years – not because of these spaces. Until now. Vedran Škopac, lead designer and principal at Reimagine, saw a new possibility: that the student residence typology could be elevated. So when Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) approached the design firm with a need for a new building, it provided the perfect opportunity to boldly reimagine the student residence: as a restful sanctuary, and a catalyst for social, emotional and mental well-being.

Reimagine

an opportunity emerges

Both Red Deer Polytechnic and Reimagine Architects were experiencing growth and change when they began collaborating. In fact, they went by different names at the time; Red Deer College and Manasc Isaac Architects, respectively. Both organizations were on

re The amount of social space in this residence has been expanded by factor of 10, and divided into seven distinct “stages,” spread between all five storeys of the residence.

Each “stage” represents a different portion of a student’s journey through their education.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

illustrations: reimagine architects

re Creating single-loaded corridors and boosting social space gives the building an airy sense of connectedness.

the verge of rebranding, new names representing bold futures; both parties were keen to make the new student residence emblematic of these ambitions. RDP wanted their new residence to represent the innovative and leading-edge reputation they wished to cultivate. Reimagine wanted to break new ground that would elevate the student residence building type and showcase its sustainable design chops.

The IPD method marries all members of the design and construction team, including the client, architects, engineers, contractors, framers, and suppliers. It requires, contractually speaking, all partners share the profits that result from savings from the budget – and they share the risk of overruns together, too. The depth of the collaboration resonated with the client, who quickly understood that their role in an IPD process would be significant than in a more typical design-build arrangement.

It was a match made in green building heaven.

“My hope for anyone visiting is that they walk all the way up to the highest point. And just like Alice in Wonderland, wander around, discovering different things and being always engaged with the environment.”- Vedran Škopac

Reimagine

proCess anD praCtiCe

At the project’s inception, the team agreed to use an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) poly-party contract, one that required an unusually high level of collaboration in the design and construction of the residence.

“Collaboration is exactly how the project was meant to unfold and it did,” says Trent Rix, Director, Ancillary and Sport Services at Red Deer Polytechnic. “I think what impressed me about the design and construction process most was always feeling involved in the decision making. When I’ve been involved in design-builds in the past, it feels like you have a bit of input at the beginning and you turn the project over and you don’t have the type of influence that we had on the fly throughout the entire process.” The design team sought input from faculty members, staff, and another critical stakeholder: students, who took a very hands-on role in shaping the design of the residence. One exercise involved creating a life-size “show suite” of what a typical residence unit would look like, and encouraging students

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These beautiful community spaces didn’t increase the budget or the size of the project: instead, Škopac freed up space by Similar products eliminating traditional double-loaded corridors and negotiating standard unit sizes. Units are designed with hidden second beds, allowing the rooms to be smaller and the common space to be larger. This seemingly simple exchange radically shifts the feeling within the residence, adding natural light, views and a sense of connectedness. It feels as if all areas of the building open into an separately system airy, Sold friendly community, More andPAXthis design encourages students to interact and engage with their neighbours, rather than silo students Good to knowunits. in isolated

While students were helping to shape the design of their future $680.00 units, the design team was reimagining the broader role that the residence could play in students’ lives. The boldest change proProduct dimensions posed: to increase the conventional amount of social space in the More Wardrobes building by a factor of 10. “My hope for anyone visiting is that they walk all the way up to the + highest point. And just like Alice in Wonderland, wander around, Page 1 of 2 This generous amount of social space is divided intohttp://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S39128309/ seven distinct discovering different things and being always engaged with the “stages,” spread between all five storeys of the residence. For environment,” says Škopac. Škopac, these common areas represent the soul of the project, designed to bolster the well-being and mental health of residents Students who had lived in the building validate the project team’s and facilitate community for the student body. vision for a space that would improve student well-being. PAX Price and availability may vary by store, and Wardrobe between online and in-store.

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Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

“My favorite story of this building is really the show suite that we did, and having students go through with sticky notes, putting where they would put an outlet, or where they would put a door or a handle.” Urban 24-Inch

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re The exterior is clad in PV panels on the east, south and west faces. This generates about 45% of the

Reimagine

building’s energy requirements.

• WOOD DESIGN & BUILDING MAGAZINE, CANADIAN WOOD COUNCIL AWARD, 2019 • CANADIAN WOOD COUNCIL WOOD WORKS! PRAIRIE WOOD DESIGN AWARD, INDUSTRY AWARD OF EXCELLENCE, 2020 • CLEAN50 TOP PROJECT, 2021 • SABMAG, CANADIAN GREEN BUILDING AWARD - BEST RESIDENTIAL (LARGE), 2022 • UIA 2030 AWARD (INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ARCHITECTS AND UN-HABITAT), OPEN CATEGORY, SHORTLISTED, 2022

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

AWARDS

re The stages feature different views, different ceiling heights, different shapes; and they symbolize seven stages in growth in a student’s life while they’re at Red Deer Polytechnic.

“When I’m in the residence, I feel super positive and since everything is open and bright, if you’re having a bad day, you can just go into one of rooms that has so many windows and admire the nature and just, be good,” said former resident Abby, noting that the residence helped her navigate a challenging time in her life. “I just hope that a lot more people can enjoy this residence because it’s brought a lot of happiness into my life, personally. I’ve had some pretty dark things happen this year and living here has been a breath of fresh air.”

“I do really like the solar panels,” says Hailie, a former student resident. “I think that’s one of the biggest things, as soon as [I’m] even ordering food here, I’m always like, it’s the building with all the solar panels on it.”

SUSTAINABILITY

“It’s been that way since day one,” says Tim Siemens, Manager, Conference and Accommodation Service, Ancillary and Sport Services at Red Deer Polytechnic. “We have a wait list.”

The new residence isn’t only healthy for students; it’s healthy for the planet, too. Reimagine drew upon its nearly 25 years of sustainable design experience to deliver a project that aligned with Red Deer Polytechnic’s vision to become a net-zero campus by 2040. The design team chose a wood structure with a high-performance building envelope, to maximize comfort and thermal performance. According to Škopac, wood was far and away the most sustainable choice.

Reimagine

“Wood is the only really renewable material,” he explains. “This wood is all locally harvested and milled. So the transportation cost was reduced, local economies were supported and the embodied carbon of wood is much lesser than in steel or concrete.”

The façade of the residence is clad in photovoltaic panels on the east, south and west faces – this generates about 45% of the building’s energy requirements. This visible commitment to reducing the footprint of the building is noticed by passers-by and resonated with the students who call the residence home.

All of the innovation, hard work and tightly integrated planning has paid off for the entire stakeholder team: not only has the residence gotten rave reviews from former students, but there is greater demand than supply.

The bold new residence has won accolades from across the country, and even the globe: it was the only North American project to be shortlisted for the prestigious UIA-2030 award, coordinated by the International Union of Architects and UN-HABITAT. Awards aside, for the project team, the real satisfaction is seeing the residence bring joy to those who use it. Siemens still loves touring guests through the residence. “It has a sense of wonder that I think people aren’t ready for when they get here,” he explains. “And when they walk in, they’re here for hours just looking around and then asking more questions and then coming back. It’s built a lot of buzz and people are experiencing the magic just the way we wanted them to.”re

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

Curtain Call

SSRIA funding facilitates leading-edge curtain wall glazing at Concordia University of Edmonton’s new academic building By Vedran Škopac Images: Reimagine Architects

Concordia University of Edmonton’s mission is to foster a community of learning grounded in scholarship and academic freedom, preparing students to be independent thinkers, ethical leaders and citizens for the common good. It is a university small enough that every student is essential, yet large enough to have a global outlook. Concordia’s vision for their campus is to strengthen the existing sense of a small boutique University, while allowing for measured and sustainable growth. With its hands-on approach, Concordia aspires to be recognized nationally and internationally for its graduates’ knowledge, skill, integrity, and wisdom. In addition to a high performance building envelope and building systems, Concordia University’s New Academic Building incorporates sustainable design considerations of material durability, embodied energy and carbon, in situ energy use, toxicity, resource content, availability of materials and systems, capital cost, life-cycle cost, quality of function, and aesthetic quality. Through collaborative discussions with all team members, sustainable efforts concentrated on the building size and orientation, the location of transparent and opaque assemblies, the movement of people, energy, and materials into, out of, and within the building, and the energy intensity of building operations.

vacuum insulated glass unit (vig)

glascurtain fibreglass framing system - infrared

Reimagine

Community engagement was essential to the success of this project. Located in an established neighbourhood, residents were invited to be part of the process of mapping out individual buildings and the broader campus development. Concordia needed a contemporary, imaginative and flexible academic building to inspire students and faculty in their learning, collaboration and personal growth.

The Reimagine team facilitated three extensive community engagement sessions in 2020, at the height of the global pandemic. Community engagement took place online, as well as in person. In response to the pandemic, building areas are designed to facilitate social distancing, with wider corridors, stairs and ramps than usual. All washrooms are gender-neutral, private and for single occupants at a time.

glascurtain fibreglass framing system

An innovative new glazing assembly integrates a fibreglass curtain wall system and Vacuum Insulated Glass [VIG] units.

leading edge

The new academic building will raise the bar for design innovation, and solidify Concordia’s reputation as a leader of sustainable thinking.

The interior of the new Academic Building includes extensive spaces for student gatherings and individual study and is designed to be an attractive space where students, staff and faculty want to be. For Concordia, the new facility provides classrooms, teaching laboratories for chemistry, biology and biochemistry, three larger classrooms with higher ceilings, two large lecture theatres with tiered seating, seventy four offices and for faculty staff and individual work with students, and nine bookable meeting rooms. It is an attractive, inspiring, interconnected, collaborative, sustainable and community-friendly space for students. To deliver a building that not only meets Concordia’s needs, but a building that will raise the bar for sustainable design innovation and position Concordia as a leader of sustainable thinking and prominent creator of sustainable communities, we sought incremental funding. But as one might imagine, there was no budget available for such innovation. Happily, kismet was at play. A new, publicly funded, non-for-profit organisation emerged with a mandate to support test bed projects that demonstrate operational carbon reduction through design innovation, the Smart

Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure Association [SSRIA] put out a call for proposals. Reimagine was one of the first successful applicants, securing over $450,000 of funding for the incremental cost of an improved glazing system: a critically important building assembly in cold climate design. There were three scenarios put forward in our SSRIA application: • Industry minimum requirements (NECB-2017): 114 GJ/sm[ Envelope (0.24 GJ/sm) HVAC (0.57 GJ/sm) Electrical (0.33 GJ/sm)] • Industry Target: Industry optimum requirements at year 2020 (2030 Challenge Standard) 0.8GJ/sm • Energy Design Solution at Schematic Phase: 0.87 GJ/sm [ Envelope 0.20 GJ/sm, HVAC: 0.47 GJ/sm, Electrical 0.20 GJ/sm] Reimagine worked closely with GlasCurtain – the fibreglass curtain wall framing system manufacturer, Revolve Engineering who undertook the energy modelling and optimisation of the innovative assembly, and BuildSense consultants who provide on-site monitoring of the actual performance of the enhanced system in a sideby-side comparison to the adjacent more conventional aluminium framed triple-glazed glazing system. The innovative aspect of this reimagined glazing assembly integrates the proudly Canadian fibreglass curtain wall system, and a relatively new product, Vacuum Insulated Glass [VIG] units. VIG units perform approximately two to three times better than triple-glazed sealed units. Our team worked collaboratively to optimize the layout, quantities and modification of details to accommodate the new Glascurtain and VIG system.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

Located on a former surface parking lot, immediately adjacent to a residential street, Concordia’s New Academic Building is approximately 5,223 m2, in a split-level, two-storey and three-storey configuration. This configuration was appropriate for the sloped site. There are two levels of underground parking accommodating 121 parking stalls. With its underground parking and generous landscape design, NAB is taking away the asphalt and replacing it with more greenspace than the site provided before the building was built.

Reimagine was one of the first successful applicants for SSRIA funding, securing over $450,000 of funding for this innovative glazing system.

In order to optimize the available funding, approximately seventy percent of the building is glazed using a conventional high-performance aluminium-framed curtain wall system with triple-glazed sealed units, while the remaining thirty percent features the innovative fibreglass-framed system with VIG units. This means that the innovative glazing forms less than thirteen percent of the overall vertical envelope. According to our calculations and considering the National Energy Code for Buildings NECB-2017 prescriptive method minimum to be the baseline; we estimated that this enhanced curtain wall will reduce the annual green-house gas emissions by over six percent, which translates to approximately 20 tonnes of C02 saved.

We examined two options to refine the design strategy:

Reimagine

1. Glazing/Frame: Conventional triple-glazed sealed units in Alumicor Thermawall 2600 frames with a U-value of 1.1 and SHGC of 0.3

2. Glazing/Frame: Combination of GlasCurtain framing with U-value of 0.63 and SHGC with VIG units and 0.3. Both the curtain wall systems perform better than the standard in the industry’s NECB 2017 minimum value of U-1.9 and SHGC of 0.3.

Option 1 performs 6.8% better than the NECB 2017 baseline. The GHG saving is estimated at 43.4 tonnes per year. Option 2 performs 10.9% better than the NECB baseline building. The GHG savings for Option 2 is 50.7 tonnes per year. Further, the comparative analysis shows that Option 2 with the Vacuum Insulated Glazing reduces energy use by 4.4% over Option 1 and 10.9% over the NECB baseline. As the better-performing fibreglass framing and vacuum insulated glazing was only used on a portion of the building, the savings would have been even higher for an increased amount of the glazing area. As part of the funding agreement, Reimagine and our group of consultants are required to report the performance results back to SSRIA to prove the actual savings in greenhouse gas emissions with the innovative curtain wall system. That will then become public information which will help educate and inspire the broader community. We are confident that this envelope innovation will be more commonly specified in the next five years. re

what’s trending

Amii Emerging An Edmonton event and collaboration hub sparks conversations about artificial intelligence and the circular economy by graeme matichuk | photography : cooper & o ’hara

ong before artificial intelligence became a topic of dinner table conversation, mathematician Alan Turing theorized that machines could think like humans. Decades later, organizations like Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) are paving the way for the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Amii defines their industry role as a “virtuous circle”: creating machine intelligence by supporting cutting edge research and leveraging scientific advancement into industry adoption. In a nutshell, this non-profit supports artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) across many touchpoints: mentoring students, funding research fellows, connecting AI/ML industry professionals, and coaching businesses through their AI adoption journeys. During the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, with cases soaring and remote working commonplace in office jobs, downtowns worldwide became ghost towns. The shift to remote working flattened the typical hustle and bustle of downtown during the workday. Amii, with their offices in a downtown Edmonton tower, saw an opportunity in late 2021 to help reignite the city’s core and entice global talent to Edmonton’s growing tech sector. The non-profit planned a milestone AI Week to celebrate their twentieth anniversary and attract talent from across the world to Edmonton with educational seminars and networking events.

Reimagine

Amii invited Reimagine to help them with “a significant renovation and design project as part of our footprint at First and Jasper in the new year, including an expansion into a more publicly visible portion of the tower.”

The space Amii selected to transform was formerly the Williams Engineering Edmonton headquarters on the second-floor podium of the recently renovated First and Jasper building. The Williams team had renovated this space a few years prior, and in early 2022, they downsized their office footprint by relocating to the adjacent tower. Amii dreamed of an event space to host AI Week’s key events and educational seminars year-round, a collaborative co-working and

meeting space to connect AI/ML researchers and students in their work, and social spaces immersed to invite community connections. With only months to bring this vision to life in time for the landmark AI Week, the stakes were high. Amii hired Sustainable Buildings Consortium (SBC), a non-profit designbuilder, and Reimagine Architects, a leading sustainable design firm focused on regenerative architecture, in early 2022. By May of 2022, design-builders SBC and contractors SWAT Team Enterprises completed the first phase in time for AI Week and completed the rest of the space just a few months later. Part of what made this ambitious timeline work was the wealth of “circular economy” opportunities that emerged. During the early design site visits, one such opportunity appeared immediately - dozens of desks, chairs, and stools were left behind. Rather than discarding this quality, commercial furniture, the SBC/Reimagine team first catalogued what would be useful for Amii

old strathcona

and then reached out to local non-profits who could use this furniture - rather than condemning it to the landfill. “Edmonton is chock-full of existing infrastructure,” the project’s interior designer, Toni Chui says. “Too often, perfectly good spaces are demolished, filling up the landfills with materials that are well-suited for reuse in the circular economy.” The circular economy represents a long-overdue shift from treating our resources as expendable to understanding that resources, too, have a life cycle. Work in construction and technology can have massive impacts at each stage of the circular economy. Chris Vandervelde, site superintendent with SWAT Team Enterprises who led the construction team, highlights that he worked with local reuse centres to ensure a maximum amount of unused construction materials were donated to be upcycled on other non-profit projects or recycled.

The kitchen and café is equipped to support events in the event space, and a lunch room provides a place for Amii staff to gather and relax.

borden park

Drawing from a beloved piece of public art called “The Willow” in Borden Park, the team tied in dichroic window film and colourful acoustic ceiling clouds.

The demolition drawings, then, were actually “upcycling drawings.” For example, large glazing panels were reused and integrated as windows to seamlessly connect the various zones of the space. And more than three quarters of the existing electrical fixtures were reused in the new design. Ben Rajewski, the project’s electrical engineer, also designed the original space a decade ago. He remarked that efficiency in electrical design too often means total demolition and blank canvases - but it can actually be more efficient to upgrade existing fixtures. “It’s not only about saving material, but also about saving money for the client,” he added. With all the furniture either donated or earmarked for Amii, the space became an open canvas for Amii’s vision to take shape. “The idea of designing Amii’s new space as a ‘love letter to Edmonton’ came up very early in the engagement phase,” Chui explains. “Amii wanted the space to be a destination in Edmonton, a place where Edmontonians could feel pride - and it was important to highlight some of the best things about Edmonton.”

old strathcona

Scattered throughout the space, social zones invite conversation with walls clad in real slices of distinctive red brick, vintage sofas, and mosaic tile.

When touring Amii’s office space early in the project, the design team was admiring a mural by local artist Hamburger Hands featuring Edmonton’s iconic buildings, neighbourhoods, and landscapes, Chui recalls. “Inspired by this piece, and the idea of celebrating the most joyful elements of our fair city, the theme of ‘a love letter to Edmonton’ was born.” Each zone in the 1,500m2 space expresses an iconic neighbourhood of Edmonton. Walking through the main entry, visitors experience the bustle of downtown Edmonton with neon signs inspired by the local neon sign museum, collaborative workstation clusters, meeting rooms, and a polished concrete floor. Inspired by Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park, a gathering place known for bringing people together - acoustic “sails” in the ceiling reflect the distinctive Heritage Amphitheatre, and the flowing carpet pattern with rich turquoise and blue hues recalls the North Saskatchewan river.

Reimagine

Mirroring the welcoming cafés of historic Old Strathcona, the kitchen and café is equipped to support events in the event

space and a lunch room provides a place for Amii staff to gather over lunch. Scattered throughout the space, social zones invite conversation with walls clad in real slices of distinctive red brick, vintage sofas, and mosaic tile. And in the quieter corner of the floor, nestled away from the event space and around the corner from the bustling downtown workstations, a striking art installation - The Willow - in Borden Park inspired the team to tie in dichroic window film and colourful acoustic ceiling clouds. Amii’s philosophy mirrors the circular economy: their “virtuous circle” principle recognizes that AI/ML exists in a cycle, from research to implementation, and they have positioned themselves with multiple touchpoints in this cycle. The research-to-industry cycle is a critical loop for architecture and engineering as well.

Chui explains that the industry research she has studied together with Reimagine’s principal architect, Vivian Manasc, fed directly into her work with Amii. “In the shadow of the pandemic, there has been a shift in the industry to develop interior strategies for contemporary workspaces that support a new hybrid work modality,” she shares. “This means less traditional, dedicated workstations and offices in favour of a more flexible ‘hoteling’ strategy.” Amii has their sights set high: to be the number-one-ranked AI/ML research institute in the world by 2025. And they are clearly ahead of the curve: from their leadership in reigniting Edmonton’s core, to envisioning their space as a place that employees would want to work in, to the virtuous circle that reminds us how important our work is. Artificial intelligence and sustainable, regenerative design are trending, and for a good reason: they have the power to transform the world. re

downtown

Visitors experience the bustle of downtown Edmonton with neon signs inspired by the local neon sign museum, collaborative workstation clusters, meeting rooms, and a polished concrete floor.

old strathcona

downtown

This view shows the overhead bulkheads that helped ground the space and highlight different zones. For example, the turquoise bulkhead was custom built with Tectum acoustic panels and shrouded in white oak trim to ground the meeting space below. The white bulkhead in the distance was actually existing from the original Williams space - including its potlights. The glazed meeting rooms and their light fixtures were also existing, with refreshed flooring and a fresh coat of paint.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

The café’s comfortable atmosphere extends into a nook on the edge of the Downtown collaboration spaces. Amii wanted a space where their researchers and student could store board games and meet for casual conversation while enjoying downtown Edmonton’s beautiful vista. The overhead globe light was reused from the former Williams office space.

Indigenous Arrival Edmonton International Airport creates an interpretive centre to celebrate the region’s Indigenous cultures by tiffany creyke | photos : curtis comeau

public eye

here are 50 distinct Indigenous languages in Canada. These dialects are spread across distinct Indigenous Nations within Canada. Let’s take a moment to process this, as the diversity of the First Nation, Inuit, and Metis peoples are rarely represented in our public built environments. The Edmonton International Airport (EIA) Indigenous Interpretive and Retail Centre (IIRC) creates an Indigenous interpretive site that shares with visitors from around the world the strength, diversity, and richness of our region’s Indigenous cultures, and demonstrates the distinct qualities and practices that make each community unique.

The IIRC was created to lend a sense of place in the terminal. A platform to expand who is being represented in our public places of migration through sensory knowledge. Interactive oral history programming to engage passengers is articulated through music, star map sky stories, treaty territories, land and river navigation, retail, furniture, and textiles.

Collaborative Design

The IIRC project was carried out in partnership with Indigenous organizations of the region, including the regions EIA serves as “the gateway to the north.” IIRC was authentically and thoughtfully designed and created with the guidance and collaboration of Elders and a Knowledge Keepers Circle from distinct and separate groups. These include First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Inuvialuit: with representation from Treaty Six and Treaty Eight, the Métis Nation of Alberta, Métis Settlements General Council, the Dene Nation, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Inuit Communities in Edmonton and many other contributors. Reflecting the diversity of Indigenous communities in the region is one component to this project’s collaborative design process. Indigenous voices are not historically seen or heard through urban architecture

or urban design. Indigenous Elders and Indigenous professionals in the built-environment are no longer shrinking themselves to be as small as possible, to survive. The IIRC is a representation of how Indigenous voices claim space in urban environments, to make others feel what is beyond that which can be seen.

Fabrication

What makes this project unique is that each component was custom designed and fabricated for this specific interpretation of the many forms of oral history. In alignment with Reimagine’s vision of regenerative architecture, sustainable design strategies were employed through display cases, the centre table, the benches, and the felt ceiling. The ideas, insights, and wisdom shared by Reimagine team members were translated through the careful selection of materials such as wood, copper and felt, each fabricated as elements of craft and art. The space features symbolic patterns, including a water motif on the carpet and an abstract representation of a beaver dam at the centre table where storytelling sessions take place. Interactive walls were incorporated to engage visitors and provide a deeper understanding of Indigenous land and settlements across Canada. The walls offer interactive displays on constellations and star stories, accompanied by barcodes that provide access to online information that is regularly updated.

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

Interactive walls engage visitors with displays on constellations and star stories, accompanied by barcodes that provide access to information that is regularly updated.

photo: marwa alshara

Navigation

Reimagine

The linkage between western and traditional sciences come together in this exploration, allowing the passenger to take away a connection to aviation. Navigation and mobility can be understood in several different ways by Indigenous groups in the IIRC. For example, the Red River cart speaks directly to the Indigenous experience of mobility — and some Red River cart trails can still be seen from overhead to this day. When moving about the landscape in northern regions, in addition to the sky, the landscape was a large factor in way-finding. This involved noting the direction of the snow drifts formed and shaped by the wind.

The design revolves around navigation and mobility and uses the sun, the moon, the stars, and the landscape as storytelling devices. It is essential to remember that we all play a role as stewards of the environment, regardless of our political beliefs. Examining climate justice from multiple angles, including intergenerational perspectives, challenges our Western concept of time, which tends to focus solely on the present. Indigenous navigation and mobility has a genealogical timeline, extending into the past and the future - it considers the pathways of our ancestors.

Indigenous Retail Centre

The space also serves as a platform for Indigenous retail, showcasing a network of artists and connection points between goods and products. This initiative supports Indigenous businesses, and provides visitors with the opportunity to shop online, further amplifying visitors’ understanding of the diversity of Canada’s First Nation, Inuit, and Métis peoples. re

The space features symbolic patterns, including a water motif on the carpet and an abstract representation of a beaver dam at the centre table where storytelling sessions take place.

reframe

Shine Bright Like An Emerald Reimagine recognized by the Alberta Emerald Foundation Reimagine was honoured to be named the winner of the ‘Business’ category at the 32nd Annual Emerald Awards. This program, widely considered the top sustainability award in Alberta, recognized Reimagine’s 26-year commitment to leading the way for sustainable architecture in Alberta, and for creating built environments that live lightly upon the earth.

As an Emerald Award winner, Reimagine’s work will be covered in various media created by the Emerald Foundation, published over the next year, including a documentary video, podcast, and more!

Follow the Emerald Foundation’s latest and greatest by scanning the QR code!

Creating joyful journeys toward regenerative architecture

photo: alberta emerald foundation

What’s The Big Idea? Reimagine recently published its latest Corporate Sustainability Report, which cross-references 7 of its foundational ideas with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These serve as a roadmap on our journey toward regenerative architecture!

We prioritize health and wellness for our team and design spaces that enhance physical, mental, and emotional health.

HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Reducing operational energy use and embodied carbon is critical to our responsibility to the community in each building that we design.

ENERGY AND CARBON illustration: ava xu

2023 Corporate Sustainability Report

Relationships and partnerships are crucial to our sustainability practices

VALUE ALIGNMENT

7BIG

IDEAS Our studios are located in the heart of cities, and our work seeks to make urban life more joyful and sustainable.

LIVABLE CITIES

To read the full CSR report, scan the QR code below!

Our spaces respond to the needs of all learners, teachers, and the community.

AUTHENTIC EDUCATION

Our work serves our clients and the larger community.

EMPOWERED COMMUNITIES

At the heart of our practice lies a reimagined relationship between nature, the community, and the built environment.

REGENERATIVE ARCHITECTURE

Contents © 2023 by Reimagine Architects. No part of this publication should be reproduced in print or on websites without written permission. Non-deliverable mail should be directed to: 10225 100 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0A1

This publication is printed on FSC certified paper from a responsibly managed forest.

EDMONTON • CALGARY • VANCOUVER • BUCHAREST

reimagine.ca

@ReimagineArch

Joyful Journeys Toward Regenerative Architecture.

@Reimagine Architects

@ReimagineArch