Canadian Architect February 2017

CANADIAN ARCHITECT FEB/17

CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE RAIC

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CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT

FEBRUARY 2017

BRANDON WALLIS

6 VIEWPOINT

Editor Elsa Lam considers the rapidly expanding world of prefabricated construction.

9 NEWS

Office OU to design museum complex master plan in South Korea; MGA completes largest mass timber building in the United States; Bruce Kuwabara, FRAIC receives honorary doctorate.

13 RAIC JOURNAL

Decision reached on the proposed designation change; inside the newly revised Document Six; introducing RAIC President Ewa Bieniecka, FIRAC .

22

22 STUDIO BELL, HOME OF THE NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE A stunning centre for musical exhibition, performance and recording by Allied Works Architecture with Kasian Architecture lands in Calgary. TEXT Graham Livesey

29 WINNIPEG PREFAB Downtown buildings by BridgmanCollaborative Architecture and the collaborative of DIN Projects, PSA Studio and David Penner Architect make innovative use of prefabricated composite façade panels. TEXT Jeffrey Thorsteinson

34 BROCK COMMONS TALLWOOD HOUSE KK LAW, COURTESY OF NATURALLY:WOOD

JACQUELINE YOUNG

Acton Ostry Architects has almost completed the world’s tallest contemporary mass timber tower, a student residence at UBC in Vancouver. TEXT Bruce Haden

38 REPORT

A selection of new tiles introduced at this year’s Cersaie trade show is presented by Shannon Moore.

41 CALENDAR

Architecture exhibitions in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Charlottetown.

42 BACKPAGE

Chloe Town examines how architects Tye Farrow, FRAIC and Mark Tholen, MRAIC are creating innovative forms by repurposing a mechanical adhesion technology originally developed for car brake pads.

COVER Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, by Allied Works Architecture with Kasian Architecture (Associate Architect).

Photo by Jeremy Bittermann.

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THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF DESIGN AND PRACTICE / THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE RAIC

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/17

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VIEWPOINT

ABOVE For Humber River Hospital in Toronto, PCL Construction manufactured 360 washroom modules in an indoor facility, leveraging the efficiencies of prefabrication.

Manufactured Assemblies Construction is wasteful. According to reports from the United States, a third of materials that come onto a construction site go out in dumpsters—and more than half of workers’ time is squandered waiting for materials, tools, and the completion of tasks by other trades.

More efficient construction methods are a no-brainer, but the industry is notoriously slow to change. It’s about to get a boost with the recent relocation of PCL Construction’s offsite service division to an 7,500-squaremetre facility in Toronto. Including three construction bays and two acres of storage, this operation adds to the company’s existing capacity for producing modular components for heavy industry in three Alberta facilities and one California facility. According to PCL’s Terry Olynyk, the company’s expansion of offsite services is a way to “hit refresh on current design-build procurement models,” optimizing design and construction processes to reduce time, cost and errors.

The world of prefabricated construction goes beyond the washroom pods and classroom modules that often first come to mind—“pods and mods” as Amy Marks, president of consultancy XSite Modular, put it at a recent symposium organized by PCL to launch their expanded facility. Instead, says Marks, there’s a continuum of off-site construction methods. These range from intelligent materials like preformed coves and tile panels, to components like prefabricated balconies and closets, to subassemblies such as headwalls, pre-packaged mechanical skids, and exterior wall panel systems.

Architects, observes Marks, are often worried that pre-fabrication limits their involvement in design. In fact, “most of the items that we prefab are not that interesting,” she says.

“Prefabrication frees up architects to work on the more fun and challenging parts of the design, and allows them to get paid for their real talents.” When it comes to higher-order prefabrication—say, larger pieces of buildings, like the façade panels at Brock Commons in Vancouver (see page 34)—architects retain their

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role as the lead designers. They bring design intelligence and systems thinking to conceiving modular components that fit the needs of the project, and that can be efficiently manufactured, transported and installed.

One of the thorniest issues limiting the potential of prefabrication is resistance from some trade unions, who see these technologies as a threat to their livelihood. The trades still retain authority in areas such as electrical systems, where even if a system is premanufactured, a registered electrician must be brought on site to certify the work. One way to navigate this, suggests Marks, is to have the trades themselves purchase and install the system, at a pre-agreed mark-up.

In the broader picture, there is much for trades to gain if they are actively and positively involved in prefab plants, argues Marks. Indoor manufacturing provides a safer, more predictable work environment. This creates an opportunity to increase the diversity picture in construction by providing employment for women, veterans, and others who might not be able to assume the risks inherent to traditional job sites.

The push towards greater prefabrication in buildings may ultimately come from clients, as they demand greater productivity, lower costs, tighter timelines and better job site safety.

In Singapore, bathroom pods are now required on all government projects. In China, a prefabricated 30-storey hotel was erected in 15 days back in 2012, and more recently, a fully prefabricated hospital was shipped from China to the UK. We’ve come a long way from the days of individually custom-built windows, but what other potentials might new construction systems bring? As we continue to respond to a rapidly evolving green economy, the role of premanufactured components in buildings will undoubtedly continue to increase. The question is whether the construction industry, including architects, will choose to see this as a threat— or as an opportunity.

Elsa Lam

­­EDITOR ELSA LAM, MRAIC ART DIRECTOR ROY GAIOT ASSISTANT EDITOR SHANNON MOORE EDITORIAL ADVISOR IAN CHODIKOFF, OAA, FRAIC CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ANNMARIE ADAMS, FRAIC ODILE HÉNAULT DOUGLAS MACLEOD, NCARB, MRAIC REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS HALIFAX CHRISTINE MACY, OAA REGINA BERNARD FLAMAN, SAA MONTREAL DAVID THEODORE CALGARY GRAHAM LIVESEY, MRAIC WINNIPEG LISA LANDRUM, MAA, AIA, MRAIC VANCOUVER ADELE WEDER, HON. MRAIC VICE PRESIDENT & SENIOR PUBLISHER STEVE WILSON 416-441-2085 x105 SALES MANAGER FARIA AHMED 416-441-2085 x106 CUSTOMER SERVICE / PRODUCTION LAURA MOFFATT 416-441-2085 x104 CIRCULATION CIRCULATION@CANADIANARCHITECT.COM PRESIDENT OF IQ BUSINESS MEDIA INC. ALEX PAPANOU HEAD OFFICE 101 DUNCAN MILL ROAD, SUITE 302 TORONTO, ON M3B 1Z3 TELEPHONE 416-441-2085 E-MAIL elam@canadianarchitect.com WEBSITE www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian Architect is published monthly by iQ Business Media Inc..

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PROJECTS Office OU named winner of competition for museum complex in South Korea.

Toronto-based design firm Office OU has been announced as the winner of South Korea’s International Competition for the National Museum Complex Master Plan of the New Administrative City (Sejong City). Chosen as the winning design among 81 entries from 26 countries, Office OU’s concept for Sejong Museum Gardens will play a crucial role in shaping the cultural landscape of the new metropolis.

Already home to 36 government agencies and over 300,000 residents, Sejong City’s growing political and administrative importance will be complemented by the National Museum Complex. In total, nearly a dozen museums will be spread throughout the site.

Office OU ’s master plan draws on surrounding landscape typologies as well as the urban fabric to create a permeable, interconnected series of individually programmed spaces organized around a central square.

Working in partnership with South Korea’s Junglim Architecture, Office OU will initially design the first three buildings of the National Museum Complex: The National Children’s Museum, the Central Storehouse and the Central Operations Centre. www.office-ou.com

Vancouver-based MGA and DLR Group complete largest mass timber building in United States.

Vancouver-based Michael Green Architecture (MGA), in conjunction with architect of record DLR Group, has designed the largest mass timber building in the United States.

Located in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighbourhood, the seven-storey T3 (Timber, Technology, Transit) building includes 20,810 square metres of office and retail space and uses over 3,600 cubic metres of exposed mass timber. The engineered wood components— chiefly glulam and nail laminated timber (NLT)—are used for the roof, floors, columns, beams and furniture. A significant amount of the lumber used to fabricate the NLT comes from trees killed by the mountain pine beetle.

As a result of its wood structure, T3 was erected at a speed exceeding conventional steel-framed or concrete buildings. In less than 10 weeks, 16,700 square metres of timber framing went up. It is also lighter than comparable steel or concrete structures, reducing the depth and extent of excavation and foundations. The embodied carbon in the wood structural system is lower than that found in conventional buildings. www.mg-architecture.ca

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 00/17

NEWS

ABOVE The Children’s Museum is one of three buildings that Toronto-based Office OU will design as part of their competition-winning commission to shape the National Museum Complex Master Plan in Sejong City, South Korea.

CannonDesign breaks ground on new Student Centre at York University.

Construction recently began on York University’s new Student Centre in Toronto, designed

by CannonDesign. The 126,000-square-foot building will be the second student centre on the campus, complementing the services offered in the original centre while responding to the changing needs of the large and diverse campus community.

Before any design options were created, an extensive student engagement exercise was undertaken to ensure the building reflected student needs. As CannonDesign’s Hector Tuminan explains, “Almost everything in the design was directly drawn from student surveys.”

Set to open in spring 2018, the building aims to serve as an inclusive “living room” for student life that is broadly embraced by the campus community. It will house space to satisfy the most critical student needs, notably: study, meeting, lounge, studio, club offices, assembly and multi-faith prayer spaces.

The design includes an array of user-led initiatives, including bicycle parking, showers, green roofs, high-performance glazing and curtain wall, gender-neutral washrooms, and extensive use of natural lighting to promote principles of community safety, accessibility and environmental sustainability. www.cannondesign.com

BLTA and Quadrangle part of Broccoliniled consortium to design new RadioCanada facility in Montreal.

The CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors has approved a proposal for building the new Maison Radio-Canada broadcasting facilities in Montreal.

Real estate developer and builder Broccolini will lead a consortium consisting of Montrealbased Béïque Legault Thuot Architectes (BLTA) and Toronto-based Quadrangle. Other consortium members are mechanical and electrical engineers Dupras Ledoux and structural engineers NCK .

Ref lecting Radio-Canada’s mandate to be more open and accessible, key features of the proposal include interconnected public spaces, ample natural light on all f loors, and clear wayfinding. Versatile workspaces for creators and programmers will support the collaborative workplace strategy of the digital, multi-platform public broadcaster.

Construction is set to begin in September 2017 and the project is slated for completion in January 2020. www.quadrangle.ca

Winter Stations installations transform The Beaches in Toronto.

The windswept beaches of Toronto are coming alive once more this winter as the third annual Winter Stations design competition transforms lifeguard stations into pop-up installations.

Five winning designs were selected out of hundreds of submissions by the design jury of the Winter Stations Competition. They are joined by three student installations.

Installations include: I See You Ashiyu by Asuka Kono and Rachel Salmela (Toronto); North by studio PERCH (Montreal); Collective Memory by Mario García (Barcelona, Spain) and Andrea Govi (Milan, Italy); BuoyBuoyBuoy

by Dionisios Vriniotis, Rob Shostak, Dakota Wares-Tani and Julie Forand (Toronto); The Beacon by Joao Araujo Sousa and Joanna Correia Silva (Porto, Portugal); Flotsam and Jetsam by University of Waterloo; The Illusory

by Humber College School of Media Studies +

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 02/17

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NEWS IT, School of Applied Technology; and Midwinter Fire by Daniels Fac-

ulty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto.

The installations will be open to the public from February 20 until March 27, 2017.

www.winterstations.com

WHAT’S NEW OAA Legal Opinion: Lowest Fee Not Required in Government Procurement.

One of the largest misperceptions within the MASH (municipal, academic, school, hospital) sector is a requirement that all procurement must be based on the lowest price, a sentiment that then trickles down into the larger construction and design industry and beyond.

The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has issued a professional interpretation that the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive does not apply to architectural services, and commissioned a legal opinion to get a definitive ruling.

Ontario construction lawyer Glenn W. Ackerley of WeirFoulds LLP, concluded that the perception regarding a lowest-fee requirement when procuring architectural services “is mistaken” and that owners are free to instead focus on “best quality of service or design.”

The OAA goes further to suggest that any client or owner must make quality their sole focus. Quality should matter a great deal to the MASH sector, to the people of Ontario as the end users of these facilities, and to the Government itself as both owner and responsible steward of our tax dollars, it argues.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ guide, Selecting a Professional Consultant, produced in collaboratation with the National Research Council Canada and the Government of Canada, explores “lifecycle savings through design innovation,” finding that even a modest increase in design cost (0.3 percent) returns “savings in the ratio of 11:1”.

Geddes, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and more. www.rom.ca

KPMB Architects founding partner receives Honorary Degree from McMaster.

Bruce Kuwabara, FRAIC, of KPMB Architects has been presented with the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by McMaster University.

Born and raised in Hamilton, Kuwabara earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Toronto in 1972. He worked at George Baird Architect and at Barton Myers Associates before co-founding Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects in 1987.

Kuwabara built an architectural career that has produced award-winning public and private buildings across Canada, the United States and in Europe. His projects include Canada’s National Ballet School, Manitoba Hydro Place in Winnipeg, the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Athletes’ Village, now known as the Canary District.

Reflecting on this honour, Kuwabara said: “I am dedicating this honorary degree to my parents—Mas and Esther Kuwabara—who along with 22,000 Japanese Canadians survived three years and nine months of internment as enemy aliens of Canada during the Second World War. For me, architecture is the vehicle through which I have discovered the world and my identity as a Canadian of Japanese ancestry. Architecture is ultimately an agent of change to make the world we want: a world of enriching landscapes and vibrant cities that support engagement, creativity, innovation, sustainability, understanding, pluralism and wellness.” www.kpmbarchitects.com

www.oaa.on.ca

RAIC supports bill that would create tax credits for historic places.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has expressed strong support for Bill C-323, which would create a 20 percent federal tax credit for the rehabilitation of properties that appear on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bill would also allow owners to write-off spending on heritage restoration at a faster rate than is currently the case.

The RAIC believes there is an important federal role for leadership in heritage conservation. Policies that promote preservation and reuse of historic properties have demonstrated huge economic returns on investment through job retention and creation, tourism, and enhanced property values. Tax incentives have the potential to protect the history that heritage cultural resources represent, and to promote respectful redevelopment in our communities. In addition, conservation, repair and adaptation fight climate change by producing less carbon than new construction.

A separate organization, the National Trust for Canada, has released a tool kit to help Canadians express their support for Bill C-323.

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Gallery of Modern Design opens at the Royal Ontario Museum.

The Royal Ontario Museum has opened its new Gallery of Modern Design, tracing the development of design in Europe and North America from 1910 to 1965.

On display are a variety of objects prized for their beauty, rarity, and cultural significance. The objects, some of display for the first time, include design elements by Paul Frankl, Gilbert Rohde, Norman Bel

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2017-01-30 5:26 PM

5th INTERNATIONAL LAFARGEHOLCIM AWARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

Total Prizes of $2 Million We are committed to sustainable construction and projects that support PROGRESS - PEOPLE PLANET - PROSPERITY - PLACE. LafargeHolcim Awards Silver 2014 – $50,000 USD. Lieu de vie on the new Paris-Saclay university campus hosts a mix of activities including indoor and outdoor sports facilities, food outlets and various public spaces across more than 4,000 sq m of floor area. Using rough materials, robust and long lasting techniques, the “urban shelf” is organized vertically with its different activities superimposed on one another, using the roof as a panoramic playground for football and basketball games. Paris, France

LafargeHolcim Awards Gold prize – $100,000 USD. The central flower and vegetable garden at Benny Farm was always the neighborhood focus of social interaction. At the core of the design is the establishment of participatory models and investment in sustainable construction, centered on common energy, water & waste management. Montreal, Canada

Enter your project in one of these categories: l Architecture, building and civil engineering l Landscape, urban design and infrastructure l Materials, products and construction technologies Professional and Next Generation awards.

LafargeHolcim Acknowledgment Prize – $7,500 USD. The sustainable library and classroom building demonstrates environmental responsibility and stewardship for the student body and the community. Such forces are put to work in an ingenious way by the warped concrete roof that is shaped so as to increase the velocity of air currents, thus eliminating the need for mechanical ventilation. Vancouver, Canada

LafargeHolcim Acknowledgment Prize – $25,000 USD. Heritage Reframed: University building renovation and extension.

The complete DFALD restores the architecture, landscape and urban design within the round of Spadina Crescent. The site’s hydrology is evident in the roof profile, shaped to guide water into pools, bio-swales and ultimately to cisterns for irrigation. Toronto, Canada

For more information: application.lafargeholcim-awards.org

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13 Festival of Architecture Join us for the RAIC/OAA annual Festival of Architecture taking place May 24-27, 2017 in Ottawa. Registration opens soon at: festival2017.raic.org

Festival d’architecture Joignez-vous à nous pour le Festival d’architecture de l’IRAC/OAA qui aura lieu du 24 au 27 mai 2017, à Ottawa.

L’inscription débutera bientôt sur le site : festival2017.raic.org/fr

Indigenous Architecture and Design Symposium The RAIC’s first International Indigenous Architecture and Design Symposium Reconciliation, Place-making and Identity will be held on Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Ottawa in conjunction with the RAIC/OAA Festival of Architecture. Registration opens soon at: festival2017.raic.org

RAIC Journal Journal de l’IRAC Halifax architect and cartoonist John Crace, FRAIC, reflects on culture and the environment under a Trump presidency.

L’architecte et illustrateur d’Halifax, John Crace, FRAIC, réfléchit à la culture et à l’environnement sous une présidence Trump.

Symposium sur l’architecture et le design autochtones Le tout premier symposium international sur l’architecture et le design autochtones de l’IRAC se tiendra sur le thème Réconciliation, création de lieux et identité le samedi 27 mai 2017, en marge du Festival d’architecture de l’IRAC/OAA. L’inscription débutera bientôt sur le site : festival2017.raic.org/fr

Membership Renewal Membership renewal has begun for 2017. RAIC members can log in to their accounts at www.raic.org to renew for 2017. Not yet a member? Check out our special introductory pricing.

Renouvellement de l’adhésion Le renouvellement des adhésions pour 2017 est en cours. Les membres peuvent maintenant ouvrir une session dans leur compte à www.raic.org et renouveler leur adhésion pour 2017. Pas encore membre?

Consultez notre tarification spéciale pour les nouveaux membres.

Designation Decision Décision de désignation Maria Cook Editor, RAIC Journal Rédactrice en chef, Journal de l’IRAC

The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built environment in Canada, demonstrating how design enhances the quality of life, while addressing important issues of society through responsible architecture. www.raic.org L’IRAC est le principal porte-parole en faveur de l’excellence du cadre bâti au Canada. Il démontre comment la conception améliore la qualité de vie tout en tenant compte d’importants enjeux sociétaux par la voie d’une architecture responsable. www.raic.org/fr

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After much deliberation, the RAIC Board of Directors has decided to not proceed with a proposed change to the MRAIC membership designation. The board has also committed to begin a consultation in 2017 with RAIC members and Canada’s architecture community on how the Institute can best serve their needs.

“This is an opportunity to engage on what matters to our members,” said RAIC Past President Allan Teramura, FRAIC, at last

Après en avoir longuement discuté, le conseil d’administration de l’IRAC a décidé de ne pas aller de l’avant avec la modification proposée au port de la désignation « MIRAC » par ses membres. Il s’est également engagé à entamer une consultation auprès des membres et auprès de la communauté architecturale élargie du Canada, en 2017, dans l’objectif de savoir comment l’IRAC peut le mieux répondre à leurs besoins.

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RAIC Journal

Journal de l’IRAC

Continued from page 13 December’s board teleconference. “We need a clearer understanding of what the architectural community wants and what are the valued experiences that encourage belonging to the RAIC. It’s about a bigger vision of who we need to be.”

Teramura said the impassioned response from members regarding last year’s controversial proposal to change the MRAIC post-nominal underlined the need to involve members in a re-imagining of the RAIC. “We are also sensitive to the fact that RAIC membership means many things to our members,” said Teramura. “After our annual general meeting in 2016, we committed to opening a consultative process.

However, rather than dwell on this single issue, a broader approach will be taken to review membership more deeply from the member’s perspective.”

At the 2016 annual general meeting, the Board of Directors had asked members to approve a motion to replace the MRAIC designation with a new RAIC designation for members who are licensed or registered to practice architecture.

The proposal sought to strengthen the RAIC’s influence as an advocate and to protect against misuse of the designation.

It was seen as a first step toward the creation of a broader membership that included allied professionals as well as a larger proportion of Canada’s licensed and registered architects.

“The perception among some was that we were creating two classes of membership that were not equal,” observed RAIC Executive Director Jody Ciufo. “That we were privileging licensed architects above other members.”

After the motion was defeated, the Board of Directors took the widespread feedback and thought deeply about next steps.

“Ultimately, we saw a change in the designation as something that would only divide the Institute,” said Teramura. “Our goal is service to our members, our profession, and our shared built environment.”

The consultation comes at a time of growth for the RAIC in all areas, including practice support, advocacy, and recognition of excellence. The 2017 Festival in Ottawa promises to be one of the biggest.

“This consultation will aim for a fuller

CA RAIC supp Fed 17b.indd 14

understanding of what RAIC membership is, what value it holds and who the RAIC represents,” said Ciufo. “It’s all about listening to gain the information we need to create an evidence-based strategy for member retention and growth. The goal is a higher-level understanding of the changing needs of members and how best to serve those needs while creating a valued member experience.”

RAIC President Ewa Bieniecka, FIRAC adds: “In 2017, the RAIC celebrates 110 years as a national organization committed to excellence in the built environment. I look forward to fulfilling the direction taken this past year to focus more on membercentric approaches, and working with members together, as Canadians, to strengthen our Institute.”

Suite de la page 13 « C’est une occasion de nous attarder aux questions importantes aux yeux de nos membres », a déclaré le président sortant, Allan Teramura, FRAIC, à la téléconférence du Conseil de décembre dernier. « Nous voulons mieux comprendre ce que veut la communauté architecturale et nous voulons savoir quelles sont les valeurs qui encouragent l’appartenance à l’IRAC. Nous voulons avoir une plus grande vision de ce que nous devons être. » M. Teramura a ajouté que la réaction passionnée suscitée par la proposition controversée de l’année dernière a souligné l’importance de faire participer les membres à une ré-imagination de l’IRAC. « Nous sommes également sensibles au fait que l’adhésion à l’IRAC signifie beaucoup de choses pour nos membres », a-til dit. « Après notre assemblée générale annuelle de 2016, nous nous sommes engagés à mener une consultation. Toutefois, plutôt que de nous attarder seulement à la désignation, nous adopterons une approche plus vaste pour revoir la question de l’adhésion plus en profondeur, du point de vue des membres. » Rappelons qu’à l’assemblée générale annuelle de 2016, le conseil d’administration a invité les membres à approuver une motion visant à remplacer la désignation MIRAC par une nouvelle désignation IRAC réservée aux membres qui détiennent un permis d’exercice de l’architecture ou qui sont inscrits auprès d’un ordre professionnel d’architectes.

La proposition était présentée dans un objectif de renforcer l’influence de l’IRAC

en tant que porte-parole de l’architecture, tout en empêchant le mauvais usage de la désignation. Elle était considérée comme une première étape menant à la création d’un effectif élargi comprenant des membres de professions connexes et un plus grand nombre d’architectes canadiens. « Certains ont pensé que nous étions en train de créer deux catégories de membres distinctes », a souligné la directrice générale de l’IRAC, Jody Ciufo. « Que nous privilégions les architectes par rapport aux autres membres. » Après le rejet de la motion, le conseil d’administration a tenu compte des nombreux commentaires reçus et a réfléchi longuement aux prochaines étapes. « Au bout du compte, nous avons réalisé qu’un changement à la désignation ne faisait que diviser l’Institut », a dit M. Teramura. « Notre but est d’être au service de nos membres, de notre profession et de notre passion commune pour l’environnement bâti. » Le moment est propice à une telle consultation, car l’IRAC connaît une croissance dans tous les domaines de sa mission, notamment dans les domaines de l’aide à la pratique, des activités de sensibilisation et de la reconnaissance de l’excellence. Le Festival de 2017, à Ottawa, en mai prochain, s’annonce comme l’un des plus gros à ce jour. « Cette consultation aidera l’IRAC à mieux comprendre la composition de son effectif et la valeur de l’adhésion », a ajouté Mme Ciufo. « En écoutant ce que nos membres ont à nous dire, nous cherchons à obtenir l’information dont nous avons besoin pour établir une stratégie de rétention et de croissance de l’effectif fondée sur des données probantes. Le but ultime est de mieux comprendre les besoins évolutifs de nos membres et de savoir comment y répondre de façon optimale tout en créant une expérience enrichissante pour eux. » Le mot de la fin revient à la présidente de l’IRAC, Ewa Bieniecka, FIRAC : « En 2017, l’IRAC célèbre son 110e anniversaire en tant qu’organisation dédiée à l’excellence dans l’environnement bâti. J’entends poursuivre dans la voie empruntée l’année dernière et insister encore davantage sur les approches axées sur les membres et je me réjouis à l’idée d’unir mes efforts à ceux des membres pour que tous ensemble, en tant que Canadiens, nous renforcions notre Institut. »

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RAIC releases new Document Six L’IRAC publie une nouvelle édition du Document Six

By Christopher Guly Par Christopher Guly

Document Six—the Canadian Standard Form of Contract for Architectural Services—has undergone a major refresh that aims to better outline the roles and responsibilities of both architects and clients.

“The purpose of the contract is to create a fair and balanced standard form of agreement that respects the interests and obligations of both the client and the architect,” says Pierre Gallant, FRAIC, a member of the eight-person RAIC Practice Support Committee that drafted the revised document.

“We inserted language that acknowledges architects are human and that mistakes will occur,” says MacEwen, a partner with Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects in Ottawa. “The agreement strives to differentiate between errors, which are negligent and have not met the standard of care, and other less onerous issues, which architects traditionally correct while executing a project.”

Construction lawyer Geza Banfai, who provided the RAIC committee with a legal review of the latest version of Document

“But it can’t possibly cover a client’s unique requirements or unique aspects of a project, which is where supplementary conditions would be useful. Hopefully, though, the greater fairness and balance in the revised Document Six will reduce or eliminate the need for supplementary conditions in the first place.”

Document Six replaces the 2006 edition and will be available in both official languages early in 2017, together with a new Guide to Document Six.

“Previous versions were perceived as being overly protective of architects and deemed by some clients to be unreasonable, so this version is focused as much on owners as it is on architects,” adds Gallant.

Document Six will for the first time include a standard-of-care provision to address “imperfection” of services, explains Ottawa architect Rick MacEwen, FRAIC, a member of the Practice Support Committee.

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The new Document Six provides some flexibility for clients. Services listed in Schedule A can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a project.

It is intended to be a template, says Banfai. “It gives parties a very useful and efficient starting point for whatever tweaks they may wish to make in negotiations.

“The goal is to have it accepted more readily,” says Gallant, a past principal with the engineering firm Morrison Hershfield in Vancouver. “We hope that it’s perceived as fairer and reduces the use of supplementary conditions that at times create an onus on one party over another.”

It is a consensus-based document, developed with input from owner-client groups in the public and private sectors, provincial and territorial regulators, and insurers.

“Projects are getting more sophisticated and relationships are getting more complicated, which has led to an increasing effort on the part of owner-clients to download risk to architects by amending a standard contract,” explains Banfai, who serves as counsel in the advocacy and litigation group at McMillan LLP in Toronto.

Geza Banfai Construction and infrastructure lawyer Avocat dans les domaines de la construction et des infrastructures Six, believes it to be a good example of a contract that reasonably allocates risk and responsibility between a client and an architect.

Jill Eagleson, executive claims consultant for the global insurance company XL Catlin, in Toronto, commonly sees situations where there is no contract or if there is one, it is skewed in favour of clients.

“If the revised document enables and encourages consumers of architectural services to more freely enter into these kinds of agreements, then it’s a good thing because every architect on every job should have a contract,” says Eagleson, a lawyer who previously practised in the area of insurance defense.

“There was extensive consultation with different stakeholder groups, so there should be a positive outcome.”

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“ The goal is to have it accepted more readily.” Pierre Gallant

Continued from page 15 The preamble to Document Six states that the relationship between the client and the architect “shall be one of mutual respect, support, openness, and good faith.”

It was guided by the result of the 2014 Supreme Court of Canada case known as Bhasin v. Hrynew. In a unanimous decision, the high court held that all parties to a contract have a new common law duty of “honest performance” under the organizing principle of good faith.

Between Client and Engineer (ACEC 31), currently being revised by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies.

“We want to ensure that across professions, we are speaking the same language in terms of concepts and terminology,” says MacEwen.

Members of the RAIC Practice Support Committee are Rodney Kirkwood, MRAIC (Chairman), Rick MacEwen, FRAIC, Pierre Gallant, FRAIC, Francois Hogue, FIRAC, Brian Oakley, FRAIC, James Anderson, MRAIC, Joseph Zareski, MRAIC and Douglas Clancey, FRAIC.

Le document consensuel a été élaboré avec la contribution de groupes de maîtres d’ouvrage et de clients des secteurs public et privé, d’organismes de réglementation provinciaux et territoriaux et d’assureurs. « Les versions antérieures étaient perçues comme étant surprotectrices à l’égard des architectes et certains clients les trouvaient déraisonnables. Cette version est donc axée autant sur les maîtres d’ouvrage que sur les architectes », ajoute M. Gallant.

Le Document Six—la formule canadienne normalisée de contrat de services en architecture—a fait l’objet d’une révision majeure visant à mieux décrire les rôles et responsabilités des architectes et des clients.

Jill Eagleson Insurance claims consultant Consultante en gestion des réclamations d’assurance It also draws inspiration from the Ontario Association of Architects’ Standard Form of Contract for Architect’s Services (Document 600), says MacEwen. “Documents Six and 600 both have the same DNA in terms of language and structure, with the difference that Document Six is national and will serve architects across Canada.”

He says that the revised Document Six reflects current best practices within architecture and is also intended to harmonize with other industry contracts, such as the Master Agreement Between Owner and Contractor (CCDC 2), released by the Canadian Construction Documents Committee in 2016, and the Engineering Agreement

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« Le contrat vise à créer une formule normalisée équitable et équilibrée qui respecte les intérêts et les obligations du client et de l’architecte », souligne Pierre Gallant, FRAIC, un des huit membres du Comité d’aide à la pratique de l’IRAC qui a révisé le document. « Nous voulons que le document soit accepté plus aisément », ajoute Pierre Gallant, qui est un ancien directeur de la firme d’ingénierie Morrison Hershfield, à Vancouver. « Nous espérons qu’il sera perçu comme étant plus équitable et qu’il réduira l’utilisation de conditions supplémentaires qui occasionnent parfois un fardeau additionnel à une partie par rapport à l’autre. » La nouvelle édition du Document Six remplace celle de 2006 et elle sera disponible dans les deux langues officielles au début de 2017, de concert avec un nouveau Guide d’utilisation du Document Six.

Pierre Gallant, FRAIC Member of Practice Support Committee Membre du Comité d’aide à la pratique Le Document Six comprendra pour la première fois une disposition sur une norme de diligence pour tenir compte de « l’imperfection » des services, explique Rick MacEwen, FRAIC, un architecte associé de la firme Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects, d’Ottawa, également membre du Comité d’aide à la pratique. « Nous avons inséré une clause qui reconnaît que les architectes sont des êtres humains et que des erreurs seront commises », dit-il. « La formule de contrat s’efforce de faire la distinction entre les erreurs qui relèvent de la négligence et qui ne respectent pas la norme

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« Nous voulons que le document soit accepté plus aisément. » Pierre Gallant

de diligence et les autres problèmes moins onéreux que les architectes corrigent généralement pendant la réalisation d’un projet. » Geza Banfai, avocat du domaine de la construction, qui a effectué un examen juridique de la dernière version du Document Six pour le comité de l’IRAC, croit que c’est un bon exemple d’un contrat qui répartit raisonnablement le risque et la responsabilité entre un client et un architecte.

tions dans lesquelles il n’y a aucun contrat ou, s’il y en a un, c’est un contrat qui favorise les clients. « Si la nouvelle version du document incite les consommateurs de services d’architecture à conclure plus librement ce type de convention, c’est une bonne chose, car tous les architectes devraient avoir un contrat, pour tous les projets », souligne Mme Eagleson, une avocate qui a auparavant exercé dans le domaine de la défense en assurance.

« Les projets sont de plus en plus sophistiqués et les relations de plus en plus complexes, ce qui a amené les maîtres d’ouvrage et clients à essayer de plus en plus à décharger le risque sur les architectes en modifiant un contrat normalisé », explique l’avocat qui agit comme conseiller au sein du groupe litige chez McMillan LLP, à Toronto.

Le nouveau Document Six offre une certaine souplesse aux clients. Les services énumérés à l’Annexe A peuvent être adaptés pour répondre aux besoins particuliers d’un projet donné.

Cette annexe est un canevas, dit Me Banfai. « Elle donne aux parties un point de départ très utile et efficace pour apporter tous les ajustements qu’elles désirent inclure aux négociations. » « Elle ne peut toutefois couvrir certaines exigences particulières d’un client ou des aspects uniques d’un projet, comme le font les conditions supplémentaires.

Heureusement, puisque le Document Six est plus équitable et plus équilibré, les conditions supplémentaires ne seront plus ou presque plus utilisées en premier lieu. »

Rick MacEwen, FRAIC Member of Practice Support Committee Membre du Comité d’aide à la pratique « Ce document a fait l’objet d’une vaste consultation auprès de divers groupes de parties intéressées. Il devrait donc recevoir un accueil positif. » Dans son préambule, le Document Six énonce que la relation entre le client et l’architecte « doit en être une de respect mutuel, de soutien, d’ouverture et de bonne foi. »

La révision du Document Six a notamment été guidée par le jugement prononcé par la Cour suprême du Canada en 2014 dans la cause Bhasin c. Hrynew.

Dans une décision unanime, la Cour a statué que toutes les parties à un contrat ont une nouvelle obligation générale « d’honnêteté » en vertu du principe de l’exécution de bonne foi de la common law.

Elle s’est aussi inspirée de la Standard Form of Contract for Architect’s Services (Document 600) de l’Ontario Association of Architects, ajoute M. MacEwen. « Les Documents Six et 600 ont le même ADN sur les plans du libellé et de la structure, la différence étant que le Document Six est de portée nationale et servira aux architectes de tout le Canada. » Il ajoute que le nouveau Document Six reflète les pratiques exemplaires actuelles en architecture et vise également une harmonisation avec les autres contrats de l’industrie, comme la Convention-cadre entre maître de l’ouvrage et entrepreneur (CCDC 2C), publiée par le Comité canadien des documents de construction en 2016, et la Convention entre le client et l’ingénieur (AFIC 31), en cours de révision par l’Association des firmes d’ingénieurs-conseils du Canada. « Nous voulons nous assurer que nous parlons le même langage sur les plans des concepts et de la terminologie », a conclu Rick MacEwen.

Les membres du Comité d’aide à la pratique de l’IRAC sont Rodney Kirkwood, MRAIC (président), Rick MacEwen, FRAIC, Pierre Gallant, FRAIC, François Hogue, FIRAC, Brian Oakley, FRAIC, James Anderson, MRAIC, Joseph Zareski, MRAIC, et Douglas Clancey, FRAIC.

Jill Eagleson, consultante de direction en gestion des réclamations pour la compagnie d’assurances mondiale XL Catlin, établie à Toronto, voit souvent des situa-

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The Ewa Bieniecka File

Age: 57 Born: Montreal, Quebec January 28, 1960 Education: B.Sc. in Architecture; B.A. in Architecture; Post-Professional Master in Architecture, all from McGill University in Montreal.

RAIC: Elected to the national board in 2013 as regional director for Quebec, for term starting in 2014. Elected second vice-president in 2015 and first vice-president in 2016.

Career: Worked at Blouin and Blouin Associates, John Schreiber Architect and Landscape Architect, and Arcop (later Architecture49), all in Montreal. Major projects: East Block Rehabilitation (Phase 1) and West Block Rehabilitation, Parliament Hill, Ottawa; Reconstruction of the Grande Allée Armoury, Quebec City; Rehabilitation of the Government Conference Centre, Ottawa.

Adjunct professor at McGill University School of Architecture (2000-2007).

Researcher at the John Bland Canadian Architecture Collection at McGill University (1998-2002).

Currently works as a heritage conservation architect.

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Community: Served on the board of directors of the Visual Arts Centre in Montreal; member of the City of Montreal Heritage Council.

Family: Three adult children, Julian, Natalie, and Yvonne. Met husband Edward Hercun in architecture school. Since June 2016, divides her time between home in Montreal and work in Ottawa.

On becoming an architect and the 78th president of the RAIC Expo 67 had a big influence on my interest in architecture. I’d go every evening with my parents; we’d take the Metro, pop out on the islands and discover a different and enchanting world.

Over the past 30 years, I’ve had the privilege to work in small firms and large firms, and to be involved in academia and research. I’ve had strong role models and received a lot of support. I’ve worked to balance family and career.

I think the challenges that I have faced are not specific to women. Both men and women want a positive work culture, meaningful work, and better opportunities.

Exploring Essaouira, Morocco in 2014 Visite d’Essaouira, au Maroc, en 2014

on specialized medical technologies in the home. This was a period of transition. Away from practice for a few years to raise three small children, I needed to gain confidence and reintegrate myself into the profession.

In 2005, I joined ARCOP and worked there for a decade. As a Senior Architect and later as Practice Leader with Architecture49, I had the opportunity to work on many joint venture projects. Among them were the West Block Rehabilitation and the interim House of Commons Chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa with Fournier, Gersovitz, Moss (now EVOQ) and an international design competition for the Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec with David Chipperfield Architects (UK.) I joined the RAIC in 2010 and ran for the position of regional director for Quebec in 2013. I want to advocate that architecture is culture and that it defines us.

I believe that if architects want to make a change and have influence, we have to speak as with one voice. Architects have to lobby for change in design procurement and make the business case for the social and cultural value of excellent design.

In 2003, when I was 43 years old, I went back to university and completed a postprofessional Masters. My research focused

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La fiche d’Ewa Bieniecka Âge : 57 ans

Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal.

Lieu de naissance : Montréal, Québec, le 28 janvier 1960

Famille : mère de trois enfants aujourd’hui adultes, Julian, Natalie et Yvonne. A rencontré son mari Edward Hercun à l’école d’architecture. Depuis juin 2016, elle partage son temps entre sa résidence à Montréal et son travail à Ottawa.

Études : B.Sc. en architecture; B.A. en architecture; maîtrise post-professionnelle en architecture, tous à l’Université McGill, à Montréal.

IRAC : élue membre du conseil d’administration en 2013 à titre d’administratrice régionale pour le Québec pour un mandat commençant en 2014. Élue deuxième vice-présidente en 2015 et première vice-présidente en 2016.

Carrière : a travaillé chez Blouin et Blouin Associés, John Schreiber architecte et architecte de paysage et Arcop (devenue plus tard Architecture49), trois firmes de Montréal. Principaux projets : réhabilitation de l’édifice de l’Est (phase 1) et réhabilitation de l’édifice de

Architecte et 78e présidente de l’IRAC L’Expo 67 a joué un rôle déterminant dans l’intérêt que je porte à l’architecture. J’y suis allée tous les soirs avec mes parents; nous prenions le métro pour nous rendre dans les îles et découvrir un monde différent et enchanteur.

Au cours des 30 dernières années, j’ai eu le privilège de travailler dans de petits et de grands cabinets et de travailler dans le milieu universitaire

I believe that if architects want to make a change and have influence, we have to speak as with one voice.

Je crois que si les architectes veulent changer les choses et avoir de l’influence, ils doivent parler d’une seule et même voix. l’Ouest, sur la Colline du Parlement, à Ottawa; reconstruction du Manège militaire Grande Allée, à Québec; et réhabilitation du Centre de conférences du gouvernement, à Ottawa.

Professeure auxiliaire à l’École d’architec­ture de l’Université McGill (2000-2007).

Chercheuse pour la Collection d’architecture canadienne John Bland à l’Université McGill (1998-2002).

Actuellement, architecte en conservation du patrimoine.

Communauté : a siégé au conseil d’administration du Centre des arts visuels, à Montréal; a été membre du

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et celui de la recherche. J’ai eu d’excellents modèles et j’ai reçu beaucoup de soutien. Je me suis efforcée d’équilibrer la famille et la carrière.

Je pense que les défis auxquels j’ai dû faire face ne sont pas particuliers aux femmes. Tant les hommes que les femmes aspirent à une culture du travail positive, à un travail significatif et à de meilleures possibilités de carrière.

En 2003, à l’âge de 43 ans, je suis retournée à l’université pour obtenir une maîtrise post-professionnelle. Mes recherches ont porté sur les technologies médicales spécialisées à domicile.

C’était pour moi une période de transition. N’exerçant pas la profession depuis quelques années pour élever trois jeunes enfants, j’avais besoin de reprendre confiance et de réintégrer la profession.

En 2005, je me suis jointe à la firme ARCOP où j’ai travaillé pendant une dizaine d’années. À titre d’architecte senior et plus tard, de chef de la pratique chez Architecture49, j’ai eu l’occasion de travailler à plusieurs projets réalisés en consortium. Parmi ceux-ci, la réhabilitation de l’édifice de l’Ouest et les locaux provisoires de la Chambre des communes sur la Colline du Parlement, à Ottawa, avec la firme Fournier, Gersovitz, Moss (devenue plus tard EVOQ) et un concours d’architec­­ture international pour le Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec avec David Chipperfield Architects, du Royaume-Uni. J’ai adhéré à l’IRAC en 2010 et j’ai posé ma candidature comme administratrice régionale pour le Québec en 2013.

Je veux faire valoir que l’architecture fait partie de la culture et qu’elle nous définit.

Je crois que si les architectes veulent changer les choses et avoir de l’influence, ils doivent parler d’une seule et même voix. Les architectes doivent plaider en faveur du changement dans l’approvisionnement en services de conception et démontrer la valeur sociale et culturelle de l’excellence du design.

Moriyama RAIC International Prize

Submissions for the Moriyama RAIC International Prize are due by March 8, 2017. Architects from all over the world, including Canada, are eligible to apply for the CAD $100,000 award.

Details at: Moriyama.raic.org.

Prix international Moriyama IRAC

Les candidatures au Prix international Moriyama IRAC doivent être soumises avant le 8 mars 2017. Les architectes de partout dans le monde et du Canada peuvent participer à ce prix d’une valeur de 100 000 $ CA. Pour en savoir plus : Moriyama.raic.org.

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2017 Festival of Architecture Festival d’architecture de 2017

Maria Cook Editor, RAIC Journal Rédactrice en chef, Journal de l’IRAC

The 2017 Festival of Architecture, being held in Ottawa May 24-27, offers an excellent opportunity to obtain continuing education credits, network and socialize, all against the backdrop of Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations in the nation’s capital.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) have partnered to present the Festival under the theme of Architecture 150. The four-day event takes place at the Westin Hotel, steps from Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market and the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Adding to the sense of this historic occasion, the RAIC will mark the 110th anniversary of its founding as Canada’s national architecture association.

“We invite architects from across Canada and international guests to join us in the nation’s capital,” says RAIC President Ewa Bieniecka, FIRAC. “The 2017 RAIC/ OAA Festival of Architecture will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you won’t want to miss.”

Registration opens in March at festival2017.raic.org.

Delegates are urged to book soon as rooms are filling up fast. The national capital region’s many attractions include awardwinning restaurants, historic sites, national museums and must-see architecture by architects such as Moshe Safdie, FRAIC, Arthur Erickson, and Ernest Cormier.

The Festival kicks off Wednesday, May 24 with an opening party at the Canadian War Museum. During the conference, delegates will have the opportunity to participate in about 90 sessions and architectural tours.

The RAIC Emerging Practitioners chapter will host special events for interns, and

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the OAA Admission Course will be held during the Festival, a mandatory requirement for licensure for interns in Ontario.

Festival is also where the profession recognizes achievement. On Thursday, May 25, the RAIC College of Fellows will hold its convocation ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History and induct new members. The President’s Dinner and Awards Gala on Friday, May 26, will celebrate excellence in the built environment as the RAIC and OAA bestow a variety of awards.

On the final day, May 27, the RAIC will host the first-ever International Indigenous Architecture and Design Symposium at the Wabano Centre. Join friends and colleagues to learn, connect and celebrate at the 2017 Festival of Architecture.

Le Festival d’architecture de 2017, qui se tiendra à Ottawa du 24 au 27 mai, offre une excellente occasion d’obtenir des crédits de formation continue, de réseauter et de socialiser, tout cela, en marge des célébrations du 150e anniversaire du Canada dans la capitale nationale.

L’Institut royal d’architecture du Canada (IRAC) et l’Ontario Association of Architectes (OAA) se sont associés pour présenter le Festival sur le thème Architecture 150. L’événement de quatre jours se déroulera à l’hôtel Westin, à quelques pas de la Colline du Parlement, du marché By et du canal Rideau, un site du patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. Ajoutant au caractère historique de ce contexte, l’IRAC soulignera le 110e anniversaire de sa fondation comme association d’architecture nationale. « Nous invitons les architectes des quatre coins du Canada et nos invités internationaux à se joindre à nous dans la capitale de notre pays », a déclaré la présidente de l’IRAC, Ewa Bieniecka, FIRAC. « Le Festival d’architecture IRAC/OAA de

2017 sera une expérience unique que vous ne voudrez pas manquer. » Vous pourrez vous y inscrire dès le mois de mars, à festival2017.raic.org/fr.

Nous vous invitons à réserver votre chambre rapidement, car les hôtels affichent vite complet. La région de la capitale nationale offre de nombreux attraits, notamment des restaurants primés, des lieux historiques, des musées nationaux et des bâtiments conçus par des architectes de renom, comme Moshe Safdie, FRAIC, Arthur Erickson et Ernest Cormier.

Le lancement du Festival aura lieu le mer­ credi 24 mai, avec une fête d’ouverture au Musée canadien de la guerre. Pendant les jours qui suivront, les délégués auront l’occasion de participer à quelque 90 séances de formation et visites architecturales.

Les futurs membres de la profession pourront quant à eux participer aux activités spéciales du regroupement IRAC Relève professionnelle et les stagiaires de l’Ontario pourront suivre l’OAA Admission Course, une exigence de l’admission dans cette province.

Le Festival sera également l’occasion de reconnaître les carrières d’exception et l’excellence. Le jeudi 25 mai, le Collège des fellows de l’IRAC tiendra sa cérémonie d’intronisation au Musée canadien de l’histoire. Le dîner des présidents et gala de remise des prix aura lieu le vendredi 26 mai. L’IRAC et l’OAA y remettront divers prix soulignant l’excellence dans le cadre bâti.

Lors de la dernière journée, le 27 mai, l’IRAC accueillera le tout premier symposium international sur l’architecture et le design autochtones au Centre Wabano.

Joignez-vous à vos amis et collègues pour apprendre, tisser des liens et célébrer dans le cadre du Festival d’architecture de 2017.

2017-01-30 5:30 PM

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MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

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A CURVILINEAR CENTRE FOR MUSICAL PERFORMANCE, EXHIBITION AND RECORDING HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES, CREATING A SUBLIME LANDMARK AT THE EASTERN EDGE OF DOWNTOWN CALGARY.

Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre Allied Works Architecture with Kasian Architecture (Associate Architect) TEXT Graham Livesey PHOTOS Jeremy Bittermann, unless otherwise noted PROJECT

ARCHITECTS

The new Studio Bell, home to the National Music Centre in Calgary, is an architectural tour-de-force. It’s one of the most spectacular buildings constructed in North America during the last decade. The recipient of a Progressive Architecture Award from Architect Magazine in 2014, it’s the most ambitious and accomplished project to date by Allied Works, who worked with associate architect Kasian to realize the design. And despite its American design pedigree, the project is very worthy of Canada’s newest national institution, one of several outside of Ottawa-Hull.

The overall form of the building combines a gateway with a fortress; it is an urban block that tightly fills its site. A striking feature is the bridging element that straddles the street and is seamlessly integrated into the overall building. Clad in terracotta tile, the exterior is monolithic and relatively mute. The flat surfaces of the façade are a charcoal colour, while the sweeping curved elements are finished in a gold-coloured tile that extends into the interiors.

The hallucinogenic aspects of the design are only revealed when one enters. From the lobby, one looks up through soaring and shimmering shafts of space—reminiscent of deep crevasses in a glacier, or being inside the workings of a brass instrument. The architecture is at its best in the in-between spaces, where clear Alberta light bounces off the golden curvilinear and leaning forms, and complexity is created through layered depth.

Studio Bell marks the culmination of a two-decade long process initiated by a group of Calgary-based business people. Key to its realization was the work of National Music Centre CEO and President Andrew Mosker. The ambitious program of the 16,852-square-metre facility includes housing the collection of the former Cantos Music Museum, a collection of over 2,000 artifacts that includes historic instruments as well as electronica and recording equipment. Noteworthy pieces range from the Rolling Stones’ Mobile Studio to Elton John’s white piano, on which he wrote his first five albums.

An international design competition for a new home for the collection was held in 2009, and Portland-based Allied Works Architecture was selected over finalists Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Saucier + Perrotte, and Studio Pali Fekete. Established in 1994 and directed by Brad Cloepfil, Allied Works is a relatively small firm, but one that has been at the forefront of American architecture after completing the Wieden + Kennedy advertising agency in Portland in 2000.

Since then, their portfolio has included the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis (2003), the Seattle Art Museum expansion (2007), the PREVIOUS SPREAD Studio Bell bridges over 4 Street SE at the eastern edge of downtown Calgary. LEFT Complex interstitial spaces slice through the design, generating a wealth of intriguing views from many vantage points throughout the building. OPPOSITE TOP A view looking up from the performance hall provides glimpses of the rich spatial layering. OPPOSITE BOTTOM Glazed terracotta tiles clad the interior volumes, conceived as towers containing the exhibition spaces.

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The main performance hall overlooks Studio Bell’s lobby, creating a music festival atmosphere where performance and sound fill the air.

A pair of helical stairs flanks the lobby. OPPOSITE, TOP TO BOTTOM An early concept model incorporates segments of brass instruments; a later model displays the concept of the museum as a series of containers; the performance hall includes flexible seating for 300 spectators and a moveable acoustic wall that allows the space to be closed for more intimate performances.

ABOVE

Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas (2008), the Museum of Arts and Design in New York (2008) and the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver (2011). Each of these is characterized by taut rectilinearity, meticulous attention to detail, and an accumulating expertise and confidence.

Defining the program for this uncommon institution was one of the first challenges for the architects and clients. The team took cues from projects such as the Cité de la Musique in Paris by Christian de Portzamparc (1995). At one point, they hit upon the idea that the building should have the openness of a music festival. This resulted, for example, in the design of an open performance hall—the Jaimie Hill and Tammy-Lynn Powers Memorial Stage—that overlooks and shares its space with the main lobby, and where a wide range of performers can play.

The musical openness of the central stage extends to the entire building and to its ambitious programming, which includes live performances and artist-in-residence programs. Beyond its remarkable collection, Studio Bell houses several state-of-the-art recording studios, celebration spaces, a public radio station, offices, and the renovated King Edward Hotel. The centre is also home to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame Collection.

Cloepfil drew inspiration from such iconic Alberta landscape features as glaciers, hoodoos and grain elevators. Indeed, the rough-edged site in itself was largely devoid of references, apart from the adjoining CPR railway tracks and the evolving context of Calgary’s burgeoning East Village to the north. One key issue was to incorporate the historic

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King Edward Hotel, an insalubrious dive that once housed a famous blues club. This involved dismantling the old hotel, and reconstructing it brick by brick.

The curved forms employed by Allied Works for Studio Bell are a departure in the work of the firm, first signaled in its 2010 entry to the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec competition and other unbuilt work from this period. This shift has been enabled by the firm’s increasing facility with digital design software. Their upcoming project for the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, displays an even more radical exploration of curvilinear geometries.

Balancing out its digitally driven production, Allied Works’ design process involves a wide range of early concept drawings and models.

These can be understood as touchstones that describe the essential ideas of the project, and help ensure that ideas are not lost during the long design development and construction phases. Cloepfil says that the models provide “a material exploration, a search for evocation and provocation.” He adds, “As objects, they are potent and expressive with content that can be expanded by other disciplines and in multiple media.” An exhibition of the firm’s evocative objects, entitled Case Work, was on display last year at art museums in Denver and Portland.

The concept models for Studio Bell are a clear response to music and acoustics, and initially incorporated sections cut from disused brass instruments. The ineffable relationship between architecture and music in these models recalls Le Corbusier’s interest in “acoustic” forms. In works such as the chapel of Notre-Dame-du-Haut at Ronchamp and in a remarkable series of post-1944 sculptures executed by Joseph Savina, Le Corbusier

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ABOVE A skybridge connects the main volume of Studio Bell to the renovated King Edward Hotel across the street, a legendary blues venue that has now been incorporated into the National Music Centre.

presented forms that have “acoustic resonance,” according to historian Christopher Pearson. So too, it seems, do the forms of Studio Bell.

In describing the concept, the designers state: “Nine towers form the body of the building; the vessel walls, clad in terracotta, rise in subtle curves that merge, part and intertwine, modeled by light, gravity and acoustics.” An analysis of the detailed study model and final drawings reveal how the towers transform from rectangular to curvilinear as they rise through the building. A slight skewing of the plan accommodates site geometries but is imperceptible in reality. What appears to be relatively simple and ordered in plan and section results, in actuality, in remarkable and very satisfying architectural complexity.

The mysterious architectural qualities of the building continue to unfold as one rises up double staircases, moves through galleries which also serve as stages, and passes through in-between spaces on short bridges.

The ascent culminates in the fantastical Cloud Lounge, which leads to the bridging element that unites the two blocks of the project. Within the entire ensemble, the galleries do get somewhat overwhelmed, and on the west side, the organization of the block is rudimentary—the most disappointing space being a rather underdeveloped rooftop terrace above the King Eddy hotel. The new version of the King Eddy itself feels too clean, but some day it may regain the grungy overlay of the former club.

Further, the main entrances to the building are curiously discreet.

But if one needs to search for the entry points, the time is well spent studying the terracotta cladding, which evidences an impressive devotion to detail. The cladding is based on the designers’ envelope for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. For Studio Bell, Allied Works worked closely with German terracotta façade manufacturer Moeding and Dutch ceramic tile manufacturer Royal Tichelaar

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Makkum to get the right colours and sheen for the 220,000 tiles that clad the exterior and interior. Each tile is precisely fastened to the building in a rainscreen arrangement, and, intriguingly, there are also several places where the tile partially covers windows. One cannot help but think that Gio Ponti’s under-appreciated tile-clad Denver Art Museum Building (1971), which sits adjacent to Allied Works’ Clyfford Still Museum, is somewhere in the DNA of Studio Bell.

It is a challenge to describe a building that holds within it complex spatial figures that overlap, warp, tilt, and curve, despite the relatively straightforward conceptual premise of the building. And in fact, it must be experienced first hand. But even from afar, Studio Bell is a monumental celebration of Canadian music, presenting an urban form that is strong and elusive, recognizable and unique, the building as an instrument. Ultimately, Studio Bell follows through on a series of bold decisions: to build a national landmark in Calgary, to address a challenging site, to define a new institution, and to let an accomplished architect produce a masterpiece.

Graham Livesey, MRAIC is a professor and associate dean in the Master of Architecture program at the University of Calgary.

CLIENT NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE (ANDREW MOSKER, ROB BRAIDE, CHARLIE FISCHER) | ARCHITECT TEAM AWA—BRAD CLOEPFIL, KYLE LOMMEN, CHELSEA GRASSINGER, DANIEL RICHMOND, DAN KOCH, KYLE CALDWELL, PAUL BICKELL, BROCK HINZE, BJORN NELSON, PHILIP BALSINGER. KASIAN—BILL CHOMIK, DAVID MOISIK, MELODY ZALESCHUK, GUY POCOCK, PABLO ESCABILLAS, KEN CHIANG, FRED VOO, TIM YEUNG, ESTHER RIVARD-SIROIS, AMBER ARNOLD, SEAN CRAWFORD. | STRUCTURAL RJC | ELECTRICAL SMP | MECHANICAL STANTEC | CONTRACTOR CANA CONSTRUCTION | EXHIBITION DESIGN HALEY SHARPE DESIGN | THEATRE DESIGN FISHER DACHS ASSOCIATES | ACOUSTICS AND A/V JAFFEHOLDEN | TILE DESIGN ROYAL TICHELAAR MAKKUM | EXHIBITION CONTENT DESIGN ST. JOSEPH MEDIA | RECORDING STUDIO DESIGN PILCHNER SCHOUSTAL INTERNATIONAL INC. | AREA 16,852 M2 (INCLUDING NEW CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATED AREAS) | BUDGET $191 M | COMPLETION OCTOBER 2016

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IN LOW BUDGET, HIGH INNOVATION WINNIPEG, PREMANUFACTURED BUILDING PANELS ARE FINDING NEW AESTHETIC EXPRESSION ON THE SKIN OF RECENT DOWNTOWN STRUCTURES. TEXT

Jeffrey Thorsteinson Jacqueline Young, unless otherwise noted

PHOTOS

Precast insulated concrete panels are used to create a lively, lantern-like façade on BridgmanCollaborative Architecture’s Mayfair Recreation Centre in Winnipeg; inside, the windows animate the gymnasium and provide views of the adjacent grove of trees.

ABOVE, TOP TO BOTTOM

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Architecture is shaped by its materials. As Marshall McLuhan put it, medi­um and message are inseparable. Nearly a century ago, Modernist architects became energized by the possibilities of steel, glass and concrete as a means to achieve aspirational goals: efficiency, modern-living,

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MAYFAIR RECREATION CENTRE SECTION

INSULATED CAP FLASHING

PARAPET BACKUP WALL PRECAST CONCRETE WALL PANEL ADHERED AIR/VAPOUR BARRIER MEMBRANE 89 WOOD STUD FRAMING @ 406 O.C. FILL STUD CAVITY WITH BATT INSULATION 13 PT PLYWOOD SHEATHING ROOF MEMBRANE

TRIPLE-GLAZED FIBREGLASS WINDOW WITH TEMPERED AND LAMINATED EXTERIOR PANE

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CRAWLSPACE 13 PT PLWD 100 SAND 10 MIL POLYETHYLENE VAPOUR RETARDER 150 GRAVEL VOID FORM

an embrace of the future. Today, architects are turning to new industrial materials for new aims: sustainability, constructability and cost-effectiveness. This is as true in Winnipeg, McLuhan’s hometown, as anywhere else. Here, a diversity of small firms and specific cultural and economic demands has fostered an abundance of material experimentation.

The Mayfair Recreation Centre, by BridgmanCollaborative Architecture, is one result of this experimentation. Nestled in a stand of wellestablished elms to the side of busy River Avenue, the Centre strikes an engaging balance of idiosyncrasy, monumentality, and harmony with its setting. Surprisingly, this compelling mix stems largely from the building’s usually prosaic enclosure material: precast concrete insulated sandwich panels, normally used in big-box and industrial construction.

Here, the utilitarian panels are imaginatively reconfigured at an intimate scale. The result is a low-cost, easy-to-construct, and durable solution that delights users and passersby alike.

As architectural intern Henry Tufts, of BridgmanCollaborative says, “This is often the place we find ourselves in—where our clients’ need for space outstrips their budget.” To resolve this dilemma, the designers zeroed in on the sandwich panels for their affordability and the simplified construction systems entailed. While the material cost of the panels is slightly more expensive than standard wood-frame construction, reduced construction time and streamlined detailing produced strong value. The prefabricated modules also protected the site’s elm trees—lowered in place by crane, the concrete slabs became the unlikely saviours of the urban canopy.

The Mayfair Centre brings a novel approach to the aesthetic possibilities of sandwich panels. The building’s signature gesture—an energetic array of triangular windows—renders the panels playful and permeable, while creating a neighbourhood icon. At night, a lantern-like effect reinforces connections between interior and exterior. It’s a contrast to the sandwich panels’ typical manifestation, repeated relentlessly across exurban warehouses. Rendered distinctive through eye-catching and poetic detail, the material’s replicability opens a new avenue for expression. At this small scale, precast concrete’s inherent weight likewise becomes an attribute, offering a touch of grandeur—what architect Wins Bridgman, MRAIC calls “the freshness of a big gesture.”

While concrete has been criticized for its contribution to global CO2levels, Bridgman argues that its resilience surpasses that offered by standard construction methods. “We want buildings to last a hundred years,”

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ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Insulated concrete panels were also used for BridgmanCollaborative’s Mothering Project, an addition that bridges between an existing clinic and nursery; the addition includes infant care spaces that enable parents to develop skills alongside early childhood educators; the envelope gives the Mothering Project a distinct, yet discreet visual identity; openings include child-height windows, while the largely solid façade protects the privacy of clients.

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he says. “If a building can’t weather, it’s not a building–it’s a fabricationfor-a-while.” The choice of concrete contributes to reduced long-term maintenance costs, an important factor for the firm’s non-profit clients.

A similar set of needs recently led BridgmanCollaborative to make use of structural concrete panels for a more intimate facility: an addition to the Mount Carmel Clinic Mothering Project. Providing vulnerable mothers with the services needed to ensure healthy outcomes, the new space includes infant care and early childhood education areas, as well as a room for spiritual reflection. As at Mayfair, the Mothering Project’s sandwich panels serve as both a structural and symbolic anchor. Inventive window placement—a dynamic pattern of dancing squares—creates a vivid tableau that connects with users of varying ages (and heights).

Smaller glazed areas provide opportunities for peek-a-boo that protect the privacy of users, while larger glazed sections link between circulation spaces and outdoor play areas. Of the potential for sandwich panels, Bridgman says: “It’s an exciting material, a serious building material that is now creating serious architecture.”

A similar rethinking of industrial materials characterizes the University of Winnipeg’s Buhler Centre. Designed by DPA+PSA+DIN Collective— a group led by architects David Penner and Peter Sampson, who normally run independent practices—the building is likewise a hybrid. It’s part art gallery and part university facility, with a well-loved café on its ground floor, set in an Edward Hopper-like prow. Standing on Portage Avenue, a commercial thoroughfare, the Buhler Centre is the little neighbour to Gustavo da Roza’s Winnipeg Art Gallery. Where da Roza chose a majestic expression, the stripped-down Buhler Centre took an approach more akin to bricolage, echoing something of the spirit of the well-known army surplus emporium it replaced.

The Buhler Centre was created through a partnership between Plug In ICA, an artist-run centre founded in 1972, and the increasingly urban-oriented University of Winnipeg. From the beginning, the budget was tight—it was ultimately constructed for $210 per square foot. Rather than shrinking from this challenge, the architects embraced it.

Part of the solution was to highlight the raw materials employed. Chief among these are insulated metal freezer panels (IMPs), normally used

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Insulated metal freezer panels, normally used for cold storage warehouses, were integral to the façade of the Buhler Centre in downtown Winnipeg. OPPOSITE BOTTOM A custom pearlescent finish reflects ambient light. ABOVE The building occupies a triangular site down the road from the Winnipeg Art Gallery. RIGHT Aluminum tabs, finished with street sign paint, added dimension to the industrial-inspired façade.

for cold-storage warehouses and food processing facilities. The panels offered an innovative way of reducing costs while lending a desired directness to the envelope. The choice also helped in meeting an aggressive construction timeline of just under ten months, during which time a fourth floor was added to the program. Says Neil Minuk, one of the designers: “We got super-excited by the IMPs. We saw the building as raw, not hiding what it was. We largely took really simple things and tried to elevate them and accept them.”

The effect is beguiling, as well as frank. A custom pearlescent finish on the rippled panels reflects the ever-changing prairie light, as well as the flicker of traffic lights from the adjacent streets. The finish also recalls crystalline snow. “We were consciously looking at creating a winter building for a winter city,” says architect David Penner, FRAIC. Further intrigue is added by a matrix of aluminum tabs with a shimming street-sign finish, creating an ever-shifting rhythm of shadows.

According to Minuk, the building’s white cladding blurs the relationship between public and private space. Combining this finish with compositional moves such as a portal that is both a shortcut and display space, the building becomes “a background for the actions that happen within it, which we tried to carefully compose, edit, and frame.”

New materials mean new possibilities. Reimagined in urban settings, industrial materials can shine while solving pragmatic needs. Says Bridgman: “By experimenting in working from cost, insulation value, speed of construction, and aesthetics, we’re creating some really interesting stuff.”

Modern industrial components need not be relegated to the realm of the banal—like steel and glass, they may offer fresh sources of beauty.

Jeffrey Thorsteinson is an architectural historian, researcher and writer based in Winnipeg.

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OPPOSITE TOP

PROJECT MAYFAIR RECREATION CENTRE, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA | ARCHITECT BRIDGMANCOLLABORATIVE ARCHITECTURE | CLIENT THE CITY OF WINNIPEG | ARCHITECT TEAM WINS BRIDGMAN, MARCELLA POIRIER, HENRY TUFTS, ADAM NOLETTE, KC MCCORMICK, GRANT LABOSSIERE | STRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL TOWER ENGINEERING | CIVIL MEC CONSULTING | LANDSCAPE HTFC PLANNING & DESIGN | CONTRACTOR GATEWAY CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING | PRECAST HOMENKO BUILDERS | AREA 3,500 FT 2 | BUDGET $1.5 M | COMPLETION JUNE 2014

PROJECT MOTHERING PROJECT: MANITO IKEW KAGIIKWE, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA | ARCHITECT BRIDGMANCOLLABORATIVE ARCHITECTURE | CLIENT MOUNT CARMEL CLINIC | ARCHITECT TEAM WINS BRIDGMAN, MARCELLA POIRIER, ROBERT GARVEY, HENRY TUFTS, ADAM NOLETTE, IAN SUNABACKA | STRUCTURAL TOTAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT | MECHANICAL DJK MECHANICAL ENGINEERING CONSULTING | ELECTRICAL IBASA ENTERPRISES | CONTRACTOR GATEWAY CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING | PRECAST HOMENKO BUILDERS | AREA 3,150 FT 2 (NEW) AND 3,375 FT 2 (RENOVATION) | BUDGET $1.8 M | COMPLETION MAY 2016

PROJECT BUHLER CENTRE, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA | ARCHITECT DPA+PSA+DIN COLLECTIVE, ARCHITECTS+DESIGNERS | CLIENT UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG AND PLUGIN ICA IN JOINT VENTURE | ARCHITECT TEAM MATT BAKER, PAULO CASTILLO, ANDREW LEWTHWAITE, REBECCA LOEWEN, NEIL MINUK, DAVID PENNER, MATTHEW PILLER, SEAN RADFORD, PETER SAMPSON, LIANE VANESS, CHRIS WIEBE | STRUCTURAL WOLFROM ENGINEERING | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL XTOWER ENGINEERING | LANDSCAPE DPA+PSA+DIN COLLECTIVE | INTERIORS DPA+PSA+DIN COLLECTIVE | CONTRACTOR MANSHIELD CONSTRUCTION | AREA 50,000 FT 2 | BUDGET $11.6 M | COMPLETION 2011

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KK LAW, COURTESY OF NATURALLY:WOOD

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS THE WORLD’S TALLEST CONTEMPORARY MASS TIMBER BUILDING IS NEARING COMPLETION IN VANCOUVER, PRESENTING A PRAGMATIC ARGUMENT FOR HOW MASS WOOD CAN BE USED FOR ALL TYPES OF BUILDINGS, FROM THE AUDACIOUS TO THE EVERYDAY. Brock Commons Tallwood House, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. ARCHITECT Acton Ostry Architects Inc. TEXT Bruce Haden PHOTOS Acton Ostry Architects Inc. & University of British Columbia, Pollux Chung, KK Law, and Steve Enrico, as noted PROJECT

The new Brock Commons student residence at the University of British Columbia will be the tallest contemporary mass timber building in the world when finished this May. The term “mass timber” or “mass wood” covers an array of approaches, usually referring to a structural system combining engineered wood columns and floor slabs. In Canada, the most commonly referenced technical innovation, and one of the ones behind Brock Commons’ structure, is the cross-laminated timber (CLT) slab, available in a variety of thicknesses for different span requirements.

While Brock Commons’ height will unquestionably get the lion’s share of attention after its completion, that’s not the most interesting thing about the building for architects. Rather, it is the fact that, on typical f loors, the wood is not visible.

Acton Ostry Architects principal Russell Acton, FRAIC, the lead designer of Brock Commons, has lectured widely on the project. When he talks to architectural audiences, he is inevitably asked: “why didn’t you expose the wood?” The answer is that the wood structure has been encapsulated in drywall and concrete topping to ensure efficient code compliance.

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This pragmatic approach was a response to achieving quick approvals, and as an associated outcome, addressed perceptual challenges in terms of fire safety. In fact, the historic (and completely understandable) fear of fire in wood frame buildings is dramatically less relevant to mass timber. During a fire, the outside surface of a thick wood member chars while protecting a structural core of unburnt wood. As building codes develop, it is likely that the testing of mass wood assemblies will assist authorities to better understand the inherent fire resistance of mass timber, and potentially reduce the need for encapsulation, provided that a sacrificial layer of wood char is provided in its place.

However, we are not there yet. For Acton, the conservative approach chosen for Brock Commons may help lead to a future where the use of CLT is more commonplace. Brock Commons models a way that multi-residential builders can use CLT as an affordable and efficient means of building development projects, the vast majority of which are created without the involvement of architects. Acton sees a future of “mass wood for the masses.”

Broad adoption of mass wood structures, whether tall or not, would be a sustainability win. Advocates such as Vancouver architect Michael Green, FRAIC, an early leader in promoting mass timber, argue that the carbon sequestering properties of mass wood confer an extraordinary environmental benefit. According to a 2014 article in the Journal of Sustainable Forestry, substituting wood for current construction materials could save 14 to 31 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.1

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POLLUX CHUNG, COURTESY OF SEAGATE STRUCTURES LTD.

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OPPOSITE Seventeen storeys of Brock Commons are built with a hybrid structure that includes prefabricated glulam columns and CLT floor slabs. The structure was erected at a rate of two floors per week. ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Prefabricated faรงade panels, including windows, helped speed the construction process; glulam columns are tilted into place on a CLT floor slab; a typical floor, as seen before the glulam and CLT were encapsulated with drywall to facilitate the approvals process.

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STRUCTURAL DIAGRAM

A CLT floor slab is lowered into place and fastened to the glulam columns; the hybrid structure is primarily wood but also includes a concrete ground floor and core; even though mass timber has inherent fire resistance, the glulam and CLT were encapsulated with drywall to facilitate approvals, and a concrete floor topping was added for acoustic protection.

ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT

Skeptics note that a substantive transformation of building construction would require a strong global culture of sustainable forest management.

Although there are important examples of responsible forestry around the world, there are far more examples of short-term cut-and-run management of the world’s trees. Nonetheless, the lightness of mass timber, its ability to reduce the emissions generated by concrete and steel production and construction where appropriate, and the opportunity to nurture an advanced Canadian wood industry are all clear benefits.

Green also speaks with passion about the visual warmth of wood, and people’s visceral pleasure in wood as an emblem of the natural world. 2 For him, the inherent fire safety advantages are as yet under-recognized by building code officials, and the visibility of the wood bones of a mass timber building is a central benefit.

A related debate in the global tall wood movement is about how much of the structure can efficiently be built in wood, whether exposed or not. Paul Fast of Fast + Epp, the structural engineers for Brock Commons, believes in optimized solutions that maximize the benefits of each material. For example, he notes that the decision to use steel studs in Brock Commons’ envelope was related to lightness, consistency and the accuracy of the precut perforations.

More serious was the decision to have a concrete core as opposed to a wood core. There was a precedent for a wood core: the Wood Innovation Design Centre in Prince George, B.C. (by MGA with structural engineer Equilibrium) has one. But for UBC, Acton Ostry and their Austrian advising architect, Hermann Kaufmann, determined that the most important contribution to advancing the use of mass timber was in having a completed building delivered on-time and on-budget. The unknowns in having a “purist” wood structure, including the core, outweighed the advantages. A particular risk was the potential delay in building approval.

For Acton and Kaufmann, “the evolution of tall wood buildings is in its infancy; over time, small advances will lead to big changes.”

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It would be a great win if mass wood products were both visually celebrated and the go-to for the unadventuresome spec builder. Ultimately, the question “why didn’t you expose the wood?” speaks to architects’ strong bias towards the visual—but it avoids the central question of how to best make tall wood buildings commonplace. No one ever asks why you can’t see the 2x4s in conventional wood frame construction.

If the completion of Brock Commons sets the stage for an equally tall—or taller—mass wood building that has no concrete above the ground level, and where the structural material is visible throughout, that would be a positive milestone. If that future pure wood tower gets built in Canada, so much the better.

Bruce Haden, MRAIC is a Vancouver-based architect and urban designer. He was formerly a principal at DIALOG and its predecessor, Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects + Urbanists.

[1] Oliver, Nassar, Lippke & McCarter. “Carbon, Fossil Fuel, and Biodiversity Mitigation with Wood and Forests.” Journal of Sustainable Forestry, Dec. 2013, pp. 248-275.

[2] www.ted.com/talks/michael_green_why_we_should_build_wooden_skyscrapers

CLIENT UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA | TALL WOOD ADVISORS ARCHITEKTEN HERMANN KAUFMANN ZT GMBH | ARCHITECT TEAM RUSSELL ACTON, MARK OSTRY, MATT WOOD, GJERGJ HONDRO, SUSAN OCKWELL, RAFAEL SANTA ANA, WARREN SCHMIDT, NEBO SLIJEPCEVIC, NATE STRAATHOF, SERGEI VAKHRAMEEV, ANDREW WEYRAUCH | INTERIORS ACTON OSTRY ARCHITECTS INC. | STRUCTURAL FAST+EPP | MASS WOOD STRUCTURLAM | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL STANTEC | LANDSCAPE HAPA COLLABORATIVE | PROJECT MANAGER UBC PROPERTIES TRUST | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER URBAN ONE BUILDERS LTD. | WOOD STRUCTURE ERECTION SEAGATE STRUCTURES LTD. | FORMWORK WHITEWATER CONCRETE LTD. | PREFABRICATED FAÇADE CENTURA BUILDING SYSTEMS LTD. | LEED STANTEC | FIRE SCIENCE AND BUILDING CODE GHL CONSULTANTS LTD. | BUILDING ENVELOPE RDH BUILDING SCIENCE INC. | VIRTUAL DESIGN MODELLING CADMAKERS INC. | ENERGY MODELLING ENERSYS ANALYTICS INC. | ACOUSTICS RWDI AIR INC. | CIVIL KAMPS ENGINEERING LTD. | AREA 15,115 M2 | BUDGET $51.5 M (PROJECT BUDGET) | COMPLETION MAY 2017

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EXTERNAL FUNDING: At the project conception, UBC recognized that building the world’s tallest contemporary timber building would require additional resources to manage risk and address unknowns. The project obtained funding to cover this “innovation gap” from Natural Resources Canada, the Province of British Columbia, the Binational Softwood Lumber Council and FPInnovations.

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The wood structure is encapsulated with three layers of drywall on the underside of the CLT and three- to four-layers on the glulam columns. A concrete f loor topping on the CLT is applied for acoustical purposes. Encapsulation is applied in a manner similar to that used for steel, where the required fire protection for the structure is achieved with layers of gypsum board. While, given the inherent fire-resistance of mass timber, this approach could be thought of as a “belt and suspenders” strategy, it helped streamline approvals. As part of the application for a Site Specific Regulation (SSR) to allow this tall a wood building, the provincial Building Safety Standards Branch required that the project be reviewed for technical risks by two Expert Advisory Panels, one focused on fire safety and the other on structural safety. To facilitate the approvals process, the design team proposed just three substitute requirements from the current code: the use of a mass wood structure, encapsulation of the wood structure to achieve the required fire protection ratings, and approval for an exposed CLT canopy. The SSR was granted expediently—less than three months after the team presented to the expert advisory panels.

BUILDING CODE:

DETAIL

TECHNICAL FICHE MANDATE: According

to John Metras, Managing Director of Infrastructure Development for UBC, the university wanted to “use advanced wood-based building systems to demonstrate the applicability of wood in B.C.’s development and construction industries.” The project also needed to allow for ongoing monitoring to provide detailed knowledge that will support future changes to the National Building Code.

The building houses 404 upper-year and graduate students in a total of 305 units (272 studios and 33 quads). It includes both groundfloor and top-floor lounge and support spaces. UBC has recently built multiple student residences, and was clear about the unit layout they wanted. Accordingly, this was a largely predetermined aspect of the design.

PROGRAM:

17 floors of wood structure on top of a single floor of concrete construction.

BUILDING HEIGHT:

The building is a hybrid wood-concrete structure, combining glulam wood columns and CLT floorplates with a concrete core.

The small sizes of the housing units allowed for a highly repetitive structural grid of 4 metres by 2.85 metres. The short structural spans allow for the CLT to span in two directions in lieu of beams. The 5-ply, 169 millimetre thick CLT panels are 2.85 metres wide and 6, 8, 10 or 12 metres long. Columns are 265 x 265 mm glue laminated Douglas Fir to level nine, and 265 x 215 mm for the upper levels. The roof structure is steel.

STRUCTURE:

BUILDING ENVELOPE: Composed of steel stud-framed prefabricated panels.

The panels include the windows and are clad in wood pattern Trespa, manufactured with 70 percent wood fibre and thermosetting resins.

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The initial target budget was $30 million, or $191 per square foot, the same as the actual built cost for UBC student housing completed just prior to the start of the design of Brock Commons. This was a stretch target, and would have been lower than actual market construction cost for a similar concrete building at the time of consultant selection. According to Metras, in 2017, the construction cost for a comparable scale of building with a concrete structure would be $210 to $215 per square foot. He anticipates Brock Commons will be completed for just over $230 per square foot. This is well in alignment with current market costs for this building type.

Metras attributes the additional cost relative to concrete construction to the “innovation premium” noted above, and believes it would now be possible to build a similar tall wood building for less than Brock Commons, given the knowledge that has been gleaned from this project. In particular, he notes an opportunity already discussed with building officials to eliminate one layer of drywall from the encapsulation assembly—which would yield a substantial savings of approximately $9 per square foot.

BUDGET AND COST:

CONSTRUCTION BENEFITS: Carla Fraser, the site supervisor for Urban One Contractors, the Brock Commons builder, is an energetic proponent of tall wood. When I walked through the site with Fraser and Acton, the two independently noted several crucial benefits to mass timber construction. To start, there’s the speed advantages of wood.

A comparable concrete building would have taken roughly 22 months to build, but Brock Commons will be complete in 18 months. Fraser and Acton said that although the construction team was informed well in advance of the speed that the structure would go up, the mechanical and electrical trades were still caught off-guard by the speed of erection of each floor: two levels of mass timber structure and prefabricated façade were installed each week. Importantly, the wood slab was clear for working immediately post-installation. A concrete slab would have been a forest of shoring until the concrete had set enough to allow the removal of the temporary supports. The offsite fabrication of the glulam columns, CLT slabs, and prefabricated exterior wall panels not only increased the construction speed, it decreased the noise and construction interference to the adjoining properties.

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REPORT

FROM WOOD TO WALLPAPER: TILE TRENDS AT CERSAIE

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Shannon Moore

For the 34th edition of Cersaie, more than 900 exhibitors representing over 30 countries showcased their products to some 100,000 visitors in Bologna, Italy. From ceramic tiles to kitchen and bathroom furnishings, the annual trade show was ripe with inspiration for the architecture and interior design industries.

Among the various collections was an array of both new and returning ideas as companies put a unique spin on styles visible across the showroom floor. Pattern mimicry, glossy geometry, contrasting colours and pop-art looks featured among this year’s industry-favourite trends.

Natural and Noble Tile that mimics other materials continues to be popular at Cersaie.

Casalgrande Padana, for example, exhibited a collection of products inspired by noble Italian woods. Casalgrande’s Greenwood collection (1) contains rich browns and cool greys with texture and depth similar to authentic hardwood floors.

Tweed and Tartan Another trend at Cersaie was tiles inspired by fabric textiles. From a tweed-like product that resembles a classic Chanel coat (by Cooperativa Ceramica D’Imola) to tartan tiles with pearlescent and glittery undertones (by Ceramiche Atlas Concorde), fabric-inspired looks appeared throughout the show. Ceramica Sant’agostino embraced the fabric trend through their Tailorart collection (2), which includes solid and tartan looks suitable for both walls and floors.

Movement and Linearity With a goal to move beyond the traditional, many exhibitors opted for dynamic tiles that embrace a strong sense of movement, geometry and linearity. Emilgroup and Lea Ceramiche (3), for example, played with thin straight lines to create interest in a simple, sequential way.

Ceramiche Atlas Concorde exhibited contemporary leaf-like patterns in shiny marble and stone finishes. The company also showcased a ripple-effect tile (4) accentuated by a glossy, satin finish.

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Colourful and Cartoonish Similarly inspired to produce eye-catching tiles, many exhibitors opted for colourful products inspired by wallpaper and cartoons. Del Conca Group’s BG Bellagio/Manara line (5), for example, depicts characters from Italian comic books, while ABK emozioni in superficie, Vallelunga & Co., and 41 Zero 42 (6) take different approaches to a wallpaper-like finish with patterns of flowers, plants, leaves, lace and more.

Art and Architecture Many exhibitors showcased collections with obvious ties to art and architecture history. Tiles with Art Deco and Art Nouveau patterns

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popped up in numerous booths, including Altaeco, whose Eve collection (7) by Ceramica Bardelli in collaboration with interior designer Marcel Wanders is soft and delicate with a vintage touch.

For those who find inspiration in architecture, a number of collections stood out. Gigacer’s LCS Ceramics line (8) of porcelain stoneware tiles is based on Le Corbusier’s Polychromie Architecturale—a palette of colours deemed by the architect to be balanced, structured and aesthetically pure.

Other ties to the architecture industry included a metallic line of tiles used by architect Daniel Libeskind for a multi-storey sculpture called The Crown commissioned by Casalgrande-Padana, and a collection of marble tiles inspired by the work of architect Carlo Scarpa by Ceramica Fioranese (9).

Sustainable Solutions Amidst the various trends at Cersaie, some companies stood out for their concern with sustainability and for providing green solutions in a unique yet stylish way. Ardogres (10), for instance, exhibited a line of roof tiles that embrace solar electricity while resembling traditional roofing materials. The slate-like tiles, which are guaranteed for a 50-year period, incorporate embedded photovoltaic cells, resulting in an energy-producing roof that cleverly hides its solar components from sight.

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Gladstone Art Hut February 13-March 5, 2017

The Gladstone Hotel has transformed a former doughnut shop into an art gallery and incubator for Toronto artists. In February, artists Camille Jodoin-Eng and George Stamos will take up residence to showcase their work. www.gladstonehotel.com

Une architecture du Québec moderne: 1958–1974 To February 18, 2017

This exhibition, presented by the Université de Montréal, explores the architecture of Louis-Joseph Papineau, Guy Gérin-Lajoie and Michel Le Blanc, tracing their influence on the evolution of modern architecture in Quebec. www.expo.umontreal.ca

Building Myths: Stories We Tell Ourselves in Order to Design February 15, 2017

Architect David Cabianca lectures at the University of Manitoba about our experience in making architecture, and the different ways in which the practice—despite our best efforts—quite often exceeds our grasp. www.umanitoba.ca

Sheltered + Exposed February 15-April 1, 2017

This exhibition, presented

by Media Architecture Design Edmonton (MADE), uses photographs, drawings and writings to foster critical discussion around the practical and theoretical considerations of designing for Alberta’s cold climate.

Ice Breakers To February 26, 2017

This public art exhibition transforms Queens Quay with seasonally inspired installations by RAW, Polymétis, Platant, Ferris + Associates, and Curio Art Consultancy with Jaspal Riyait. www.waterfrontbia.com

S.O.S. Paysages autoroutiers To February 26, 2017

Winter Stations February 20-March 27, 2017

The third edition of this design competition transforms lifeguard stands in the heart of Toronto’s east end Beaches neighbourhood into temporary public art installations. The winners include design teams from Toronto, Montreal, Barcelona, Milan and Porto. www.winterstations.com

EQ Housing Innovation Forum and Awards February 23, 2017

The EnerQuality Housing Innovation Forum and Gala in Toronto presents new thinking, products and techniques that are geared towards advancing building performance. www.eqinnovation.ca

This exhibition at Montreal’s Maison de l’architecture du Québec pairs six design firms with artists to create speculative projects on how to protect, beautify, and transform the landscape of Quebec’s highways. www.maisondelarchitecture.ca

Green Blankstein Russell and Associates: An Architectural Legacy To February 28, 2017

The Winnipeg Architecture Foundation (WAF) has researched and documented the work of Green Blankstein Russell Architects. Original drawings, documents and ephemera about the firm and its projects are on view at the WAF office. www.winnipegarchitecture.ca

Getting Things Done: Evolution of the Built Environment in Vorarlberg

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CALENDAR

To March 25, 2017

This touring exhibition, on view at Urbanspace Gallery in Toronto, explores the radical yet sensitive architecture of the Austrian State of Vorarlberg, and includes more than 230 projects and 700 photographs. www.urbanspacegallery.ca

It’s All Happening So Fast: A Counter-History of the Modern Canadian Environment To April 9, 2017

On display at the CCA in Montreal, this exhibition uses case studies to examine Canadians’ often conf licted views of the natural environment. www.cca.qc.ca

Living Lightly on the Earth: Building an Ark for Prince Edward Island, 1974-76 To April 30, 2017

Curated by Steve Mannell, FRAIC, this exhibition explores the story of the Ark, an early prototype for a self-sufficient living environment. www.peiark.com

www.joinmade.org

Wood Week B.C. Buildex Vancouver February 15-16, 2017

This trade show and conference for the construction, renovation, architecture, interior design and property management industries features over 600 exhibits and more than 70 educational seminars. www.buildexvancouver.com

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February 23-March 6, 2017

Vancouver will host Wood Week B.C. 2017, where more than 1,200 professionals from across construction, design, building and manufacturing sectors come together to discuss best practices in wood building and design. www.woodweekbc.com

OCS State of the Industry & Outlook Conference March 9, 2017

The Ontario Construction Secretariat’s 17th Annual State of the Industry & Outlook Conference will explore the theme “Building the Infrastructure Projects that will Transform Ontario’s Economy.” www.iciconstruction.com

Icons of Knowledge: Architecture and Symbolism in National Libraries To May 5, 2017

On display at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, this exhibition explores the architecture of national libraries and their relationship to a nation’s culture. www.bag-lac.gc.ca

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CURTIS HO AND MARK THOLEN

COURTESY FARROW PARTNERS

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GETTING A GRIP TEXT

Chloe Town Tye Farrow envisions using Grip Metal to create skyscrapers supported by lightweight structural bracing; Mark Tholen’s Steam Canoe was installed in Toronto last winter.

ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT

CANADIAN ARCHITECTS ARE FINDING INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS FOR A MECHANICAL ADHESION TECHNOLOGY ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR CAR BRAKE PADS. Tye Farrow, FRAIC is in an enviable position for an architect. His friend, Ray Arbesman, is the president of a Toronto-based company called Nucap Industries that makes car brake pads.

If at first blush the connection between a car part manufacturer and an architect seems unpromising, consider that Nucap start-up company Grip Metal has developed brake pads that entirely eliminate the use of chemical adhesives. Consider that these pads are stronger, lighter, more rigid, and more secure than brake pads used in any car in the 20th century, and it becomes more apparent why an architect might pay attention.

As Montu Khokhar, CEO of Nucap, explains, Grip Metal has developed tooling that extrudes an extremely small pattern of hooks on sheet metal. These hooks are formed on the surface alone, so that sheets as thin as 0.3 millimetres are not punctured in the process. Pressed with enough weight, the hooks clasp to new materials instantaneously. Like barbs on a thistle, the hooks can attach to any substrate that doesn’t shatter under pressure: another piece of metal, wood, plastic, vinyl, or even some concrete composite panels. Essentially, Grip Metal makes metal act like Velcro.

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For the past several years, Farrow has been testing possibilities for how building construction might benefit from this manufacturing innovation. He has determined that because of the strength of the fastening, wood-andmetal façades could be formed in any shape, including complex curves, and stay put without adhesives, nails or screws. Towers could be sheathed with lightweight laminated bracing, replacing exterior steel framing. And exceptionally strong composite structural panels could be used not just for cladding or smallscale construction, but for walls and entire floor plates in multi-storey buildings.

Unlike the adhesive-bound structural insulated panels currently on the market, Farrow proposes ribbon-like, exterior-finished framing members called Grip Timber Metal that are 12’-6” long and 10 1/2” in depth, with laminated aluminum and wood at their core. Testing at Nucap’s labs has proven that the idea is not only viable but could increase the speed, structural efficiency and, ultimately, scale of modular construction. Structural engineer David Moses calculates that Grip Timber Metal could be used in towers up to 44 storeys in height. The proposed panels could support substantial com-

pressive loads while significantly reducing the amount of material in buildings.

OCAD University Assistant Professor Mark Tholen, along with a group of students, has already tested Grip Metal in practice. They pressed an extremely thin exterior oak veneer over a light Grip Metal shell, adding laminated spruce underside, to create an arched pavilion called Steam Canoe as part of last year’s Winter Stations competition in Toronto. The shelter emerges from the ground like an enlarged boat bow, but without an independent structural frame holding the curved skin. The team has won several accolades, including a German Materialica Award for innovation, and the project will remain on display at the OMI Sculpture Park in Ghent, New York until 2018.

When Steam Canoe does come down, all its parts will be recycled: the wood can be delaminated from the metal because no adhesives were used to bind the form together. And if Farrow’s research moves into mainstream practice, we’ll soon also have recyclable skyscrapers—the result of Canadian innovation.

Chloe Town is an instructor and lecturer at the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto.

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