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14 tommy douglas liBrary and north VancouVer city liBrary
Ben Rahn
Tom aRBan
Tom aRBan
contents
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news
damson Associates Architects and Rogers A Stirk Harbour + Partners win St. Lawrence Market North Building design competi tion; winners of the 2010 National Urban Design Awards announced.
a conTRasTing sTudy of Two new liBRaRies in gReaTeR VancouVeR—BoTh By diamond and schmiTT aRchiTecTs in joinT VenTuRe wiTh cei aRchiTecTuRe Planning inTeRioRs aRchiTecTs. teXt adele wedeR
23 Bridgenorth liBrary
33 practice
on a shoesTRing BudgeT, leViTT goodman aRchiTecTs in associaTion wiTh PhilliP h. caRTeR aRchiTecT design a handsome liBRaRy foR The onTaRio communiTy of BRidgenoRTh. teXt ian chodikoff
29 two sheds
41 calendar
while comPleTing his masTeR of aRchiTecTuRe degRee aT The uniVeRsiTy of BRiTish columBia, joey giaimo designs Two sToRage sheds foR aRTisT BRian jungen in easT VancouVeR. teXt claRe TaTTeRsall loRi kiessling
Graham Livesey details the valuable con tributions that Vancouver architect Peter Busby has made to sustainable design in Canada.
Pop Life: Art in a Material World at the National Gallery of Canada; Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary at the CCA in Montreal.
42 Backpage
july 2010, V.55 n.07
The NaTioNal Review of DesigN aND PRacTice/ The JouRNal of RecoRD of The Raic
The highly valued and influential work of Barry Lord and Gail Dexter Lord on cul tural institutions worldwide is introduced by Leslie Jen.
The Tommy douglas liBRaRy in BuRnaBy By diamond and schmiTT aRchiTecTs in joinT VenTuRe wiTh cei aRchiTecTuRe Planning inTeRioRs, aRchiTecTs. PhoTo By Tom aRBan.
coVer
07/10 canadian architect
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wILLIaM P. MCeLLIGot, GbassoCIates
viewpoint
editor Ian ChodIkoff, OAA, FRAIC associate editor LesLIe Jen, MRAIC
above the 37-aCre Lansdowne Park needs a Coherent vIsIon to aLIGn PrIvate and PubLIC Interests and to aLLow for the CreatIon of a sPeCtaCuLar urban Park In the Centre of ottawa, our natIon’s CaPItaL.
On June 28th, Ottawa City Council voted in favour of proceeding with the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. The plan includes the refurbishment of a crumbling stadium and an outdated civic centre, the establishment of a large urban park that is currently a sea of asphalt, and a mix of commercial, residential and retail functions. The proposal became highly controversial late last year, largely due to a political process severely lacking in transparency (see CA, December 2009, p. 8). To protect the interests of all stakeholders—private developers, the City of Ottawa, and community groups—a conservancy should have been established for Lansdowne Park from the very beginning. Instead, a series of potentially conflicting agreements and a lack of vision will likely threaten private- and public-sector interests over the long term. When the controversial plan to develop everything except the urban park was unveiled last winter, the City of Ottawa undertook considerable damage control to repair its reputation as a municipality accused of disposing valuable public assets through uncompetitive, sole-source procurement processes. As the public grew increasingly distrustful of the proposal known as Lansdowne Live—a partnership between the City and a group of investors known as the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG)—the City stepped forward to minimize the public controversy. Despite the City’s efforts, it is unlikely that the series of events over the past year will produce anything more than an expedient stadium refurbishment, a banal mixed-use retail development, and a lacklustre urban park whose future is uncertain, despite the honest attempt to hold a design competition. This competition was one of the outcomes of a City-established Strategic Design Review and Advisory Panel in which five teams were invited to compete for the urban park. The winning scheme, led by Vancouver landscape architecture firm Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, was announced in early June and— bound together with OSEG’s revised design for the stadium and mixed-use facility—sent off to City Council for approval. 8 canadian architect 07/10
The lack of a strong direction for the site is not the fault of the developers, but rather of the City’s failure to establish an overarching body politic to oversee the park’s redevelopment. Commissioning a transportation study and issuing a separate RFP for the design, construction, operation and financing of an exposition hall and trade show facility to be opened by September 2011 will only add to further conflict and confusion. Another reason for concern is that the City’s partnership with the National Capital Commission and the Parks Canada Agency for the creation of an urban park lacks clear phasing and financing strategies. With work on the stadium and mixeduse area to be completed as early as 2013, a disjuncture in the overall vision for Lansdowne Park seems inevitable. Adding to the Lansdowne controversy, OSEG should be worried about strengthening support from the public and the City of Ottawa, instead of focusing on Ottawa Citizen journalist Maria Cook. Cook has devoted considerable energy to discussing the future of Lansdowne Park in the newspaper, as well as other urban design and planning issues. She even created and managed her own blog called Designing Ottawa. But after posting critical comments about Lansdowne Park, the Citizen unceremoniously shut her down by pulling her off the urban affairs beat and suspending her blog. The Citizen has since replaced Cook’s reporting with less-than-critical news coverage of the Lansdowne redevelopment. Vindication for Cook came in the form of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s 2010 President’s Award for Architectural Journalism this past June at their annual conference in Saskatoon. The annual award recognizes “excellence in the coverage of an architectural issue or idea.” At least the architectural profession values constructive and open criticism. While much has been done to salvage the redevelopment proposal, a coherent vision for the site that adequately balances the interests of the City, OSEG and the general public is still lacking. Silencing journalistic and public dissent will not improve the future health of Lansdowne Park. Ian ChodIkoff
ichodikoff@canadianarchitect.coM
editorial advisors John MCMInn, AADIpl. MarCo PoLo, OAA, FRAIC contributing editors GavIn affLeCk, OAQ, MRAIC herbert enns, MAA, MRAIC douGLas MaCLeod, nCARb regional correspondents halifax ChrIstIne MaCy, OAA regina bernard fLaMan, SAA montreal davId theodore calgary davId a. down, AAA Winnipeg herbert enns, MAA vancouver adeLe weder publisher toM arkeLL 416-510-6806 associate publisher GreG PaLIouras 416-510-6808 circulation Manager beata oLeChnowICz 416-442-5600 ext. 3543 custoMer service MaLkIt Chana 416-442-5600 ext. 3539 production JessICa Jubb graphic design sue wILLIaMson vice president of canadian publishing aLex PaPanou president of business inforMation group bruCe CreIGhton head office 12 ConCorde PLaCe, suIte 800, toronto, on M3C 4J2 telephone 416-510-6845 facsimile 416-510-5140 e-mail edItors@CanadIanarChIteCt.CoM Web site www.CanadIanarChIteCt.CoM Canadian architect is published monthly by bIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier bIG holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business-tobusiness information services. the editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and authoritative information, but they assume no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the text, or its fitness for any particular purpose. subscription rates Canada: $52.95 plus applicable taxes for one year; $83.95 plus applicable taxes for two years (hst – #809751274rt0001). Price per single copy: $6.95. students (prepaid with student Id, includes taxes): $34.97 for one year. usa: $101.95 us for one year. all other foreign: $120.00 us per year. us office of publication: 2424 niagara falls blvd, niagara falls, ny 143045709. Periodicals Postage Paid at niagara falls, ny. usPs #009-192. us postmaster: send address changes to Canadian architect, Po box 1118, niagara falls, ny 14304. return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation dept., Canadian architect, 12 Concorde Place, suite 800, toronto, on Canada M3C 4J2. Postmaster: please forward forms 29b and 67b to 12 Concorde Place, suite 800, toronto, on Canada M3C 4J2. Printed in Canada. all rights reserved. the contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the copyright owner. from time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: telephone 1-800-668-2374 facsimile 416-442-2191 e-mail privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca mail Privacy officer, business Information Group, 12 Concorde Place, suite 800, toronto, on Canada M3C 4J2 member of the canadian business press member of the audit bureau of circulations publications mail agreement #40069240 issn 1923-3353 (online) issn 0008-2872 (print)
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news adamson associaTes archiTecTs/rogers sTirk harbour + parTners
cOmpetitiOns adamson associates architects and rogers stirk harbour + partners win st. Lawrence market north Building design competition.
The design by Adamson Associates Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners was announced as the winner in the St. Lawrence Market North Building Design Competition for the City of Toronto. Included in the new design is a four-storey structure that allows market shoppers to view life and activities on Front Street, Jarvis Street and on Market Lane Park from within its glass atrium, effectively creating an open indoor market that resembles a fresh, outdoor setting. Shoppers will also be able to see the South Market from inside the building and appreciate a dramatic view of St. Lawrence Hall to the north, creating a strong visual connection with all three buildings of the complex. Also included in the design is an underground garage, three floors above the market space for court rooms, administrative offices for Toronto Court Services, facility amenities that fulfill the Toronto Green Standard, a new green roof, and a geothermal system to make the North Market a model for energy efficiency and sustainability. The five design teams selected from a field of 30 to compete in Stage 2 of the St. Lawrence Market North Building Design Competition were: Adamson Associates Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Cohos Evamy and Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects; Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects; NORR Limited, Architects Engineers Planners; and Taylor Hazell Architects and Montgomery Sisam Architects. The St. Lawrence Market Complex, consisting of St. Lawrence Hall and the South and North Market buildings, has served for over 200 years as the City’s social centre and premier marketplace, and even as a City Hall. The new North Market building in the St. Lawrence Market Complex is expected to be completed and operating in 2014. www.toronto.ca/stlawrence_market/design
awards
The winning proposal for ToronTo’s sT. lawrence markeT norTh demonsTraTes much promise in improving The funcTioning of This hisTorically imporTanT area of The ciTy’s downTown core.
aBOVe
other communities in Canada. Please visit the RAIC website for a detailed list of the winners. www.raic.org 2010 pug awards winners announced.
The winners of the 2010 Pug Awards, the people’s choice awards for architecture in Toronto, were recently unveiled at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The sixth annual Pug Awards invited Torontonians of all stripes to vote for their most and least favourite new buildings from a field of 31 residential and 7 commercial/institutional developments. Online voting took place from May 1 to 31, 2010. To be eligible, developments must have been completed in 2009, be located within the city of Toronto, and consist of an area greater than 50,000 square feet or be considered noteworthy by the Pug Awards Advisory Board. This year’s big winners included 60 Richmond East Housing Co-operative as the best new residential building, and the Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning as top commercial/institutional project. For a full ranked list of winners, please visit the Pug Awards website. www.pugawards.com
winners of the 2010 national Urban design awards announced.
matthew a. schmid of the University of waterloo wins 2010 caGBc–raic scholarship.
Architecture Canada | RAIC, the Canadian Institute of Planners, and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects have announced the winners of the 2010 National Urban Design Awards. The Awards are part of a two-tier program held in co-operation with major metropolitan centres in Canada. Recipients include previous year’s winners from participating municipalities such as Toronto, Mississauga, Calgary, Edmonton, Vaughan and Ottawa, as well as submissions from
The RAIC Foundation has announced that Matthew A. Schmid from the University of Waterloo is the recipient of the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) 2010 scholarship. Schmid is ranked amongst the top students at the School of Architecture at Waterloo. He is studying evolutionary design methods measured by ecological impact, continuing the traditions exemplified by the early 20th-century innovation of Antoni Gaudí. The CaGBC provides the RAIC Foundation
with this generous endowment—$5,000 annually—to nurture the next generation of “green” designers by promoting and encouraging sustainable research and design in Canadian schools of architecture. To be eligible, students must submit a Master’s thesis proposal, and a jury then selects the one that has the most promising environmental benefits. www.raic.org planningalliance and the amman institute for Urban development win canadian institute of planners’ 2010 award.
Toronto urban planning and design firm planningAlliance and the Amman Institute for Urban Development have been awarded the Canadian Institute of Planners’ 2010 Award for Planning Excellence for an international development project. The award recognizes the Greater Amman Municipality Zoning Regime, a project designed to help the Kingdom of Jordan’s capital city plan intelligently for rapid urban growth over the next 20 years. Amman’s population is forecasted to triple during that time. Written in simple language and using graphics and tables throughout, the regime is a user-friendly document that emphasizes urban design, landscaping, open space, parking and building massing as critical urban form-makers. Discretionary urban design guidelines based on local best practices feature prominently within the regime, to direct site design and Amman’s new development review processes. By emphasizing form over use, the Amman Zoning Regime has become a best practice model throughout the region as other municipalities begin to update and modernize their regulatory regimes. The Amman Plan was given the World Leadership Award in Town Planning in December 2007 by the World Leadership Forum. 07/10 canadian architect
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what’s new Leslie Van duzer appointed director of the University of British columbia school of architecture and Landscape architecture.
The University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science announced Professor Leslie Van Duzer as the new Director of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA). Van Duzer will be leading the school as it launches a fundraising campaign for a new building to house SALA and the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning. The estimated $25-million facility will support integrated education and research in planning and design. Van Duzer comes to UBC from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis where she served as Director of Undergraduate Studies. An expert in early-modern European architecture, she is co-author of four books: Adolf Loos: Works in the Czech Lands; Mies van der Rohe: Krefeld Villas; Rudolf Arnheim: Revealing Vision; and Villa Müller: A Work of Adolf Loos. The two building monographs were awarded The Architects’ Journal Top Ten Books of the Year award in London. Among her varied academic accomplishments, Van Duzer developed a freshmen design seminar connecting under-represented minority stu-
dents with faculty mentors, a large universitywide introduction to architecture course, several interdisciplinary design workshops, and a studyabroad program in Malawi. Just prior to her departure from Minnesota, she will formalize a partnership between the College of Design and the American Refugee Committee to provide the NGO with expert support for their work in Haiti. Van Duzer currently serves on the boards of two non-profits: Mill City Commons, a riverfront neighbourhood organization exploring ways to age in place, and The Trust for Public Land, an organization dedicated to preserving public open space. SALA was formed in July 2005 by the consolidation of UBC’s School of Architecture and the Landscape Architecture program. The school includes graduate-level professional and post-professional programs in architecture and landscape architecture, along with an undergraduate program in environmental design. The school has 23 full-time faculty, 10 staff and 260 students. ids 11: now acceptiong applications For studio north & prototype.
The Interior Design Show (IDS) is Canada’s largest celebration of design and the catalyst for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of de-
sign product purchases throughout the country. IDS 10 welcomed over 48,000 attendees—10,000 design trade professionals and 38,000 affluent design customers. IDS 11 invites independent designers to submit items not currently in production, which address the theme of new ideas intended for mass production. The works selected will be exhibited together in a group display on a platform. The deadline for the summer jury is August 13, 2010, and the deadline for the autumn jury is October 14, 2010. www.interiordesignshow.com Ontario college of art & design becomes Ocad University.
As of June 8, 2010, the Ontario College of Art & Design is now OCAD University. “Our new name makes clear for our current and future students, alumni, faculty, Ontario and the world our role as Canada’s leading institution for art and design education and research. It is the completion of an evolution that has seen the institution grow from an elite arts school formed by Canada’s leading painters in 1876 to a formidable university offering a unique studio-based education that fuels the expansion of Ontario’s knowledge economy,” said President Dr. Sara Diamond. www.ocad.ca
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2010 AwArds of ExcEllEncE Canadian Architect invites architects registered in Canada and architectural graduates to enter the magazine’s 2010 Awards of Excellence. Eligibility
4. Please do not submit any material in CD, DVD, or any other audio-visual format not confined to two dimensions, as it will not be considered.
Projects must be in the design stage, scheduled for construction or under construction but not substantially complete by September 16, 2010. All projects must be commissioned by a client with the intention to build the submitted proposal. All building types and concisely presented urban design schemes are eligible.
Entry fee
Judging criteria
Publication
Awards are given for architectural design excellence. Jurors will consider the scheme’s response to the client’s program, site, and geographic and social context. They will evaluate its physical organization, form, structure, materials and environmental features. Presentation
1. Anonymity. The designer’s name must not appear on the submission except on the entry form. The project name and location should be identified. 2. Each entry must be securely fastened in a folder or binder of dimensions no greater than 14´´ 5 17´´; oversized panels will not be accepted. One (1) copy of this entry form must be enclosed within an envelope and affixed to the front of each folder, preferably without the use of Scotch tape or adhesives. Clips are ideal. 3. Each project folder must include: a) first page—a brief description of the project (500 words or fewer) b) second page—a brief description indicating the project’s ability to address some or all of the following issues (1,000 words or fewer): i) context and/or urban design components ii) integration of sustainable design iii) innovation in addressing program and/or the client’s requirements iv) technical considerations through building materials and/or systems c) drawings/images including site plan, floor plans, sections, elevations and/or model views
$85.00 per entry ($75.22 + $9.78 HST). Please make cheques payable to Canadian Architect. HST registration #809751274RT0001. Winners will be published in a special issue of Canadian Architect in December 2010. Winners grant Canadian Architect first publication rights for their winning submissions. Awards
Framed certificates will be given to each winning architect team and client. Details to follow upon notification of winners. notification of winners
Award winners will be notified after judging takes place in October 2010. deadline
Entries will be accepted after August 12, 2010. Send all entries to arrive by 5:00 pm on Thursday, September 16, 2010 to: Awards of Excellence 2010 Canadian Architect 12 Concorde Place Suite 800 Toronto, Ontario M3C 4J2 return of Entries
Entries will not be returned.
name of Project name of firm Address Telephone
city & Province fax
Architect/Architectural Graduate submitting the project
E-mail signature
according to the conditions above client
client Telephone
Postal code
call Of the Wild
tWO recently cOmpleted libraries in british cOlumbia’s lOWer mainland address the challenges in designing a cOntempOrary public amenity that is inclusive tO diverse user grOups. TOMMY DOUGLAS LIBRARY, BURnABY, BRITISh COLUMBIA; nORTh VAnCOUVeR CITY LIBRARY, nORTh VAnCOUVeR, BRITISh COLUMBIA architects DIAMOnD AnD SChMITT ARChITeCTS In jOInT VenTURe wITh CeI ARChITeCTURe PLAnnInG InTeRIORS, ARChITeCTS teXt ADeLe weDeR phOtOs TOM ARBAn prOJect
14 canadian architect 07/10
You see, I don’t believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that’s been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians. —Graham Chapman, portraying a library chairman in Monty Python’s Flying Circus The North American library industry has yet to employ a gorilla as its chief librarian, as per Monty Python’s vintage skit, but perhaps it’s only a matter of time. Once a sanctuary for hushed reading and studying, the conventional public library has morphed into a high-octane combination of penny arcade and community centre. Library-goers bypass T.S. Eliot in favour of Hollywood movie DVDs and internet-ready computer terminals, often punctuating their visits with whoops and chatter. Some may cringe, but others—including library architects themselves—are championing the shift.
The new TOMMY DOUGLAS LIBRARY In BURnABY PROVIDeS COLOURfUL ReLIef TO The SURROUnDInG SUBURBAn COnTexT. abOve The DIGIkIDS SeCTIOn In The nORTh VAnCOUVeR CITY LIBRARY keePS YOUnG LeARneRS fASCInATeD wITh ALL kInDS Of InfORMATIOn.
OppOsite tOp
“Libraries are becoming community centres,” avers Jack Diamond, “and the upside is huge. It’s wonderful to be working on this new generation of libraries.” Diamond and Schmitt Architects is a firm renowned for creating visually understated buildings that work exceptionally well. Their landmark projects, such as the Metropolitan Toronto YMCA and the Opera House, are not flamboyantly iconic, but both are complex projects that have earned the acclaim of their primary users. That approach also applies to the firm’s two new libraries in the Vancouver area. Both are examples of very good architecture and great urbanism. Whether either is a good library depends on
how you define a library. As the end goal shifts from education to entertainment, the architectural ramifications are huge. Most obviously, library architecture must now strike the precarious balance between facilitating social interaction without enabling utter chaos. The North Vancouver City Library reflects and abets this seismic shift in concept. Built on a gentle slope in the city’s Central Lonsdale neighbourhood, this three-storey edifice has already become a hive of activity and a magnet for the community. Outside its front entrance, the stepped concrete plaza and water feature hint at the ebullience within. Surrounded by architectural banality, the Diamond and Schmitt façade stands out like a beacon, with its streamlined glass-and-steel grille defined by brise-soleils. The architectural language suggests this is a building for our time, technologically savvy and eco-charged. And it is ecologically ambitious, with a solar-panel water-heating system and geoexchange 07/10 canadian architect
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cooling, among other features. Located a block away from Lonsdale Avenue, the main shopping-and-dining spine of North Vancouver, the Library is nonetheless close enough—and powerful enough—to generate a critical mass of urban vitality in this drowsy, lowdensity suburb. The espresso bar embedded in the building next to the front entrance is doing a briskly synergetic business with its host building: destination library-goers drop in for sustenance, but also destination café customers might just happen to drop in the library on impulse, after they finish their lattes. Actually, make that during their lattes. Another paradigm shift in the modern library is the abolition of the long-held taboo against eating and drinking in the library. A series of primary geometric shapes define the interior plan—two large cubic window wells, a series of demi-cylindrical shelving units, a square cedar-slat bulkhead and the bold coloured walls of the foyer. One half of each of the upper floors house a section of conventional linear walls of books, the open shelves and the stacks. The curved millwork enhances the dynamic flow of the spaces: kids famously love to run around in circles, and the kids in this library run at high speed, often squawking or shrieking. Adults perambulate the circular millwork and window wells too, but for different reasons and at a different speed. From one side of the window well one can see the mountain view beckoning from across the square chasm; conversely, from the club chairs that line a stretch of the fully glazed wall, one can watch people perusing books, chatting, gesticulating, or charmingly goofing off. These days, just 40 percent of the North Vancouver Public Library’s circulation involves books; the rest is generated by loans of DVDs and other products. And of the browsers who lope in and out all day, more than half are there not to borrow anything at all but rather to use the computers, hold informal meetings, read magazines, or just hang out and play. The previous mainstay of library activity—silent reading— is now such a rarefied activity that the design incorporates a separate “quiet study room” plus a pair of “tutorial rooms” for those users that need to get away from the madding crowd. The tutorial rooms are each the size of a walkin closet, with a glass wall that evokes the sense The new nORTh VAn COUVeR CITY LIBRARY PROVIDeS A POweRfUL ReASOn TO enhAnCe The SURROUnDInG COnTexT AnD enABLe A SUCCeSSfUL CIVIC PReCInCT; SOMe Of The VARIOUS IMPROVe MenTS TO The URBAn LAnDSCAPe OUTSIDe The nORTh VAnCOUVeR LIBRARY; exTeRIOR SOLAR ShADInG DeVICeS IMPROVe eneRGY effICIenCY wIThOUT SACRIfICInG The AMOUnT Of nATURAL DAYLIGhT enTeRInG The nORTh VAnCOUVeR BUILDInG.
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of being in a pet kennel or a prisoner’s interrogation chamber. But deputy chief librarian Wai-Lin Chee admits that they’re hugely popular—“We should have built more of them,” she says. But that prompts thought of another possibility: if they’re so popular, is it possible that quiet-seekers are actually the silent majority among these marauding noisemakers? The concept of a library as hushed sanctuary has been usurped by its newly important function as palliative for urban loneliness. Diamond himself compares the North American library’s potential role to that of the pub in Britain or the beach in California: the one place you can go by yourself, with no plan or purpose, and instantly be with people. His epiphany was when he was talking to his client at his Jewish Community Centre in Manhattan, who told him that the essence of the design brief was to make a place where you have no reason to go. “That was hugely insightful to me,” relays Diamond. The advantage of a community library, says Diamond, is that you can appear to have a reason to go. The ennui-stricken urbanite strolls into the welcoming entrance of a library to look for a book. Once inside, this contemporary flâneur can find company and conversation, or just the reassuring presence of other human bodies. “You can masquerade at the library,” says Diamond, “and it’s better than Starbucks, because it’s not commercial.” The spatial sequences in the North Vancouver City Library lend themselves well to this kind of masquerade. With just the northern half of each floor dedicated (largely) to stacks and the southern half given over to computer terminals, club chairs, and those low-walled window wells, no one need fear being sandwiched in between rows of books. The staff areas at the North Vancouver City Library are considerably quieter than the public areas, but share the luxury of daylight streaming into every working area; even the otherwise pallid sorting room at the back has a window that brings in daylight. Clearly, it is a project whose designers have paid generous attention to detail and comfort in every department. There’s just one problem, it seems: the deputy librarian confirms that noise levels at the library have been drawing many complaints from visitors. The two open window wells provide key ventilation and lighting elements for the “green” aspect of the building. But the open wells allow The ATRIUM InSIDe The nORTh VAnCOUVeR CITY LIBRARY MAxIMIzeS nATURAL DAYLIGhT enTeRInG The BUILDInG whILe eMPhASIzInG The LIBRARY’S fUnCTIOn AS A BUSY COMMUnITY CenTRe; A SOLITARY ReADeR In One Of The qUIeT ReADInG ROOMS.
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ThRee VIGneTTeS In The nORTh VAnCOUVeR CITY LIBRARY InCLUDe: LOOkInG DOwn TO The ChILDRen’S ReADInG SeCTIOn; The “new AnD POPULAR” SeCTIOn PROVIDeS AMPLe SPACe fOR BROwSInG; A ROOfTOP TeRRACe ALLOwS VISITORS TO enjOY VIewS Of BUR RARD InLeT.
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not only daylight but streams of noise to travel up and down through the three floors. The library administration is now looking at ways to seal off the window wells, most likely by affixing full glazing on all four sides of both wells. But if you head out to Burnaby, another suburb of Vancouver where Diamond and Schmitt has designed yet another freshly built library, you will find another paradigm. Completed earlier this year, the Tommy Douglas Library sits on a derelict corner of the Kingsway thoroughfare. Kitty-corner from a big-box home improvement store, this library is bereft of the sea-to-sky view that backdrops its more high-profile sibling to the north. Instead of mountains and ocean, the glazed façade offers an elegant man-made backdrop of translucent colour bands. Diamond notes that the Tommy Douglas Library is a smaller-scale library with a less ambitious purpose. Unlike the North Vancouver project, there was no attempt to generate a city centre in this bleak corner of town punctuated by a pawnbroker and a grotty adult bookstore. Diamond planned the canopied front entrance area to provide a measure of security and comfort for community members waiting for the bus. But there is no grand piazza here; no outdoor public space to speak of, and not even an espresso bar. The automatic doors slide open like airport entrances. One steps in, braced for the same cacophony, and all is quiet. A cleanly detailed, simple L-shaped open interior presents itself. The furniture and millwork are basic: ordinary white acoustic ceiling tiles, for example, rather than the more elaborate-looking cedar slats of North Vancouver. A few mobile bookshelves offer bestsellers and audiobooks. People are talking but in the deferential low-volume tone of library conversation. Even the children’s section is ethereally quiet. A row of pre-teen boys sit at bar-height tables, huddled over computers, or with their notebooks open. A few metres away, a woman sits in a chaise longue in the children’s section, her expression pensive and inscrutable; on the floor beside her sits a young girl thumbing through a stack of books. In response to my reporterly query, the woman, Renée Li, relays that she’s an immigrant from Thailand, and comes to this library regularly at the behest of her eight-
year-old daughter, the girl now poring through an illustrated history of science. Are Burnaby residents really more subdued than North Vancouverites, or is something else at work here? The program is the same; the architectural firm is the same; the user demographics are similar—Burnaby has a less affluent community but, as with most Canadian suburbs, a heavy percentage of immigrant families. The key difference is the actual physical configuration. The plan, scale and physical environs at Tommy Douglas seem to aid and abet reading and studying in communal peace. Jack Diamond didn’t plan the Tommy Douglas to be exempt from the rowdy community-centre tOp AT The TOMMY DOUGLAS LIBRARY In BUR nABY, COLOUReD GLASS AnD A GeneROUS exTeRIOR CAnOPY ARe TwO eSSenTIAL eLeMenTS ThAT heLP OffSeT MOnThS Of OVeRCAST AnD RAInY weATheR. right The CIRCULATIOn DeSk AT The TOMMY DOUGLAS LIBRARY fACeS A GeneROUS DOUBLe–heIGhT CenTRAL SPACe.
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atmosphere; to a certain extent, it just turned out that way. A smaller scale and budget, with no mandate to add to the urbanism of the neighbourhood. Perhaps the lack of demands and expectations have allowed the program’s recessivegene quality—quiet contemplation—to manifest itself. The Tommy Douglas is nonetheless an elegant-looking, gracefully detailed and—as far as the eye and ear can tell—effective library for the community it serves. Are we too quick to abandon the library of yore for the call of the wild? ca
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Adele Weder is an architectural curator and critic based in British Columbia.
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One Of The GReAT ChALLenGeS In COnTeMPORARY LIBRARY DeSIGn IS MAIn TAInInG A BALAnCe BeTween MAxIMIzInG PUBLIC ACCeSSIBILITY AnD MInIMIzInG SOUnD LeVeLS fOR ReADInG AnD qUIeT STUDY. heRe, ReADeRS In The MAGAzIne AnD RefeRenCe SeCTIOn AT The TOMMY DOUGLAS LIBRARY GATheR ALOnG The fULLY GLAzeD SOUThfACInG fAçADe TO ReAD In COMfORT whILe enjOYInG The SUnLIGhT STReAMInG InTO The BUILDInG.
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client The CITY Of BURnABY architect team DIAMOnD AnD SChMITT ARChITeCTS: A.j. DIA MOnD, PAUL SzASzkIewICz, BReCk MACfARLAne, DeRek newBY, PRIYAnkA BISTA, eRIn CORCORAn, jAMeS TenYenhUIS, BRUCe hAn, MIke VOTRUBA. CeI ARChITeCTURe PLAnnInG InTeRIORS: jOhn SCOTT, SID jOhnSOn, DeRek newBY, RACheL SUn. structural BUSh BOhLMAn AnD PARTneRS (CLInT LOw, BReTT hALIkI, MIChAeL SULLIVAn) mechanical COBALT enGIneeRInG (ALBeRT BICOL, SUSAn hAYeS, ken newBeRT, jOhn MAY) electrical MCw COnSULTAnTS LTD. (GReG LORD, AnDRew BURT) landscape PhILLIPS fAReVAAG SMALLenBeRG (ChRISTOPheR PhILLIPS, jOeSePh fRY, hAnAkO AMAYA, ROSS DIxOn, AnDRew ROBeRTSOn) interiOrs CeI ARChITeCTURe PLAnnInG InTeRIORS (heIDI MATThewS, ASAR AMInPOUR, ISABeLLA PUDLAk). DIAMOnD AnD SChMITT ARChITeCTS (BReCk MACfARLAne). cOntractOr DOMInIOn fAIRMILe COnSTRUCTIOn life/safety GhL COnSULTAnTS LTD. leed ReCOLLeCTIVe cOmmissiOning CeS enGIneeRInG civil hUnTeR LAIRD enGIneeRInG LTD. Water feature VInCe heLTOn & ASSOCIATeS geOtechnical TROw ASSOCIATeS area 17,500 fT2 budget $9 M cOmpletiOn nOVeMBeR 2009 client nORTh VAnCOUVeR CITY LIBRARY architect team DIAMOnD AnD SChMITT ARChITeCTS: A.j. DIA MOnD, PAUL SzASzkIewICz, BReCk MCfARLAne, jeD BRAIThwAITe, eRIn CORCORAn, DAn GALLIVAn, BRUCe hAn, MUI LInG Teh, CInDY TSe, GARY wATSOn. CeI ARChITeCTURe PLAnnInG InTeRIORS: jOhn SCOTT, SID jOhnSOn, TOM ABeLe, ASAR AMInPOUR, DUSkO CVIjIC, ALIShA heIDe, MARLIn jOhnS, heIDI MATThewS, ROBeRT MAjOR, AnGeL SeGUIn. structural RjC COnSULTInG enGIneeRS (jeff CORBeTT) mechanical OMICROn ARChITeCTURe, enGIneeRInG, COnSTRUC TIOn (GeOff MCDOneLL, MIke ReIMeR) electrical MCw COnSULTAnTS LTD. (ROBeRT DeAGLe, AnDRew BURT) landscape PhILLIPS fAReVAAG SMALLenBeRG (ChRIS PhILLIPS, jOSePh fRY) cOntractOr PCL COnSTRUCTORS CAnADA InC. cOst BTY GROUP leed ReCOLLeCTIVe civil engineer keRR wOOD LeIDAL ASSOCIATeS LIMITeD prOJect manager TURnBULL COnSTRUCTIOn SeRVICeS acOustics DAnIeL LYzUn AnD ASSOCIATeS envelOpe TROw COnSULTInG enGIneeRS LTD. lighting jOSePh SCOTT LIGhTInG COnSULTAnT cOde LMDG BUILDInG CODe COnSULTAnTS area 35,000 fT2 budget $28 M cOmpletiOn SePTeMBeR 2008
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Cottage Life
A small community centre and library in the Kawartha Lakes captures and condenses life in cottage country. PROJECT BRIDGENORTH LIBRARY & COMMUNITY HALL, BRIDGENORTH, ONTARIO ARCHITECTS LEVITT GOODMAN ARCHITECTS LTD. IN ASSOCIATION WITH PHILLIP H. CARTER ARCHITECT TEXT IAN CHODIKOFF PHOTOS BEN RAHN
Designed by Levitt Goodman Architects in association with Phillip H. Carter Architect, the new library and community hall built in Bridgenorth, a small town 150 kilometres northeast of Toronto, celebrates the region’s identity with architectural references that acknowledge its local geography and history by providing a sense of place while avoiding contrived formal gestures. Levitt Goodman Architects has achieved tremendous success over the course of its 21-year history, notably with projects it has completed in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, such as the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge and the Waterloo Children’s Museum. To set itself apart from other Toronto-based firms, the 25-person office has been honing its identity as a Southern Ontario practice sensitive to regional architecture. Firm partner Brock James and David Warne led the Bridgenorth Library and Community Hall architect team to design the 8,500-squarefoot building with a modest $1.8-million construction budget. James joined Levitt Goodman Architects in 1996, becoming a partner roughly five years ago. Artist-architect Warne joined the firm in 1999. Like most of those who
sited on the crest of a hill, the north-facing reading deck glows at night. the vertical windows are intended to reference the filtered quality of light found in the nearby forests.
ABOVE
work at the firm, both James and Warne are graduates of the University of Waterloo and have previously worked on two library projects in Cambridge, Ontario: the Musagetes Architecture Library at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture, and a renovation to the Cambridge Libraries and Galleries. Another library project for the firm is the Scott Library at York University, which will open in September 2010. Bridgenorth was their first standalone library. Warne explains that it is a constant challenge for any Toronto firm to remain competitive when it comes to library commissions, the majority of which tend to be offered to a handful of firms. Therefore, to strengthen their competitive advantage, Levitt Goodman Architects associated with Phillip Carter, an architect who maintains a small Toronto office. Since he began his practice in 1972, Carter has designed over 60 libraries. While continuing to pursue small commissions on his own, he has been sharing his library expertise with Levitt Goodman Architects, forming a strategic alliance to pursue other projects in addition to the Bridgenorth facility, such as the $5-million Scarborough Centre Branch along the south side of the Scarborough Civic Centre which is expected to be completed in 2012, and the Kitchener Public Library, a $40-million-plus expansion in the city’s central district that will be built atop a new three-storey underground parking facility. The Walter Fedy Partnership is the third member of the 07/10canadian architect
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THEVERTICALExPRESSION FOUNDALONGTHENORTHFAçADEALLUDES TOTHEREGION’SFORESTSWHILETHECHIMNEYCAPTURESASENSEOFCOTTAGELIFE; THEEASTFAçADEABSTRACTSTHEMETAL CLADDINGANDSTONEFOUNDATIONSOFA RURALBARN;ALTHOUGHNOTDIRECTLYADjACENTTOLAKECHEMONG,THEPROjECT’S SITINGATTEMPTSTOLINKTHEBUILDINGAS MUCHASPOSSIBLETOTHENEARBYLAKEAND COMMUNITY.
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Kitchener Public Library design team, and will be largely responsible for the parking garage, as well as acting as the engineering and LEED consultants. Overlooking Lake Chemong, Bridgenorth is part of the Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield township, forming part of the Kawartha Lakes region. During the summer months, the region swells from 16,000 inhabitants to over 40,000 people, largely due to the exodus of city-dwellers who spend their summers vacationing at cottages located in the area. The Bridgenorth project was awarded through a straightforward RFP process, and the architect team met the clients for the first time only after the project had been awarded. During the initial meetings, the client group presented the architects with a few suggestions to connect the project to the history of the area, including the possibility of designing the circulation desk to resemble a paddle wheel from one of the original ferries that operated on Lake Chemong a hundred years ago. The architects responded by politely shifting the dialogue to completely involve the client group in a design process that would eventually see the paddle boat suggestion translated into a symbolically important outdoor reading deck, where library patrons can read their books on deck chairs with views toward the town. The Bridgenorth facility can be thought of as a contemporary incarnation of a cottage, or a great lodge. This analogy helped define some of the more potent design ideas found in the building, such as the metaphorical reference to the nearby trees, rock, and water. Undoubtedly, the clients initially imagined a more traditional building with a hip roof, but the architect team was successful in bringing them to a place where they could begin to understand the value of contemporary architecture without feeling as though they had been tricked into something they weren’t prepared to support. “One of the first things you learn in architecture school is the analogy,” explains Warne. “The tall vertical strips of windows provide light that is analogous to the geometry of the forest. It isn’t a cynical approach, but a way of looking at the geometry of the forest and abstracting that geometry into the architecture of the building.” The clients certainly got a lot of building for the $1.8-million construction budget. They had
ORDINARYExPOSEDSTUDS HELPEDMINIMIzECONTRUCTIONCOSTS WHILEMAxIMIzINGTHEExPRESSIONOFA PUBLICCOTTAGE;MODIFIEDSTANDARD WOODTRUSSESUSEDINRESIDENTIALCONSTRUCTIONALLUDETOATREEDCANOPY WHILETHELIGHTFIxTURESEVOKEASTARRY NIGHT;THENORTHEASTCORNEROFTHE BUILDINGGIVESASENSEOFTHESITE’STOPOGRAPHY—THEREADINGDECKCANBESEEN INTHEBACKGROUND.
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initially been given the impression that the project could have been achieved for around $150 per square foot. Since they wanted an affordable wooden building with the qualities of filtered light, a bit of ingenuity was required to meet their initial budget expectations. Achieving an affordable design and construction process necessitated, in the words of James, “a strategy to figure out a method using utilitarian pieces of wood construction.” With conventional wood trusses used in typical suburban houses, along with ordinary wood studs and chip board, the architects exposed these various elements in a rational way, resulting in a price that came in lower than the quantity surveyor’s estimates but more than what the town had originally anticipated. To achieve such economical results, the architects carefully dimensioned the building to maximize the efficiency of the trusses and the spacing of the studs, thereby minimizing thermal bridging, unnecessary detailing around openings, and material waste. The process resulted in a lot more work for the architects, creating that familiar and uncomfortable dilemma of putting more work into a project to reduce client costs at the expense of the architect’s fees. Modifying the wall and roof assemblies so that the wooden truss and stud elements remained exposed on the interior resulted in a clearer
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architectural expression of a treed canopy. Because the roof structure necessitated cross bracing, the architects applied a few rows of flat steel bar so as not to distract from the clear visual rhythm of the wood trusses. Painting all the elements—truss, bracing and connector plates—a single colour helped achieve a more unified aesthetic. Building code requirements for sprinklers and additional fire and life safety equipment did not apply here, as the building’s square footage fell within 400 square feet of its sprinklerexempt category. Unfortunately, not every building element could be concealed. The architects tried to run the ductwork beneath the concrete slab, but the cost was simply too high. To complement the interior finishes, suspended light fixtures come to represent stars and the flooring pattern reinforces the elements of the region— water, trees and stone. For a wood building with exposed elements, the overall aesthetic has been kept successfully restrained and minimal. Located a couple of streets from the town’s main arterial roadway and adjacent to an existing school and church, the new building is a marked improvement to the social life of the community—the old premises were located in a local strip mall. The new facility sits on the crest of a hill that gently slopes down towards the north end of the site. The east elevation is clad in corrugated steel siding that protects the building from the driving rain while picking up on the barn analogy—a leitmotif strengthened by the stone cladding at the base. This elevation is perhaps the strongest and most iconic of the building, yet visitors only drive past this elevation before parking their cars and entering the facility on the south side. It is along the north elevation where the reading deck provides the perfect cottage or grand lodge analogy. All things considered, there are many rich components incorporated into this facility, one that is essentially built like a suburban bungalow. Considering the tight budgetary considerations, the Bridgenorth Library and Community Hall is a charming example of a contemporary project that successfully connects with its local context while meeting the needs of those who still experience the joy of visiting their community library. ca
THEBUILDINGISSETBACKFROMBRIDGENORTH’SMAINSTREET,ANDTHECHIMNEYAND READINGDECKALONGTHENORTHFAçADEESTABLISHAWARMANDINVITINGPRESENCE.
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cLient TOWNSHIPOFSMITH–ENNISMORE–LAKEFIELD architect teamBROCKjAMES,DAVIDWARNE,CYNTHIADOVELL, CHRISKNIGHT structuraL BLACKWELLBOWICKPARTNERSHIPLTD. mechanicaL OTSENGINEERING eLectricaL KIRKLANDENGINEERINGLTD. contractorGARRITANOBROS.LTD. area 8,500FT2 budget $1.8M compLetion MARCH2009
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tWO ShedS are Better than One in hiS final dayS aS an architecture Student at the uniVerSity Of BritiSh cOlumBia, JOey GiaimO deSiGnS tWO cOmpellinG Backyard StructureS fOr artiSt Brian JunGen in eaSt VancOuVer. twoshEds,VancouVEr,britishcolumbia JoEYgiaimo teXt clarEtattErsall phOtOSlorikiEssling,unlEssothErwisEnotEd prOJect
intern architect
Formerly regarded as simply a means to an end, Vancouver’s laneways are now much more than a rear access road for the City’s service vehicles and an alternative thoroughfare for automobiles travelling from one location to another. With the introduction of a new bylaw passed unanimously by City Council in late July 2009, the back alleyways that were never more than an afterthought have been brought to the fore and serve as the pathways to a new way of life. Today, singlefamily homeowners are eligible to either convert their existing garages into laneway houses or construct new structures in the space usually re-
EmittingawarmglowinasEmi-industrialVancouVErnEighbourhood,thEtwo aluminum-cladshEdscouldbEmistakEnforartinstallationpiEcEs.
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served for parking—provided that these backyard dwellings are only used for rental units or inhabited by the property’s owner. Although re-visioning the use of this often underutilized property space stems from former mayor Sam Sullivan and the previous municipal government’s EcoDensity initiative, which focuses on altering the city landscape to improve environmental sustainability, affordability and liveability for urbanites, intern architect Joey Giaimo’s Two Sheds project foreshadowed the introduction of the bylaw regulating laneway housing. Completed two years earlier in 2007, the independent initiative in Vancouver’s east end served to awaken city-dwellers to the potential of the city’s alleyways and to reconsider formal conventions for the utilitarian building type. Privately commissioned by Canadian artist Brian Jungen whose sculptures and paintings fittingly draw upon the tradition of “found art,” Giaimo was tasked with creating a no-nonsense raw shed at the far end of the owner’s property to be used initially for firewood and vehicular storage.
But instead of combining the storage programs, Giaimo decided to develop two complementary sheds on the 47’ x 112’ lot. Situated side by side with enough room between the two to allow for an informal yet intimate courtyard that provides access to the laneway beyond, the sheds maximize the footprint and volume authorized by the City’s bylaws, permitting a slightly larger overall footprint compared to a single parking garage. They also anchor the site at the laneway, creating a defined and secured yard between the sheds and the artist’s two-storey home. Erected fairly quickly—approximately six months from design to construction completion—the addition of this project to the site seems simple enough. However, because Giaimo regarded it as an opportunity to apply ideas developed throughout his schooling to the built form, it was a much more complex initiative. Just three weeks shy of defending his design project for his Master’s degree in Architecture, which considered residual or underutilized space in the city and how it could be redesigned in ways not 07/10canadian architect
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tOp cantEdaluminumcladdingrEflEctslightasagradiEnttonE. aBOVe axonomEtric drawingsillustratEasEnsEofplaYbEtwEEnthEtwoVolumEs. BelOW locatEdoffan allEYwaY,thEopEnspacEbEtwEEnthEtwoshEdscrEatEsadYnamictEnsion. BOttOm onEYEaraftErthEshEds’complEtion,aplYwoodwallwasconstructEdtoshiEld thEmfrompublicViEw—uponwhichartistJosEphtisigahaspaintEdfirstnations motifs.
typically considered to connect with adjacent spaces, Giaimo proposed that the sheds be constructed of customary, practical materials to blend in with the industrial context of the neighbourhood—but in an unconventional way to challenge current approaches to these stereotypical ancillary structures and create meaningful public engagement or activity. “They [were built as] ambiguous things, sort of out of place, so [they] are not perceived as ‘parking garages’ or even ‘sheds’,” explains Giaimo. To achieve his desired vision, Giaimo used digitally developed 3-D drawings. This presented a clear and exact understanding of how the atypical geometrical forms could be built and the material quantities required to do so. From here, the ground of the sheds was covered with crushed rock and gravel while the open space was finished with a porous paving system that can support a vehicle and serve as green space. The sheds themselves were then constructed of concrete block and wood timber framing. Each structure has a light metal skin, with the anticipation that they could be remade over time and further enclosed, insulated, cut into, added on to or even dismantled, essentially allowing the entire design to be rethought. Large accordion doors provide the privacy the client requires, and they serve as entry points from the laneway. Beyond this, the two sheds vary slightly in appearance, creating a unique juxtaposition. “Formally, sheds are boring structures—strictly utilitarian,” says Giaimo. “The project questions this understanding and how design could inform a rethinking of this building type.” This was achieved in the quirky shed forms and their ambiguous, flexible structures that allow for future spatial and programmatic changes. For example, though not initially considered as housing, either structure can be easily reconfigured for this purpose. While the current owner has not pursued this end, he has since converted one of the sheds into an exterior workshop. ca Clare Tattersall is a Toronto-based freelance journalist.
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clientbrianJungEn deSiGn teamJoEYgiaimo Structural bEVan-pritchardmanassociatEsltd.(Ericman) cOntractOrsmallworks mural JosEphtisiga area1,200ft2 BudGet$60,000 cOmpletiOnJulY2007
30canadian architect07/10
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Practice
Green to the core PeterBusBy’sdedicationtosustainaBle architecturerevealsthatthereisnosingularaPProachtoevolvingthecultureof greendesignincanada.
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Since the publication of his project “A House for the 1980s” in the October 1980 issue of The Cana dian Architect, Peter Busby—then still working in Norman Foster’s office in London—has made his mark on Canadian architecture, pursuing his architectural vision with singular determination. The house, influenced by Foster, Buckminster Fuller, and Charles and Ray Eames, was a work inspired by High-Tech Modernism with a strong emphasis on prefabrication and environmental responsiveness. In 2009, Peter Busby celebrated 25 years of practice, during which he transitioned from a small office to join forces with the fourthlargest architectural practice in North America. Some may see his joining the US firm Perkins + Will as a questionable move, but it is in fact a natural progression, one that demonstrates Busby’s evolving skills and his response to expanding opportunities, and also reflects significant changes occurring across the industry. The various offices directed by Peter Busby since 1984 have challenged many of the conventions of architectural practice in Canada. In the 1980s, he operated against the prevailing tendency towards Postmodernism and a preoccupation with the look of buildings. He did so by advocating, unapologetically, a Modernist-inspired approach that focused on advanced constructional systems and performance. This approach had rarely been seen in Canada, apart from the work of Eberhard Zeidler and Barton Myers in the 1970s, and by Winnipeg’s IKOY practice in the 1980s. Many of the current challenges facing the profession of architecture in Canada today originated in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As Busby notes: “The real problem started with Postmodernism, where architecture was distilled down to a six-inch envelope and what it looked like. At that point, Postmodern architects lost control of the process of design, the understanding of the needs of the occupants, and the understanding of systems; they perverted all those to a look and a feel. And then there were a whole series of ‘isms’ that came after that, and so architects became absorbed with those ideas and lost what we always felt were the priorities. If you trace the history of Postmodernism against this practice, it was ten years that we had to live in that world during which we offered a completely different product.”
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In 1986, Busby established a partnership with Paul Bridger, which resulted in a number of noteworthy projects including the Ebco Aerospace Centre (1986-1987), the District of North Vancouver Municipal Hall (1989-1995), the Headquarters for the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (1994-1995), and the Metro-McNair Clinical Laboratory and Office (1994-1997). During this period, the firm also established Designlines as an industrial design aspect of the practice, involved in developing building components and furniture. The work from this period is straightforward, clearly executed, and yet technically refined. Writing about the firm in their 1998 monograph
Access to Architecture: Intentions + Product, Ray Cole (an important early mentor of Busby’s while he was a student at the University of British Columbia) and Sherry McKay note that Busby’s practice has always been committed to environmental responsibility, and that the firm has accepted “that environmental progress will be incremental and that environmental issues will be gradually assimilated into an established design vocabulary rather than provoke a sweeping overhaul of conventional architectural practice.” The focus on an innovative approach to the design of sustainable buildings has been a hallmark of Busby’s various offices, reflected in the recognition and many awards received for their work. 07/10canadian architect
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PeterBusBy’seBco aerosPacecentrewasheavilyinfluencedByhisaPPrenticeshiPwithsirnormanfoster;anexteriorandinterior viewoftheaPegBcheadquarters(19941995)—oneofBusBy’sfinestcollaBorationswitharchitectPaulBridger.
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With the loss of Paul Bridger in 1995, Busby renamed the practice Busby + Associates Architects, an entity that would last almost a decade. Building on the formative work that he had developed during the previous decade, this period represents one of both continuing technical innovation and increased architectural sophistication. During this period, Busby produced his finest work to date, including Governor General’s Award-winning projects such the Brentwood Skytrain Station (1999-2002), the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (1999-2001), and the York University Computer Science Building (1998-2001, with van Nostrand DiCastri Architects); these projects demonstrate that high-performance buildings can also be evocative. In 2004, Busby made the significant decision to join forces with the large US-based architectural firm, Perkins + Will. Since creating Busby Perkins + Will, the size and volume of work has increased with some loss of distinctiveness in the designs. On the other hand, the scope of work that Busby is involved in has changed in scale and geography. He is currently involved in projects in Abu Dhabi
and China, and beyond buildings, is now actively involved in designing large-scale urban design projects, health-care design, natural environments, and urban infrastructure. As a Director in Perkins + Will, Busby and his Vancouver office (he also oversees an office in Seattle) now benefit from the resources of one of the largest firms in North America. In turn, Busby has given the Perkins + Will firm significant credibility in green design. The Vancouver office has strengthened the firm’s Sustainable Design Initiative (SDI), helping to implement policies and programs across Perkins + Will’s 20 offices, policies that included greening all the firm’s procedures. This consolidation of Busby’s office with Perkins + Will is consistent with a trend towards larger firms, as firms strategically amalgamate. Busby maintains that it has allowed him to pursue larger and more diverse projects. It also allows him to draw upon a more complex range of expertise, the kind needed to develop high-performance buildings. He notes that escalating demand for expertise is a major challenge for contemporary architecture, as clients demand higher-performing buildings. While the
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consolidation of practices in the architecture profession is a current trend driven by a number of forces, it is also one that will likely weaken the profession in the long term as small- and medium-sized firms find it increasingly difficult to compete. Busby has always sought to achieve innovation, and has had a longstanding commitment to research (including 4% of the bottom line invested in research) in his practice. Today, the firm’s research group comprises six members of his staff and is growing, providing internal services to the firm in terms of researching products, materials and systems. They also act as a semi-independent consulting group providing expertise to a range of clients. Kathy Wardle, an Associate Principal at Busby Perkins + Will and the Director of Research, has been with the Busby practice since 2002. Trained in environmental and resource management, she directs the research efforts of the firm, and is a co-chair of the SDI program. With increasing demands to understand biology, ecology, chemistry and mechanics, the research group provides vital expertise and is reminiscent of the interdisciplinary “environmental design” model pioneered in the 1960s. Again, the investment in research is something that needs to be more widely spread thoughout the architecture, development and construction industries. Interdisciplinarity is key to the Busby Perkins + Will approach, particularly the integration of advanced engineering into the projects’ designs from initial conception. In 2007 a second book on the practice was pubanexteriorandinterior viewofthedistrictofnorthvancouvermuniciPalhall(1989-1995);themetromcnairclinicallaBoratoryandoffice (1994-1997)inBurnaBywonaBchydro Powersmartawardofexcellencein 1996.
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lished, entitled Busby: Learning Sustainable Design. It is edited by Busby and Jim Taggart, and includes a foreword by David Suzuki. The book demonstrates the commitment on the part of the firm to careful site design, water conservation, the responsible selection of materials, innovations in solar control, attention to high-quality indoor environments, energy conservation, exposed structure, and comprehensive integrated design. The book provides some insight into the Busby Perkins + Will practice, and yet could go further in demonstrating the principles of sustainable design. In the publication, a chart documents the sustainable strategies of the firm, and a review of the chart shows the progressive development of the firm’s work, culminating, for the moment, in the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability at UBC for Dr. John Robinson. This project, which began in 2005, is a demonstration project for advanced sustainable design, and is moving beyond LEED to engage the Cascadia Region Green Building Council’s “Living Building Challenge,” which includes net zero energy, net zero water, net zero carbon construction and net zero carbon operation. However, as Busby notes, “It is very easy to design a high-performance building, but it is much more challenging to operate it that way.” In order to achieve the performance results demanded by the challenges of global climate change, architects must both design increasingly more sophisticated buildings, and they must also include clients and users in performance, including control systems and the social interactions buildings produce. Busby develops the idea further: “You have to have an educated client group and user group so they understand the ebb and flow of energy, temperature and performance in a green building, but then you have an obligation to make sure that it is designed properly, as simply as possible, so that it works effectively without confusing people.” The long-term maintenance and operations of buildings is a factor of the industry that architects must get more involved in. As an example, with the Office for Revenue Canada (1997-1998), there were difficulties with the energy performance of the theyorkuniversity comPuterscienceBuilding(1998-2001) comPletedwithvannostranddicastri architectsillustratesaneweraof sustainaBleuniversityBuildings;light glowsthroughthesolarshading devicesontheexteriorofthesame contriButionByBusBytoyorkuniversity’sexPandingcamPus;anaerial PhotooftheBrentwoodskytrain station;thewonderfullyarticulated structuregentlyhoversaBoveBrentwoodstation’sPlatform;theuseof woodandtheinfluenceoffirst nationsarchitectureatthenicola valleyinstituteoftechnology(19992001)isexemPlary.
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BusByPerkins+willPartneredwithaBcParchitecture&urBanismeandBeauchamPBourBeauarchitectetocomPletethenormanmauriceBuilding.locatedinmontreal, thecomPlexBoastsmulti-facetedsustainaBledesignfeaturesthatincludeashared governmentfacility,inadditiontoservingasacatalystfortherevitalizationofthe historicst.henrineighBourhood. aBoVein2010,theofficeofBusByPerkins+willwas chosenasoneofcanada’sgreenestemPloyers.
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building because the users were not fully committed to the features of the design. This is one of the broad challenges facing Canadian society as it wrestles with climate change. While the number of LEED-certified buildings in Canada is growing, there are not nearly enough to have a significant impact on energy and greenhouse gas reduction. And, as Busby Perkins + Will have demonstrated, architects must go beyond the performance requirements of the LEED system. This will also require a significant commitment on 36canadian architect07/10
the part of clients and users to participate in the performance of buildings, including the real-time monitoring of projects. Busby’s career has attempted to both educate and challenge the profession of architecture. He continues to operate on the leading edge of the discipline, and is committed to the long-term performance of his buildings. In this regard, he suggests that architects have to seriously consider giving warranties for their work, stating: “If you buy a dishwasher or car, you expect a level of performance out of it. And if it
does not perform, you take it back and show your warranty. Why wouldn’t architects enter into these kinds of commitments? We would like to have a contract that extends for a two-year warranty period, whereby we are actively there on an ongoing basis making sure that the promises we made are respected. It is like paying for a warranty for a car; people will pay a little more to have a warranty for a car, so why not for a building?” Even for Busby Perkins + Will, a firm with enormous resources, there continue to be significant challenges in developing leading-edge sustainable buildings. The mechanical engineering profession, so vital to the design of high-performance green buildings, remains, like much of the architecture profession, mired in outmoded forms of practice. To overcome these difficulties, Busby has brought Blair McCarry, formerly of Keen Engineering and Stantec, into the office as part of the research group, and McCarry participates directly in developing the conceptual design of projects. Further, Perkins + Will has also committed to the establishment of a sister mechanical engineering company to address the issue. Another key aspect of designing leading-edge green buildings is the development of advanced and adept integrated design software (BIM), which is a slow process, with demands of better integration of services and more flexible design capabilities. Busby believes that today the successful architect must balance business acumen, leadership in thought (or taking on environmental challenges), and the substantial demands from clients for expertise. A tireless advocate for responsible, ethical and sustainable design, Busby has devoted countless hours to the raising of standards within the profession and to educating his colleagues. This includes developing the course entitled Sustainable Design for Canadian Buildings 101 (SDCB 101) in 2000 for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), and his subsequent involvement with the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to bring the LEED system into Canada. In 2002 this led to the establishment of the Canadian Green Building Council (CaCBC), in which he has been heavily involved. More recently, among many initiatives he has championed, Busby has also been a strong advocate of urban densification through Vancouver’s Ecodensity Charter. And while many architects in Canada have become LEED-accredited, there are many other lessons that can be learned from Busby’s example. The career of Peter Busby represents a relentless pursuit of design excellence and innovation; it has also demonstrated an ethical and public commitment to the profession and to society that is rare in an architect. ca Graham Livesey is Associate Dean (AcademicArchi tecture) and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.
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5:
Calendar Stanley Greenberg: Architecture Under Construction
May 1-September 7, 2010 This exhibi tion at the Art Institute of Chicago comprises 13 stunning blackand white photographs that present a window into hidden moments of the architectural process and the sub lime structural beauty that lies under the skin of contemporary architecture. www.artinstituteofchicago.org The Modern Woman: Drawings by Degas, Renoir, ToulouseLautrec and Other Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay
June 5-September 6, 2010 This exhib ition at the Vancouver Art Gallery brings together nearly 100 artworks by celebrated 19thcentury French artists including Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Morisot, Pissarro, Redon, Renoir, ToulouseLautrec and Seurat, exploring how artists at this watershed moment in art history radically departed from tradition to capture a sense of the “modern” in
their work. The exhibition reflects the dramatic evolution of artistic practice and the increasing in dependence of women in French society during this era. www.vanartgallery.bc.ca Pop Life: Art in a Material World
June 11-September 19, 2010 This ex hibition at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa comprises more than 250 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, videos, installa tions, multiples and other ephem era from contemporary art super stars like Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Martin Kippen berger, Tracey Emin, Maurizio Cattelan, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince. www.gallery.ca/poplife/ Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary
June 17-October 17, 2010 The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal presents an exhibition ex
ploring the fundamental role of drawing in the work of Iannis Xen akis (19222001), one of the most influential avantgarde composers of the late 20th century. He earned in ternational acclaim thanks to his in terdisciplinary works and fascinating personal and professional life, hav ing also worked with Le Corbusier on architectural projects. Montreal audiences will be most familiar with the Polytope de Montréal, the spec tacular sound and light show Xenakis designed for the central space of the French pavilion at Expo 67. www.cca.qc.ca REDUX PARK
June 19-September 12, 2010 This ex hibition at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre includes the work of Toronto firm Brook McIlroy, alongside 5468796 architecture (Winnipeg), Vlan Paysages (Montreal), Atelier in Situ (Montreal) and visual artists T&T (Vancouver), providing novel perspectives on repurposing our cities’ unused industrial infrastruc
ture within the greater fabric of an urban landscape. www.harbourfrontcentre.com Looking After Louis Sullivan: Photographs, Drawings, and Fragments
June 19-December 12, 2010 This inno vative exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago explores the work of Louis Sullivan through the lenses of legendary photographers John Szar kowski, Aaron Siskind and Richard Nickel, who employed their cameras to document and interpret Louis Sullivan’s architecture and who helped shape his legacy. The exhibi tion showcases more than 60 pho tographs, 20 Sullivan drawings and sketches, and terracotta and metal architectural fragments. www.artinstituteofchicago.org For more inFormation about these, and additional listings oF Canadian and international events, please visit www.canadianarchitect.com
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culture cluB
for three decades, Barry and GaiL Lord have wieLded their formidaBLe knowLedGe and immense infLuence in the pLanninG and manaGement of cuLturaL institutions worLdwide.
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Barry Lord and GaiL dexter Lord fLank rita davies, executive director of cuLture at the city of toronto, in an intimate discussion at the Book Launch for Artists, PAtrons And the Public: Why culture chAnges, heLd at the museum of contemporary canadian art in toronto.
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Dynamic Canadian duo Gail Dexter Lord and Barry Lord have carved out an impressive niche for themselves in the world of cultural institutions spanning the globe. Their formidable expertise in the establishment and planning of museums and galleries is rooted in the couple’s lifetime of dedication to the arts: Barry’s origins are in theatre and philosophy, Gail was once the art critic for The Toronto Star, and both have extensive experience in teaching and writing about art history as well as in political activism. Lord Cultural Resources was founded in 1981, and today, the Lords operate offices in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Paris, Madrid, Beijing, and Saudi Arabia. Their global reach is impressive: they have been involved in 2,000 projects in 45 countries on six continents. Though the Lords are likely one of Canada’s best-kept secrets, television audiences may have been exposed to their influence in director John Bessai’s 2008 documentary entitled Museum Maestros, in which the pair’s work was introduced. Representing just the tip of the iceberg, some of the projects featured in the film include the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, and the Galicia City of Culture complex in Santiago de Compostela, designed by Peter Eisenman. From this brief list, it becomes clear that the power of architecture cannot be ignored in the astonishing transformation of not only cultural institutions but of cities. Formerly economically depressed industrial cities such as Bilbao and Salford (a suburb of Manchester, England) have been dramatically revitalized by the construction of the iconic Guggenheim Bilbao and the Lowry—an arts and entertainment complex, designed by architects Frank Gehry and Michael Wilford, respectively. The Lords’ involvement in both of these projects is no happy coincidence: their identification and recognition of the dominance of cities and of cultural tourism as vital forces in the viability and success of cultural institutions has made them an integral part of so many of these projects around the world. 42 canadian architect 07/10
At a recent book launch for their newly released Artists, Patrons, and the Public: Why Culture Changes (AltaMira Press, 2010), held appropriately at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, the Lords participated in an insightful discussion moderated by Rita Davies, Executive Director of Culture at the City of Toronto. The book itself is ambitious in scope, and is enriched by photographs and reproductions of historically important works of art, evolving the idea that “culture is the transformation of nature and society that is fundamental to all human activity.” As the Lords’ succinct definition of such a weighty subject, this statement serves as the springboard for the numerous themes explored in the book, including the meaning of art, the issue of patronage, and most importantly, the agents of cultural change—in essence, all of us, whether we are artists, patrons, or merely the public. Given the current devastation resulting from British Petroleum’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the book is quite timely in its elucidation of the world’s fundamental shift to a post-coal oil-based/creditbased/knowledge economy, and our resulting awareness of and concern for ongoing environmental degradation. Fittingly, the image chosen for the book’s cover is the striking Detail, SOCAR Oil Fields #3, Baku, Azerbaijan by renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, an artist known for capturing the horror and the beauty of gorgeously bleak industrialized landscapes on a massive scale. Over the past several decades, Barry and Gail Lord have proven that together, they have the perceptiveness, experience and vision to make sense of an often confusing and rapidly globalizing world. They are leaders in the evolution of cultural change, and are accomplishing with great success what architects and urban designers are also striving to achieve—the revitalization of institutions and cities worldwide. ca For more information on cultural change, please visit www.culturalchange.ca.
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