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Volume 60 Number 4

august/september 2010

Editor

Peter Sobchak Legal Editor

Jeffrey W. Lem Contributors

Stephen Carpenter, Steven Peck, Rhys Phillips, David G. Reiner, Georg Stoers, Damon van der Linde Art Director

Andrea M. Smith Circulation Manager

Beata Olechnowicz Tel: (416) 442-5600 ext 3543

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Features

12. Attacking on All Fronts / B.C. activists challenge the constitutionality of the HST in the

courtroom and petition members of the legislative assembly into reconsidering the wildly unpopular new tax. By Jeffrey W. Lem and David G. Reiner

14. Northern Light / By delicately blending the rigid geometry of Edmonton’s grid with the swirl-

ing effects of nature, Randall Stout introduces a much-needed exclamation mark to the city’s Arts District with the new Art Gallery of Alberta. By Rhys Phillips

18. Telling Stories

/ By being forward thinking with a backwards focus, the new Region of Waterloo History Museum brings together many elements both abstract and physical to create connections through time. By Peter Sobchak

20. A challenge is issued. Will cities accept it? / Infrastructure shapes who we are, and as a new study sponsored by Siemens shows, quality of life in Canadian cities will depend on sustainable infrastructure.

22. Getting Down and Dirty / Waterfront Toronto is constructing a small-scale pilot facility to

treat soils near their source, divert it from landfill, and provide a resource that can be used in waterfront revitalization projects. By Peter Sobchak

24. No Mini Feat / A new flagship showroom design mirrors MINI’s fuel efficient, environmentally conscious brand. By Peter Sobchak 25. The Right Call / Instead of a characterless cube on a greenfield in the suburbs, Telus has decided their new headquarters should connect with a city through its challenging location and design. By Peter Sobchak

26. There’s Green Up There / Green roofs not only have the ability to create jobs and gener-

ate revenue to suppliers and manufacturers of green roof-related materials, but also to create permanent employment associated with ongoing maintenance. By Steven Peck and Damon van der Linde

28. The Concept as a Whole must Fit / The use of wide expanses of glass in modern, energyefficiency architecture requires holistic planning as well as multi-disciplinary teamwork between architects, technical planners and façade installers. By Georg Stoers

Departments

6 Editor’s Notes

8 Upfront

29 Infosource

30 Viewpoint

Cover: Interior foyer of the Art Gallery of Alberta, in Edmonton. Image © Robert Lemermeyer Above images courtesy of: Robert Lemermeyer; Waterloo Region Museum; Tetra Tech Canada Construction, Inc. and Stuyvesant Environmental Contracting / Waterfront Toronto; Shai Gil; raw design; Damon van der Linde.

editor’s notes

Ask not what brown can do for us…

Brownfields are always a hot topic of debate, and the debate has heated up even more so now that sweeping brownfield regulatory changes are imminent in provinces such as Ontario. We all know that brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where redevelopment has been complicated by environmental contamination. They include old and abandoned refineries, former railway yards, old waterfronts, crumbling warehouses, abandoned gas stations, former drycleaners and other commercial properties where toxic substances may have been used or stored. What shocked me was reading a statistic estimating that there are between 30,000 and 100,000 brownfield sites in Canada.

Brownfields are a complicated legacy of industrialization in Canada, and unquestionably there are multifaceted stakeholder issues associated with these sites. As an unfortunate result, many sites sit neglected or underutilized for years. Yet these brownfields represent not only a social, environmental and economic liability to those communities in which they are found, but also a covenant that needs to be upheld. This covenant is one that is implicitly made with a community when any piece of land is built upon, and says that a developer acknowledges how impactful a project is on a community, that this impact can reverberate for years into the future, even after its profitability for the owner has dissolved, and that responsibility must be taken for that impact.

Promoting the clean-up and redevelopment of brownfields has become a focus of all three levels of government in Canada, and has also become an important component of the movement toward sustainable development in Canada. Significant changes are happening that create hurdles but also opportunities, such

as: legislative reform limiting environmental liability; planning reforms curbing urban sprawl and promoting urban intensification and sustainable growth; increasing availability of specialized environmental insurance products to manage risks; stricter corporate disclosure rules affecting corporate brownfield policies; the proliferation of municipalities offering incentives for brownfield redevelopment through the creation of Community Improvement Plans.

Even though Ontario’s new regulations do not officially go into effect until July 2011, many brownfield stakeholders such as buyers, financiers and insurers are already demanding compliance to the new standards. Change is already happening, and not a moment too soon, as illustrated in The Sustainable Cities Challenge in Canada study commissioned by Siemens Canada (and discussed in this issue), which indicates that a large part of the solution is using existing investments in infrastructure, facilities and services to increase urban intensification, of which brownfield redevelopment is a vital piece of the puzzle, as projects such as the Telus House Tower, MINI’s flagship dealership, and the soil recycling pilot facility in Toronto’s port lands (all covered in this issue) illustrate.

As Daniel Solomon said in his book Global City Blues, “In her grandmotherly wisdom, Jane Jacobs told us what we already knew: that life is far more complex than sun diagrams, and that real cities…are not made by simple little formulas.” The answers to brownfield regeneration won’t happen solely through the implementation of one all-encompassing regulation, but by tools and frameworks implemented by various organizations and levels of government to help developers and other stakeholders through the process of redevelopment. B

Peter Sobchak

Building welcomes your opinions.

E-mail your comments to editor@building.ca

READ

Summer Fun: How to Build an Aquatic Spray Park / Cory Forrest of Waterplay Solutions Corp. provides tips on how to design one of the best ways to beat the summer heat — a community spray park.

Improving Building Management and Tenant Communication: Lessons from the G20 Summit / Tony Schmitz highlights some of the difficulties that real estate organizations may face during conferences and similar events of such magnitude as the G20 that occurred in Toronto, and offers some tips and tricks for getting prepared.

EXPLORE

The spectacular new Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton, by Randall Stout Architects Inc. The Telus House Tower in downtown Toronto by Adamson Associates Architects with Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co. Architects Inc..

The newest addition to Waterfront Toronto’s downtown waterfront revitalization with the officially opened Canada’s Sugar Beach and Water’s Edge Promenade (phase one).

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upfront

VANCOUVER — Toronto’s Bloor Street and Montreal’s Ste. Catherine Street are Canada’s most expensive retail corridors where merchants pay an average lease rate of $300 per square foot, according to Colliers International’s recently released 2010 Global Retail Report. Surprisingly and despite the frenzy of shopping by locals and tourists alike, the 2010 Winter Olympic festivities in Vancouver were not enough for the city’s marquee retail stroll — Robson Street with its average rate of $200 per square foot — to knock Toronto and Montreal’s premiere retail streets from their perch at the top of the list.

Jim Smerdon, Director of Retail and Strategic Looking east along Bloor Street in Toronto planning with Colliers International said the retailers themselves set the lease rates according to the impor- mental strength of the Canadian economy has many tance of the location. “The hallmark of strong retail streets is international retailers looking to Canada for new locaa blend of the size of the market, things like accessibility and tions. Some of those will bolster our high streets, while parking, and a host of intangibles such as the history of the others will be looking for more ‘pedestrian’ retail space, street as a commercial destination.” if you’ll pardon the pun.”

For most Canadians, and most Canadian retailers, the prospect of paying rent of $200 or $300 per square foot is Toronto launches online perhaps beyond comprehension, but the Colliers report shows Streetscape Manual that Canada’s most exclusive streets are a bargain compared to TORONTO — The City of Toronto released the Urban the world’s priciest in places like Paris, New York, Hong Kong Design Streetscape Manual in a new online format. Available and London where rates per square foot exceed $1,000. at www.toronto.ca/streetscapemanual, the manual focuses on design quality in the public right-of-way, with an Average Rank City, Street Lease Rate * emphasis on coherence, beauty, durability, accessibility, 1 Paris, Champs Elysees $1,255.90 pedestrian amenity and tree canopy in the sidewalk zone.

The Streetscape Manual assists with the implementation of 2 New York, Fifth Avenue $1,250.00 Official Plan policies and Air Quality targets of the Toronto 3 Hong Kong, Russell Street $1,205.46 Green Standard on all arterial roads and a selection of 4 London, Bond Street $1,174.24 important collector and local roads in Toronto. The manual 32 Montreal, Ste Catherine Street $294.12 emphasizes design quality and consistency through the use of 32 Toronto, Bloor Street $294.12 placement guidelines and a large inventory of design details 51 Vancouver, Robson Street $196.08 for decorative paving, street trees, medians, lighting and * rates are in USD per square feet street furniture.

“Regardless of what is happening in suburban shopping malls and on secondary streets, there’ll be strong demand Green Key Eco-Rating Program for the number one retail street in most markets,” adds reaches 1,500+ participants Smerdon. “When you look at who the retailers are on OTTAWA — The Hotel Association of Canada has announced these streets in Canada, for the most part they’re many that more than 1,500 hotels are now actively engaged in the of the same stores we see in regional shopping centers, Green Key Eco-Rating Program — which ranks, certifies and but with a higher volume of sales and in high street loca- inspects hotels and resorts based on their commitment to tions, they are willing to pay significantly more rent to sustainable “green” operations — following the signing up of be there.”

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Accor North America, MGM Resorts Colliers International’s National Leader for Retail, International, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Carlson US Drew Keddy, said the Canadian economy has performed properties. relatively well in light of this global recession tempting “Our new alliance with the American Hotel & Lodging foreign investment in the retail industry. “The funda- Association, in addition to our new hotel brand agreements

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august/september 2010

Photo credit: Peter Sobchak

Toronto and Montreal share top spot as Canada’s most expensive retail strip

upfront

has solidified Green Key’s presence in the United States.,” said Tony Pollard, president of the Hotel Association of Canada.

“Our industry’s commitment to improving environmental performance has always been outstanding and the Green Key program has been an important tool for hoteliers in achieving their goals”.

The Green Key Eco-Rating Program evaluates hotels on a scale of one to five Keys, with five Keys being the highest ranking.

Results are based on a comprehensive evaluation of the hotel’s sustainability efforts. Upon completion of the Green Key audit, the property is awarded a Key ranking, as well as a comprehensive performance report that includes recommendations, best practices and potential areas for improvement and savings.

Vancouver and Toronto office leasing markets continue to strengthen

VANCOUVER & TORONTO — Continuing a trend that began in the latter half of 2009, signs of improvement are visible in both the Toronto and Vancouver office markets, despite continued rising vacancy levels, reports Avison Young in its Mid-Year 2010 Office Market Reports which covers vacancy, absorption and new construction trends.

In Vancouver, with the worst of the credit debacle over and the feared post-Olympics hangover never materializing, leasing activity is steady, developer confidence has improved, the volume of sublease space continues to decrease and, at least in the Downtown market, rental rates are trending upward.

The semi-annual survey of Vancouver looked at the Down­ town, Yaletown, Broadway, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, New Westminster and North Shore submarkets, which total just under 46 million square feet (msf ) in office space. “While the economic downturn and tumultuous credit markets stifled demand for office space 18 months ago, boosting sublease offerings in all eight submarkets and delaying some new construction projects, the story is very different today,” said Avison Young principal Matt Walker.

However, the market continues to be a tale of two cities, he says. “Vacancy in the Downtown core, Yaletown and Broadway submarkets remains tight with signs that those markets will continue to strengthen. Rental rates are slowly trending back up, especially for class A and AAA spaces due to increasing demand from tenants, minimal large-block opportunities and the limited supply of new quality product.” Meanwhile, vacancy rates in Burnaby and Richmond have returned to historical high levels, which have contributed to the softening of rental rates over the past 12 months.

Despite the very encouraging signs in the market, the region’s vacancy rate continued its upward trek during the first half of 2010, reaching 8.3 per cent (or 3.8 msf ) at mid-year from 7.8 per cent at year-end 2009. While the rate of increase slowed during the second half of 2009, the main reason for the current uptick is the addition of three new buildings in Burnaby totalling 295,018 square feet, most of which sits vacant.

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august/september 2010

The same thing has happened in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) office market, where strengthening business confidence has led to a surge in tenant leasing activity in Downtown Toronto. Though the market remains in the red, a shrinking new-supply pipeline and limited quality space alternatives for larger tenants may alter fundamentals in the coming quarters.

“As the second quarter of 2010 drew to a close, the GTA office vacancy rate (physically unoccupied space) reached 11.2 per cent, up 60 basis points (bps) from 10.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2010. This compares to 10.4 per cent at year-end 2009 and 9.6 per cent at mid-year 2009. In contrast, the availability rate (space marketed for lease) held firm for the second consecutive quarter, currently at 11.7 per cent, a sign that the market is starting to stabilize,” said Bill Argeropoulos, vice president and Director of Research (Canada) for Avison Young.

According to the report, the Downtown market continues to work its way through nearly 4 msf of new office product and a stubborn sublet market, which accounts for 15 per cent of the total office space available for lease in Downtown buildings. Downtown vacancy entered double-digit territory for the first time in five years, reaching 10.3 per cent at midyear 2010. Outside of the Downtown market, and already in double digits, vacancy in Toronto’s suburbs climbed to 12.5 per cent. Apart from 744,000 square feet under construction, predominantly in GTA West, speculative development is virtually non-existent as the market struggles to show signs of a sustainable recovery.

Build Toronto officially open for business

TORONTO — Build Toronto is the City of Toronto’s newly formed arms-length real estate development corporation. With a current portfolio of 31 properties representing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential market value, Build Toronto will catalyze a billion dollar real estate portfolio by inviting partnerships with developers, brokers, and investors to build out these properties, lease them and in some cases, sell them, thereby providing a sustainable revenue stream to the City.

“It is imperative that we better utilize the City’s extensive real estate holdings and more effectively promote our City both at home and abroad so that we can retain and attract high quality jobs,” said David Miller, Mayor of Toronto and Chair of Build Toronto.

Four new large-scale Build Toronto priority projects have been announced, with one already listed: 1035 Sheppard Avenue West (Sheppard Ave. and Allen Rd.) – this 54-acre location, adjacent to the Downsview subway station and with a view of the City, has potential to host a new mixed-use community with office and retail space and over 3,000 units of high rise and low rise residential; 260 Eighth Street (Islington Ave. and Lakeshore Blvd.) – this 24-acre lot of industrial land, designated for employment, is

upfront

situated south of the QEW and a major rail terminal between Islington and Kipling and is ready for development; 4050 Yonge Street (Yonge St. and York Mills Rd.) – this two acre site, currently one of the most undeveloped and underutilized sites in Toronto, is projected for a 450,000-sq.-ft. development; 154 Front Street East (Sherbourne St. and Front St.) – the first to be listed (by N. Barry Lyons Consultants), this downtown 350,000-sq.-ft. site, formerly a Greyhound Bus Parcel Express Depot, is designated as a regeneration area in the St. Lawrence Market district.

“The success of 21st century real estate development in a city like Toronto depends on successful public/private partnerships where we share, collaborate and behave like market-driven entrepreneurial arrangements,” said Build Toronto CEO J. Lorne Braithwaite. Build Toronto will undertake important intensification and development in the downtown core as well as in strategic commercial corridors and transit hubs across the City. Build’s portfolio will grow as underutilized transit lands, properties occupied by City facilities such as libraries, Green P parking, and police stations, are identified as surplus and ready for redevelopment. Build Toronto will also extract new value from its residential properties by integrating affordable housing into larger residential developments.

Jordanian project wins CIP Award for Planning Excellence

design, landscaping, open space, parking and building massing as critical urban form-makers.

The zoning regime includes new, expanded residential development categories that offer a range of housing types, greater consumer choice and affordability. 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.

This is the first time Amman’s Zoning Regime has included Open Space and Natural Heritage categories and sustainable design initiatives such as xeriscaping and transit oriented design. Modern parking and loading requirements emphasize flexibility and build upon GAM’s commitment to public transportation and mixed-use development.

Sustainable building certificate program expands across Canada

TORONTO — The National Sustainable Building Advisor Program (NaSBAP), recognized through the U.S. and British Columbia, is expanding to include courses in Calgary, Regina and Toronto. As the green building arena grows and changes, so does the need for continuing education for trained professionals. This fall students will be able to participate in the nine-month Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) certificate program training course and exam specifically designed for working professionals from architecture and planning firms, engineering companies, developers and contractors, government agencies, research institutions, resource conservation organizations, utilities and environmental consulting organizations eager to apply sustainable concepts to the buildings they design, develop, and construct.

In order to accommodate the working professional, the SBA course runs nine months with two classroom days per month. Graduates of the program earn the designation Certified Sustainable Building Advisor, (CSBA). The SBA Program is rated as a 400 Level Mastery Course by the USGBC Education Provider Program. In addition, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) has approved the SBA course for LEED AP credential maintenance credits as well as the educational prerequisite for LEED GA. B

æ TORONTO — Toronto-based 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 the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) 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

Got an exciting new project?

Do you want our readers to know about it?

Send information about your new or interesting project to Peter Sobchak, Editor, psobchak@building.ca and we’ll consider including it in an upcoming issue.

building august/september 2010

11

legal

BY JEFFREY W. LEM AND DAVID G. REINER

Attacking On All Fronts Regular readers of Building do not require a reminder from the pundits sitting behind the desks of the nation’s broadsheets of the effects of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on new home construction in Ontario and British Columbia. That said, a few recent tidbits from the major dailies do tell a compelling story. According to one recent headline in The Globe and Mail, “Home prices ‘topped’...buyers more worried about cash flow since the introduction of the provincial HST tax…”. An even more dire headline from the Toronto Star declared, “Sales of new homes in GTA down 26 per cent; June numbers hit by higher interest rates, HST and building costs….”. It was perhaps the National Post, however, that had the pithiest headline on point, “Home sales tumble; new B.C., Ontario tax knocks wind out of real estate market.”

According to the National Post, home sales were down 30 per cent in July from last year, with the blame being foisted squarely at the feet of the new HST implemented on July 1, 2010 in both Ontario and British Columbia.

While the implementation of HST seems to have been accepted in Ontario as somewhat of a fait accompli, even by constituents who had previously been vehement in their opposition of the HST, the same cannot be said of the citizens of British Columbia. There, the battle against the HST has gone beyond the political arena and has now drifted into the legal arena. British Columbia has unique legislation that enables the public to recall elected officials and bring an initiative forcing

the legislative assembly to consider new laws or changes to existing laws. In order to effect such an initiative, British Columbians must successfully mount a petition that captures the signatures of at least 10 per cent of the eligible voters in each and every riding in British Columbia — no small task, but one that a coalition of anti-HST activists, led by none other than former B.C. Social Credit Premier, Bill Vander Zalm, accomplished with great fanfare. In total, the petition amassed over 700,000 signatures, all opposed to the harmonization of British Columbia’s social services tax with the federal Goods and Services Tax. Furthermore, those signatures came with a distribution sufficient to cross the 10 per cent threshold in each of the 85 ridings in British Columbia, making Vander Zalm’s anti-HST petition, according to The Globe and Mail, “the first successful citizen-sponsored initiative in B.C. history.”

Concurrent with the petition, Vander Zalm’s anti-HST campaign also launched a constitutional challenge against the imposition of the HST, arguing before the British Columbia Supreme Court that the introduction of the HST was unconstitutional and, as such, could not be legally implemented in that province. The arguments being relied upon by the anti-HST campaign are, quoting their own lawyer, “so complicated that it will take at least two days to fully argue before the court,” although a key plank of the constitutional challenge rests on whether the B.C. government could bring in the legislation by way of an order-in-council, avoiding altogether the need for a parliamentary debate.

Jeffrey W. Lem, B.Comm. (U of T), LL.B. (Osgoode), LL.M. (Osgoode), practises in the areas of commercial real estate and finance with the law firm of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, and has been called to the bar in Ontario, England and Wales. He is an executive member of the Real Property Section of the Ontario Bar Association and is editor-in-chief of the Real Property Reports, published

by Carswell Thomson Professional Publishing.

David G. Reiner, B.Comm. (Concordia), LL.B. (Osgoode) is an associate practising in the area of commercial real estate at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP and is called to the Bar in Ontario.

This article provides general information only and is not intended to provide specific legal advice.

Readers should not act or rely on information in this article without seeking specific legal advice on their particular fact situations.

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Thinkstockphotos.com

B.C. activists challenge the constitutionality of the HST in the courtroom and petition members of the legislative assembly into reconsidering the wildly unpopular new tax.

legal

The lawsuit outcome is far from “slam dunk,” notwithstanding the seeming popularity of the concurrent anti-HST petition.

There is a long list of credible (and powerful) interested parties arguing in favour of the HST, all of whom will also get their day in court. Such advocates of the HST lining up to make submissions before the British Columbia Supreme Court include the Council of Forest Industries, the Mining Association of B.C., the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, the Western Convenience Stores Association, the Coast Forest Products Association and the B.C. Chamber of Commerce.

Although, at the time of this article, the submissions by both “pro” and “anti” forces will have been heard by the presiding judge (the Chief Justice of British Columbia no less), it may be some time before the court actually renders a decision on the constitutionality of the HST. In what is being hailed by most of the press covering the issue as a “partial-victory” for the anti-HST forces, the court did, however, dismiss a preliminary argument suggesting that the initiative process be stayed pending the outcome of the constitutional challenge.

The victory is said to be “partial” only because the initiative process, even as it proceeds, is far short of an assurance that

the HST will be repealed. Indeed, all that the initiative process achieves is to force the HST legislation back to a standing committee which, in turn, has to decide whether or not the proposed bill ending the HST should be directed: (i) to the provincial legislature for a vote; or (ii) to a provincial referendum; neither of which actually guarantees a repeal of the HST. Likewise, even if the constitutional challenge also succeeds in the British Columbia Supreme Court, especially if the constitutional defect is procedural in nature, there is no prohibition against the government simply re-introducing the harmonization legislation in a manner which is less constitutionally suspect. Such naysayers generally, however, miss the point. It is reasonable to suspect that the true strategy of the anti-HST campaigners is to use these legal manoeuvres to re-direct the HST debate back into the political arena where permanent change can be achieved, and so far, they seem to be succeeding.

So, while Ontario and B.C.’s new home builders continue to collect (and, in most cases, absorb) the new HST burden on homes over $400,000, there is faint hope going forward for HST relief, at least in Lotus Land. B

building august/september 2010

13

Northern

LIGHT By delicately blending the rigid geometry of Edmonton’s grid with the swirling effects of nature, Randall Stout introduces a muchneeded exclamation mark to the city’s Arts District with the new Art Gallery of Alberta.

By Rhys Phillips The opening of the new Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) this past January marks a major step in Edmonton’s twodecades-long effort to recreate a vibrant downtown through its arts district. Centred around city hall and its expansive Sir Winston Churchill Square that are both specifically designed to meet a mix of civic and arts functions, the district is part of the city’s objective of rebuilding an urban-based culture in the northern capital. The opening of the West Edmonton Mall in the 1980s, then the world’s largest enclosed shopping centre, as well as developments such as Edmonton Centre and Commerce Place, devastated downtown shopping. Significant government cutbacks in the next decade further damaged the commercial core by driving up real-estate vacancy rates and reinforcing the existing downward spiral.

By 2002, the conservative non-profit think tank Frontier Centre for Public Policy reported a “downtown renaissance” was underway. This in part was the

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The art district as urban catalyst Arts districts are increasingly employed as a core strategy component for revitalizing blighted urban centres. Edmonton’s current Arts District is an odd mix of both civic and arts-directed structures, mingling legislative, judicial and police buildings with theatre, gallery and library structures. Peace, order, good government and artistic creativity, it would seem within the Canadian context, do indeed make compatible bedfellows. The two decade old process of transformation still underway, however, has centred on the sometimes controversial replacement of significant postwar Modern designs with new architecture of varying quality.

Fortunately, the much celebrated Citadel Theatre (1976, Diamond and Meyers with Richard Wilkin) remains; not so fortunate was Hugh Seton’s 1957 city hall demolished in 1990.

Architectural historian Harold Kaplan dogmatically called it a “fussy version of the International Style” that was soon dated. In fact, its use of rich natural materials that included red granite, travertine and green marble, along with strongly articulated brise soleil, extruded volumes signalling functions and an animated roofline on the penthouse was exactly what saved the building from the International Style’s largely banal legacy. Its replacement

by Dub Architects dominates the district with its seven storey glass pyramid and its free standing, 200-ft. tall bell tower boasting 23 bells and a 90 tune repertoire. But while such natural materials as Manitoba Tyndall stone, red granite and B.C. fir also define the building, the new city hall’s severe geometry appears closer to the late Aldo Rossi’s Rationalist architecture than a design for central Alberta’s romantic albeit often harsh landscape. Inside, however, the impressive, multi-levelled square under the towering steel-

Photo courtesy of Randall Stout Architects

result of a changing municipal focus that included more flexible approaches to urban housing, development of downtown educational institutions, encouragement of commercial tower conversions to residential use, adaptive reuse of remaining heritage structures and scrapping the policy of facilitating rapid car travel through the core. Just last March, however, Scott McKeen of the Edmonton Journal provided a more guarded assessment when kicking off his article on the city’s recently adopted Capital City Development Plan and the controversial $1.5 billion Arena District proposal by Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz. “There are a few glimmers of true urban experiences in our downtown,” he wrote, commencing with the faintest of praises.

framed pyramid is capable of holding audiences of up to 3,000 for cultural events. The Sir Winston Churchill Square fronting the building also provides a major festival space that includes the EPCO Amphitheatre as well as formal gardens, a covered patio, waterfall and a pond that converts into a skating rink in winter.

Five years later, the $45-million Francis Winspear Centre for Music (Cohos Evamy Partners) was completed for the Edmonton Symphony. The much-admired 1,932 seat concert hall (Artec Consultants — acousticians) is a classic “shoebox” shape modeled after Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal and Zurich’s Tonhalle. Like city hall, its exterior form is coolly modern but with a series of offset volumes, one relatively opaque and clad in Tyndall stone while the other fronting the performance hall is transparent. If the city hall tower is a minimalist stone shaft, the Centre for Music counters with a delicate glass shaft.

The art gallery competition Within this evolving context of an emerging if somewhat un-adventurous civic/cultural place making, the Art Gallery board began considering a modest $12 million upgrade to the aging Brutalist gallery (Bittorf Architects, 1969). Ambitions grew, however, and in 2005, with private as well as federal, provincial and municipal government contributions rolling in, an international competition was initiated. From 27 expressions of interest, four were short-listed including Randall Stout (Los Angeles), Will Alsop (London/Toronto), Zaha Hadid (London) and Arthur Erickson/Nick Milkovich (Vancouver), all designers unlikely to be constrained by a conservative context.

If the Canadians produced an open, animated but perhaps too “contextual” proposal for the now emboldened jury, Alsop characteristically submitted a strikingly coloured graphic block.

Photos ©Robert Lemermeyer

Located on Sir Winston Churchill Square, the city’s arts and government core, the gallery’s architectural design formally and philosophically extends out into the community.

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The duality of Edmonton’s urban grid juxtaposed against the contours of the North Saskatchewan River and aurora borealis is reflected in the square and curved components of the new design.

Ultimately it came down to either Hadid’s powerful monochromatic piled assemblage of almost boulder-like forms that recycled Don Bittorf ’s concrete main level as its base or Stout’s mix of rotated geometry penetrated by a swirling ribbon of steel.

In the end, the latter’s more whimsical metaphor of city, river, industry and the aurora borealis got the nod.

Recycled but transformed The competition called not for a new building but a renovation that would expand but also recycle as much of the existing structure as possible. A total of 84,000 square feet, including approximately 24,000 square feet of interior exhibition space, was mandated. According to Stout, detailed functional studies found a solid structural frame but concrete exterior walls (originally intended to be stone) well beyond salvaging. He also found Bittorf’s low perimeter ceiling treatment created an entrance that was “a dark sliver of space.” His first move was to remove the west structural bay and inserted what is now the building’s signature entrance atrium. Not incidentally, this introduced a dynamic urban corner that intentionally plays against the grid of Churchill Square and city hall. To gain the required additional gallery space, he added a two storey, rotated slab that is pushed to the north side of the original building and cantilevered out toward the square. The former gesture creates a generous roof sculpture terrace while the latter, because it also appears to rest on a canted glass wall, offers a precarious balancing act to passers-by.

While much of the attention has centred on the building’s exuberant atrium form, Stout’s design grows first from the interior and its function. With 60 per cent of the original building saved, as well as the new third storey, he created state-of-the-art exhibition

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space tailored to the gallery’s collection. Additionally, as the AGA focuses heavily on temporary touring exhibitions, the galleries are clean, neutral and largely rectilinear boxes permitting considerable flexibility and a high level of environmental control. In other words, the gallery is not so much a piece of sculpture to hold art, such as Wright’s Guggenheim and Gehry’s Bilbao museums, but instead a highly functional gallery that then seeks to attach, as seamlessly as possible, its own integrative sculpture-cum-public space.

Reading the metaphors Stout is open about how a careful reading of the physical genius loci of the cities in which he builds provide inspiration for very accessible ‘metaphors’ in order to “capture the unique composition of their natural surroundings, while transforming light, shadow, form and materials into innovative architecture.” As such, the AGA’s imagery is inspired by a beguiling mix of local natural references and the dominate grid pattern of the city.

The Gallery’s transparent entrance atrium is a four-storey, 86-ft. high irregular volume formed of angulated planes of articulated fritted glass panes. This representation of Edmonton’s urban grid is cleaved by a 625-ft. long ribbon of stainless steel that literally swirls in, out and around the light-filled public spaces while rising to a height of 102 feet. At one level, it serves as a three dimensional representation of how the deep winding trench of the North Saskatchewan River bifurcates the city’s flat landscape. But more importantly for Stout, it is the swirling forms of the aurora borealis that provided the compelling inspiration for the dancing ribbon of steel.

The Borealis, as it is called, is no metaphoric artifice. Rather, “these two languages of mass and curvilinear form,” he says

“define an inviting rhythm of destination and path in a unique way-finding experience.” At ground level the ribbon serves to draw visitors into and through the initial entrance space toward the Grand Hall, a 32-ft. clearstory-lit gallery designed for rotating exhibitions. It twirls upward wrapping around the grand stair before breaking again outside to dip and swell across the sculpture terrace, an exaggerated architectural cornice that appears remarkably like the wind-sculpted lip of a huge Rocky Mountain or prairie snow drift. Inside, the Borealis frequently provides the same cornice effect while also more tightly enveloping smaller event spaces, such as the indoor sculpture concourse, to create something akin to porous snow caves with generous openings.

These openings frame views into and through the larger public spaces and out to the urban cityscape. “Wall and ceiling,” he has written, “become one fluid surface which captures the spatial volume while guiding the public through entry points, wrapping event and gathering spaces, and leading on to the galleries.”

The transparency of the atrium, the dynamic in/out movement engendered by the reflective metal Borealis and the visual tension of the cantilevered upper levels are also part of Stout’s commitment to an urban design that engages and supports street life. He wants to blend the line between architecture and urban design based on blurring the demarcation between interior and exterior at multiple levels.

Materiality and light Materials and how they work in an area’s natural light also play a key role in Stout’s approach to capturing a sense of place. On the exterior, the glass, zinc and stainless steel each have their unique but complimentary and subtle tonal characteristics.

At the same time, he says, they work with, rather than against the palette of concrete and Tyndall stone found on buildings characteristic of downtown Edmonton. Patinaed zinc shingles, a very Canadian material, clad the gallery’s main volumes.

Despite its minor reflectivity, it reacts in subtle ways to changes in light precipitated by sometimes powerful weather shifts within the region further mediated by long summer days of bright sunshine or short winter days of dusk-like light. A yellow morning sun produces a soft greenish hue to the panels, while a change from gray sky to blue results in a shift from cool blue gray to warm grey.

The Borealis’ bead-blasted finish reflects both color and light in a highly diffused manner, ensuring it produces visual highlights without glare. Because its surface “reflects colors through gentle transitions that exist at the reciprocating angle of the line of sight, it behaves like a mirror but with very “fuzzy” reflections.”

Thus the changes in the sky and light conditions are reflected more literally than with the zinc. Soft blues are produced by blue skies while warm yellow appears in the morning sun. A prairie sunset produces more orange and reddish tones. Stout

The AGA’s four storey, light-filled main lobby is defined by the curvilinear architectural forms (below) and a grand stair that rises vertically through this central space (previous page). Next to that is the gallery’s double-height public art viewing area that will accommodate rotating art displays.

also dislikes direct lighting and the two-sided form of the ribbon allows him to bounce off and diffuse artificial light at night within the Gallery.

While parts of the exterior of the twisting ribbon are left just to reflect the dark night sky, lighting on other surfaces causes the stainless steel to resonate like its namesake.

The subtle toned materials of the exterior, including concrete, are carried through to the interior but the palette is also considerably enriched by much warmer, more refined elements. Polished concrete floors compete with ebonized hardwood maple floors in the galleries. In particular, the liberal use of Douglas fir for ceiling lathe and refined planks on walls, sometimes set off against zinc shingles, provides a striking but complimentary warm red/orange contrast.

Appropriately, the AGA introduces a much needed exclamation mark for Edmonton’s Arts District. The fact that it has raised strong, often emotional responses, more positive than negative, is a testament to its own artistic merit. Certainly, the argument espoused by some that its design is derivative of Frank Gehry’s work (Stout worked with Gehry for seven years) is simply spurious. One could equally point to shared elements of the language of Libeskind or Hadid, if not a score of other architects. More importantly, the Galley raises the interesting question of where architecturally the District will next go. It remains to be seen if the Gallery will have its own mini-Bilbao effect, not in terms of attracting cultural tourists but encouraging the city to once again invite world-class architects to join in the task of inspired place-making. B Visit www.building.ca for an expanded slideshow of the Art Gallery of Alberta. building august/september 2010

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The Quilt Wall façade references quilt-making traditions and textile industries unique to the region, expressed in a pattern derived through a hexadecimal translation process that references the region’s computing and high tech industries.

Telling Stories

By being forward thinking with a backwards focus, the new Region of Waterloo History Museum brings together many elements both abstract and physical to create connections through time.

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By Peter Sobchak

Photography provided by Waterloo Region Museum

Buildings always seek to create a narrative. But sometimes, if they are lucky, the narrative is already present and the building need only reflect it. And in even fewer instances, the narratives are multiple and varied and rich, in which case the building can become a quilt of narrative threads that cross each other, creating energy in their connections.

Such is the case with the new Region of Waterloo History Museum, designed by Toronto-based Moriyama & Teshima Architects in association with Kitchener, Ont.-based The Walter Fedy Partnership. Straddling the nexus of two important historical transportation arteries in the region — the old Huron Road that was built in the 1830s to bring settlers into the region and beyond, and a spur of the Grand Trunk Railway line that connected Kitchener (then named Berlin) to Galt/Cambridge, providing a link between the two distinct cultures in North Dumfries and Waterloo Townships — the 47,000-sq.-ft. building both houses and exhibits artefacts from the region, while at the same time acts as a gateway to the larger ‘living’ history of Doon Heritage Village, which freezes in time a moment of village life in 1914 in rural Waterloo region.

This physical crossing of road and rail serves as a powerful design metaphor for a museum where the past, present and future overlap.

This intersection is both symbolical and literal, as fragments of the road/rail crossroad which still remain are integrated into the physical

fabric of the building. The crossroads motif is utilized many times: a skylight above the juncture connects the sky to the land; and an adjacent water feature reflects the rivers and creeks in the area.

The museum’s material palette reflects this juxtaposition of historic and modern, through the use of wood, rough stone and brick blended with generous amounts of glass. But clearly the structure’s most modern component is also the piece that plays with the threads of narrative the most. Facing the street is an arresting façade made up of an array of colourful glass panels. Intended to honour the heritage of quilting, “the glass panels represent the stitching together of many pieces to create a whole.” Although the 16 colours were selected from the museum’s quilt collection, their arrangement on the façade is not meant as a literal interpretation of a traditional quilt pattern, on-site pond, and a construction waste management and diverbut rather it evokes the region’s tradition. The colours were sion plan, the facility is aiming for a LEED Silver certification. translated into hexadecimal code used in computer programThe concept of a museum for Waterloo County was first ming, a nod to the region’s economic strength in technology (the presented in 1912 by the Waterloo Historical Society (and has Perimeter Institute is not far away in Waterloo). The combina- been in the Region’s capital program since 1988), with fragtions in the layout of the panels represent the 26 letters in the ments coming together at an agonizing pace. Even after the alphabet, and the pattern forms words — specifically a portion Doon Heritage Village was developed and opened in 1957, of a speech made by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier in 1905: the Waterloo Region was one of the largest municipalities in “We do not want, that any individuals should forget the Canada without a museum of this kind. Federal money helped land of their origin or their ancestors. Let them look to the speed up the timeline on this project, without which the Region past, but let them look also to the future; let them look to the was expecting a long and drawn out fundraising campaign land of their ancestors, but let them look also to the land of (the overall project budget was $26 million, with a $2 million their children.” grant through the Cultural Spaces Canada program of the This technique of transforming the abstract nature of Department of Canadian Heritage). Even now, the project is still words, specifically the names of towns and roads, from incomplete, with exhibits not expected until the fall of 2011. intangible to tangible is another motif used throughout. History is patient, yes, but also not without a sense of irony: For example the pattern of the glass panels near the history museums, it seems, take time. B front door of the museum spell out the names of the seven municipalities that make up Waterloo Region — Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich — and further inside more names and map diagrams are etched into the walls, embedding their importance into the fabric of the structure.

While the museum’s spirit plucks the strings of historical narrative, its bones are resolutely modern. Utilizing Fragments of the recycled building materials, historic road and rail locally sourced and manufacroutes literally cross one tured materials, features such another at the heart of the new as abundant daylight, rainmuseum (above). Following the rail line out of water reclamation and greythe museum leads to the Doon Heritage Crossroads historic village (previous page). water from a 150,000-litre building august/september 2010

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A challenge is issued

Will cities accept it?

Infrastructure shapes who we are, and as a new study sponsored by Siemens shows, quality of life in Canadian cities will depend on sustainable infrastructure.

Quality of life in Canada’s cities may rank “among the very best” today, but the future is not as bright, according to a national study released on the sustainability of cities. While 74 per cent of the experts participating in the survey rate the quality of life in their cities as above average, only 44 per cent are optimistic about their cities’ future without substantial investments in infrastructure to increase competitiveness, protect the environment and ensure quality of life.

The study — entitled The Sustainable Cities Challenge in Canada — was commissioned by Siemens Canada in conjunction with the David Suzuki Foundation and was conducted by GlobeScan in 12 of Canada’s largest cities. It reflects the views of a sample of experts on issues related to infrastructure for cities from government, the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations.

Focusing on key infrastructure areas — transportation, energy, water and waste water, healthcare, and safety and security — the study reveals that experts are divided on how effectively their cities are adopting sustainable infrastructure solutions. Less than a majority (41 per cent) think their cities’ leaders recognize the vital role that infrastructure decisions can play in protecting the environment and addressing climate change. And nine in 10 experts see a high need for investment in transportation infrastructure — far greater than other areas.

“At Siemens, we are very interested to know what Canadian city leaders and key stakeholders are thinking,

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which is why we undertook and invested in this study. We want to engage Canadians in a dialogue about sustainable cities, increase awareness of the subject and encourage more people to think about the future today,” said Roland Aurich, president and CEO of Siemens Canada.

Can transportation infrastructure survive a “perfect storm”?

Results of the study released add critical information to the ongoing dialogue initiated by Siemens to address the key challenges facing cities.

Building on the themes currently dominating that discussion, experts who participated in the study say that transportation infrastructure faces a “perfect storm” of problems in the coming years. Six in 10 experts, especially those in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies, say that old or obsolete infrastructure is the biggest challenge facing their respective cities. Lack of long-term strategic planning and inadequate capacity are also considered to be factors contributing to the problem.

Experts also cite transportation infrastructure as a key factor affecting a city’s competitiveness. When asked to name which type of infrastructure is the most important in attracting investment to their cities, 63 per cent of experts point to transportation. Yet only one half believe that when making infrastructure investments, their cities place high

Visualizing your projects for over 15 years. importance on making the city competitive to attract private investment.

Similarly, the study reveals that while the subject of sustainable infrastructure is accepted, implementation is lagging. Only four in 10 experts (mainly in government) think that their cities recognize the vital role that infrastructure decisions can play in protecting the environment and addressing climate change. Three in 10 disagree, suggesting a lack of awareness of the link between infrastructure and the environment.

“This report demonstrates the urgent need for Canadian cities to examine the crucial role forests, wetlands and farmlands can play in providing truly “green” infrastructure services,” said Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation. “On the path towards sustainability, these cities will need to invest in the protection of this natural capital to ensure we all continue to benefit from the essential ecological services nature provides, like cleaning our air and water and regulating the climate.”

“This research also shows that our cities risk putting significant tax dollars into transportation projects that may move a lot of people but don’t deliver on environmental protection, economic competitiveness and quality of life,” said Rob Kerr, vice president, GlobeScan.

“What we’ve learned from this study is invaluable: using infrastructure dollars more effectively will make our cities more sustainable and competitive,” said Aurich.

Key Highlights Experts’ views on how quickly and efficiently their cities will adopt sustainable infrastructure solutions differ widely across the country. In Vancouver, 71 per cent rate their city among the best at adopting green solutions. Those in Quebec are at the other end of the spectrum, with almost no one rating their city above average.

In terms of environmental challenges, the study shows that experts point first to transportation-related issues (20 per cent) and water/waste water (19 per cent). These issues are followed by urban sprawl (14 per cent) and atmospheric issues such as air pollution and climate change (11 per cent). Across regions there is differentiation: experts in Quebec and British Columbia perceive transportation to be the most serious, while in Ontario and Prairie cities, water challenges hold the number one position. Experts in Atlantic Canada consider both transportation and water to be equally serious, while urban sprawl is the most serious for experts in Alberta cities.

The study shows that aging water infrastructure and poor public awareness are other major challenges that cities must face in the near future. B

3D RENDERINGS

ANIMATIONS

Bryan Versteeg Studios Inc. info@bryanversteeg.com (403) 852-1785 www.bryanversteeg.com

Waterfront Toronto is constructing a small-scale pilot facility to treat soils near their source, divert it from landfill, and provide a resource that can be used in waterfront revitalization projects.

By Peter Sobchak

Getting Down and Work is proceeding, albeit slowly, on the grand scheme that is the transformation of Toronto’s waterfront. While many of the pieces of the approximately 800 hectare puzzle are still in early design stages, some projects are well underway on the ground. And in one case, work is literally underway on the ground. The governing body in charge of the lakefront renaissance, Waterfront Toronto, recently unveiled detailed plans for two soil recycling facilities for a pilot project in the Toronto port lands. These will be the only soil washing plants currently operating in Canada.

Industrial activity increased on Toronto’s waterfront from the 1820s to the 1960s at a time when environmental standards were less stringent. As a result, much of the waterfront was constructed by filling in parts of Lake Ontario with materials that are considered contaminated by current standards. The current common treatment of contaminated soil is to “dig and dump,” a practice that simply transfers the contaminants and problem to secure landfill sites in other communities. Instead, the two pilot facilities are part of a Soils Management Strategy to determine the viability of treating and reusing impacted soils as an alternative to the traditional “dig-and-dump” approach.

Prior to committing to a full scale soil recycling facility, Waterfront Toronto is constructing a smaller-scale pilot recycling facility that will start this summer and run for approximately six to 12 months. The proposed 8.2 hectare site located on Unwin Avenue, which is owned by Toronto Port Lands Company

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(formerly TEDCO), is currently zoned industrial and was most recently used for salt storage and aggregate processing.

The waterfront consists of over two million cubic metres of soil, of which 95 per cent is expected to be recycled. The pilot project will process 50,000 cubic metres in the first phase of operation. Conducting the pilot will enable Waterfront Toronto to better assess the effectiveness and economic performance of the technologies and optimize operational features before developing a full-scale facility. The goals of the pilot are to identify the range of treatment options and costs of remediating soil; to confirm that impacted soil can be treated to environmental standards set by the Ministry of the Environment Brownfield Regulation; and to showcase treatment technologies.

Recycling soil would remediate it to an environmental condition that allows it to be reused, which will not only reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but also reduce revitalization costs. Using remediated soil in revitalization projects will reduce the need to import soil, which in turn will reduce truck traffic which is a large producer of GHG emissions. Revitalization costs will also be reduced because the recycled soil will be used to construct waterfront parks, public realm and open spaces, reducing the need to purchase and import clean soil.

Before receipt at the pilot facility, all incoming soil will undergo pre-testing to determine soil quality and the levels and types of contamination. Soils containing hazardous waste will not be accepted for treatment, and instread will be

Dirty

Treatment of these soils is needed to allow for revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront, including the development of new parks and public spaces.

transferred to a Ministry of the Environment (MOE) licensed hazardous waste landfill facility.

Dust control, air monitoring and runoff control measures will be in place as part of the operational procedures.

Using technology established and tested in Belgium, Photos courtesy of Tetra Tech Canada Construction, Inc. and Stuyvesant Environmental Contracting / Waterfront Toronto the Netherlands and the United States, the two companies involved in the pilot project — As of 2007, 37 field-scale applications of soil washing have been DEC, a private Belgian limited holding company that carries conducted in addition to approximately 30 laboratory scale trials. out a range of marine and environmental activities, and is Soil washing has been used at many large-scale cleanup sites in part of the DEME Group (DEME is an abbreviation of the U.S., including Miami Harbor, Fox River in Wisconsin and Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering) and Tetra the King of Prussia Superfund Site. Both of the pilot test operaTech Canada Construction Inc. (part of Wardrop Engineering tors for the waterfront pilot, DEC and Tetra Tech, have operated Group) — will use mobile soil washing treatment plants similar facilities in Europe. DEC operates three soil recycling that will be brought to the site. In addition to soil washing, facilities in Belgium, and Boskalis Dolman, a subsidiary of Tetra proposed test approaches that integrates a number of tech- Tech, operates five Dutch soil recycling facilities. nologies include: complementary parallel lab trials using biore“We have been presented with a unique opportunity to help mediation (bio and phyto remediation); thermal desorption; bring Ontario to the leading edge of brownfield remediation chemical oxidation; and stabilization/solidification methodolo- using sustainability and technology,” says John Campbell, presigies in field scale trials. dent and CEO of Waterfront Toronto. “By using state-of-the-art While this soil recycling pilot project will be the only known technologies and processes not currently used in Canada, we current application of a soil washing-based pilot plant in Canada, have the opportunity to turn contaminated soils into a resource soil washing is a technology that has been used in other countries. instead of a liability.” B building august/september 2010

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NoMINI feat

A new flagship showroom design mirrors MINI’s fuel efficient, environmentally conscious brand.

adjoining BMW Toronto dealership, also designed by raw design director Roland Rom Colthoff. In fact, Colthoff has built a substantial relationship with BMW over the years by designing their headquarters in Whitby, Ont. in 1995, and then both the BMW showroom across the street and a MINI concept dealership on King Street West in 2003.

Colthoff ’s experience with the high end car manufacturer made raw design a natural fit for the new MINI showroom for several reasons (being named Best Emerging Practice by the Ontario Association of Architects certainly doesn’t hurt), specifically his ability to work with BMW’s stringent building program (“a kit of parts,” as Coltoff calls it) for all dealerships such as how big certain

By Peter Sobchak sections like service bays and offices need to be.

MINI itself also has a strong pre-existing graphic Cities do not generally like car dealerships much. They are identity and brand and expects the project must reflect that brand typically seen as the real estate equivalent of squatters, taking through the use of black walls and ceilings, and yellow and green up valuable land without contributing much to the landscape colours. “The design captures the energy of the MINI brand and surrounding communities. They belong “out there, with through a straightforward modulation of rectangular showroom suburbanites addicted to their car culture” would be a common areas, which can be viewed as cars sweep up the curve of Eastern Avenue or onto the Don Valley Parkway,” says Colthoff. sentiment among downtowners.

The 20,000-sq.-ft. showroom features extensive glazing, But in the case of MINI Canada’s newest flagship dealership located on the southwest corner of Eastern and Broadview a solar thermal hot water system, and an efficient foamedAvenues, overlooking the foot of the Don Valley Parkway in in-place insulation system. An Alpolic aluminum-composite Toronto, much effort was put into making it a good urban neigh- panel material supplied by Toronto-based Ritz Metal was used bour by breathing new life into a surrounding post-industrial area on the exterior cladding to keep temperatures down in a space full of black floors and ceilings, and the roof is a mix of solar, currently in transition.

To do so, the MINI Downtown showroom, designed by white and green (a green roof was originally intended to be Toronto-based raw design, had to first address several unique accessible by employees, but for safety reasons it is now selfsite conditions. Being set on a very triangular lot meant there contained) that meets Toronto’s Green Standard Checklist and was no real “front,” and since this location was previously a green roof bylaw. An integrated storm water retention plan will parking lot on poor soil and on a flood plain, specific design reuse rainwater for landscape irrigation, and the exterior paving elements were required. One solution was installing bollards is in a checkerboard pattern that evokes the MINI checkerto act as both border markers but also to keep cars from being board flag motif on many models.

Cities may be justified in their prickly relationship with car stolen or washed away in a flood.

Any site that was a parking lot in a previous life means brown- dealerships, but with the vibrant colours and dynamic yet urbane field remediation techniques need to be employed. “The bulk composition of the two sister showrooms of BMW and MINI of remediation of the site occurred as part of the main BMW together giving this rough precinct a much-needed shot in the Toronto project back in 2001-2002,” says Andrew Thorpe of raw arm, maybe the two can become better neighbours. B design. “At the time of doing BMW Toronto, all soil to 1,200 depth was stockpiled to allow natural dispersion and biological MINI Downtown decomposition of VOC’s and then under supervision reinstated

Architect: raw design or, if not suitable, removed. Selective areas were removed to a

Landscape Architect: The Planning Partnership further depth as needed and material transported to a protected

Structural Engineers: Banerjee & Associates Mechanical & Electrical Engineers: Able Engineering landfill site for disposal.”

Consultants: MMM Group, Spacecraft The design of the building plays off the cool sophistication of the

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The

RIGHT

CALL

Instead of a characterless cube on a greenfield in the suburbs, Telus has decided their new headquarters should connect with a city through its challenging location and design.

Building a corporate headquarters on an old parking lot near once-abandoned rail lands in the core of a major city says a lot about the company’s ethos. It says they want to be citizens, by putting dead space to use and giving it back to the city and its people. It says the company sees how things can and should be better when it comes to civic space, through superior design and a commitment to architectural sustainability. It says many things, as does the new Telus House Tower at 25 York Street in downtown Toronto.

The 30-storey headquarters for the telecommunications company, designed by the two Toronto-based firms of Adamson Associates Architects together with Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co Architects, projects a delicate quality that makes the building less imposing on the skyline, especially against a backdrop of heavily massed office towers to the north.

A glass skin extends beyond the building volume, dissolving its edges, and accentuating the building’s overall lightness. The extended fins at either end and on top of the building exemplify the illusion that the glazed façade is independent of the frame. A horizontal orthogonal volume, sheathed in ebony glass, creates tension with the airiness of the transparent masses of the tower above it, and the atrium below it at grade level. This atrium features a fully contiguous 30-foot clear-height space astride the newly created Union Square, which serves as an important knuckle in the the 780,000-sq.-ft. tower’s connection between the Air Canada Centre galleria and Union Station.

The tower’s respect for the city and its citizens starts with its occupants.

While providing a striking visual impact, the exterior skin also serves as an important sustainable design feature for this building, in addition to sheathing what is a technology showcase. Inside is an advanced heating and cooling system delivered by a raised-floor distribution network, floor-to-ceiling crystalclear glazing for greater natural light penetration, high-performance windows

Telus House Tower

Owners: H ospitals of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), Menkes Developments and Alcion Partners Constructors: Menkes Construction Limited Broker: Cushman & Wakefield Base Building Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co Design Architects: Architects Inc., Adamson Associates Architects Base Building Adamson Associates Architects Production Architect: Green Building Sciences Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co Consultant: Architects Inc. Interior Design: Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co Architects, Kasian, Burdifilek Structural: Stephenson Engineering Ltd. Mechanical: The Mitchell Partnership Electrical: Mulvey & Banani International Inc. Landscape: MBTW Landscape Architects LEED: Enermodal Engineering

Visit www.building.ca for an expanded slideshow of the Telus House Tower.

By Peter Sobchak

Photo by Shai Gil

and high-efficiency lighting systems, all of which cut energy use by 25 to 30 per cent compared to a similar-sized building. With additional features such as a rainwater cistern for grey-water use and a minimum of 50 per cent construction waste diversion, Telus House Tower is expected to meet LEED-CS (core and shell) Gold standards (the project was also recently awarded Office Development of the Year from the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association).

The where is as important as the what, and Telus decided not to build on a suburban greenfield site, but instead on a site that started its life as waterfront rail lands and eventually become a heavily-used parking lot. Historically, much of Toronto’s waterfront was constructed by in-filling it with materials considered contaminated by current standards, and sites like these have been found to have up to 25 per cent soil contamination including salt (typical of parking lots), hydro carbons and timber (during excavation remains of wooden piers were discovered). Despite the necessary clean-up costs, Telus committed to a project that gives Toronto’s rail corridor a much-needed boost in pushing forward the evolution of an emergent business district south of Union Station. B building august/september 2010

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The raised podium surrounding Toronto’s New City Hall was retrofitted by the Gardens in the Sky Division of Flynn Canada to include 22 different plant bed modular unit systems by LiveRoofs.

Green roofs not only have the ability to revenue to suppliers and manufacturers materials, but also to create permanent associated with ongoing maintenance.

Photo by Damon van der Linde

There’s green Despite the severe economic downturn last year, the green roof industry in North America grew by 16.1 per cent in 2009 over 2008, and there is growing governmental policy interest in the use of green roof infrastructure to meet various municipal, regional, provincial and federal mandates for stormwater management, air quality standards and energy efficiency standards. Green roof benefits include improving the energy efficiency of buildings, reducing the urban heat island effect, and creating jobs, among many others, giving green roofs enormous advantages over conventional roofs. These benefits appeal to both the private and public sectors, delivering a positive economic effect when integrated into the building structure, and improving the liveability of entire communities when implemented on a larger scale. Private benefits of green roofs are those that flow to the building owner, occupants or users, such as reducing a building’s heating or cooling costs. Public benefits are those that serve the neighbourhood, municipal government, region or even the global community, and include reduced stormwater run-off and improved air quality, among others.

Green roofs do have a higher initial cost than conventional roofs, averaging about twice the price per square meter for installation, and admittedly, this can be a disincentive for many building owners. However the ability of green roofs to deliver multiple public benefits produces the policy rationale for public incentives and regulations. Beyond that, if developers think long-term, green roofs can recuperate this cost, as many of the social and bio-physical benefits of green roofs have an economic dimension that can also help compensate for the added costs. For example, green roofs can drastically increase the longevity of the roof membrane, resulting in lower maintenance and replacement costs. Most green roofs will also help building owners save on energy costs for heating and cooling through their insulation properties and evapo-transpiration through vegetation and growing media. Depending on the type and design of the green roof system, other cost saving opportunities for building owners may include a reduction in the size of HVAC equipment, a reduction in the amount of insulation used in the building, and the potential to reduce or eliminate roof drains.

Other economic benefits accrue to the wider community.

This could include cost savings from increased stormwater retention and longer lifetimes for public infrastructure, such as pipes and erosion control measures. Green roofs can improve local economic performance by enhancing worker productivity and creativity. In fact, research in the area of economic benefits usually involves modeling various green roof scenarios to deter-

26 building

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mine the potential economic gains.

Green roof technology must be implemented on a large scale if it is to deliver major public benefits such as stormwater run-off reduction and urban heat island effect mitigation. For both these reasons, the key benefits of green roof infrastructure will not be fully realized without supportive public policy. While national and regional governments have important roles to play in this regard, municipal authorities have thus far taken the lead in green roof policy development. A local public-private partnership can provide the impetus for private building owners and developers to install green roofs, allowing for dissemination of this technology to the extent that it will be beneficial to the general public.

Toronto is the largest city in North America to have a bylaw to require and govern the construction of green roofs on new development. It was adopted by Toronto City Council in May 2009, under the authority of Section 108 of the City of Toronto Act. The Bylaw applies to new building permit applications for residential, commercial and institutional development made after January 31, 2010, and will apply to new industrial development as of January 31, 2011. The green roof coverage requirement is graduated, depending on the size of the building and available roof space.

There are many local governments, including Toronto, that are providing incentive programs and grants to encourage the installation of green roofs to achieve the overall benefits. A number of jurisdictions, including Chicago, New York City, Washington D.C., and Portland, Oregon have established a variety of policies in support of green roofs on public and private buildings. They range from requirements for green roofs on city-owned buildings and stormwater utility fee charges, to grants and floor-area bonuses.

Though Toronto is the largest city in North America to enact a green roof bylaw, it was not the first. Port Coquitlam, B.C. became Canada’s first with a bylaw in 2006 requiring green roofs for all buildings greater than 5,000 square metres (53,821 square feet). Also in B.C., the City of Richmond recently enacted legislation requiring all new buildings greater than 2,000 square metres to either install green roofs covering 75 per cent of the roof space, or obtain a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating equivalency for the building. Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Waterloo are all greening their municipal rooftops and officials are encouraging builders to take it city-wide.

Durham Region, just east of Toronto, and other cities require builders to meet the LEED green building rating system for new construction, with green roofs providing significant credits.

create jobs and generate of green roof-related employment

n up there

By Steven Peck and Damon van der Linde

Green Jobs The green roof industry in North America is rapidly expanding and the need for trained professionals who are familiar with green roof design, implementation, and technology has never been greater. In January of 2007, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the North American green roof and wall industry association, met with a group of 16 multidisciplinary experts to develop a set of Occupational Standards for the Green Roof Professional (GRP) accreditation. These standards identify the specific skills and knowledge, across a number of professions, required to become a GRP. This training will be needed in the future as green infrastructure jobs are on the rise. A 2008 study authored by the U.S.-based

non-profit Alliance for Water Efficiency estimates that covering just one per cent of America’s medium to large buildings would create over 190,000 jobs and provide billions in revenue to suppliers and manufacturers of green-roof related materials. Green roofs not only have the ability to create jobs today because they are more labour intensive than conventional grey roofs, but also create permanent employment associated with ongoing maintenance.

Accredited Green Roof Professionals (GRPs) are ideally positioned to be a critical member of any building design and construction team, possessing knowledge of the special requirements and challenges of green roofs from design through to maintenance. Because of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of green roofs, the GRP accreditation is a unique program, drawing on a variety of skills and providing a common language between different professions.

From November 30 to December 3, 2010, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities will co-host the 8th annual CitiesAlive 2010 Green Roof and Wall Conference in Vancouver. This three-day event is the only major gathering in North America specifically focused on green roofs and walls, and how they relate to environmental, social and economic needs on a local, regional and global level. Urban food, energy savings, renewables, embodied energy, water-energy dynamics, biofuels, cost savings — all these subjects will be on the agenda, as well as emphasis on new design practices, new projects and markets, new policies and research opportunities. It will be a combination of innovation, knowledge, profitability and cooperation, which is needed to build a more sustainable future. B

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27

The use of wide expanses of glass in modern, energy-efficiency architecture requires holistic planning as well as multi-disciplinary teamwork between architects, technical planners and façade installers.

By Georg Stoers For some years now glass has characterized modern architecture like no other material. Provided they are incorporated in an overall planning concept in line with their performance potential, glass materials not only characterize the appearance of façades but also make a decisive contribution to the energy efficiency of buildings. Based on experiences acquired with initial major projects involving a high percentage of glazing, the aspect of thermal protection in summer plays an especially important role today.

Solar protection devices compensate for a disadvantage that often goes hand-in-hand with the transparency of glass architecture — much to the architects’ regret — the undesirable build-up of room temperature in summer. The use of the latest generation of coated solar protection glass can substantially reduce but not entirely avoid this effect. By all means, in winter these solar gains are desirable but in summer they can result in unpleasantly high air temperatures in building interiors.

Optimised interplay To avoid the undesirable heat build-up in interiors, a wide variety of solar protection systems are installed in glass architecture. They are an essential component for the productive interplay between efficient thermal protection, maximum use of daylight and reliable ventilation of interiors. Controlling the complex correlations between external and internal influences on the building in such a fashion that pleasant temperatures prevail indoors throughout the year is one of the biggest challenges for modern glass architecture. Prof. Anton Maas, head of the Construction Physics Faculty at Kassel University, explained the current issue at the annual meeting of the German Flat Glass Manufacturers’ Association in April 2010. He forecast that solar protection in summer would increase in importance while also stressing the performance of windows and façades as highly efficient energy “winners” suitable for saving massive amounts of heating energy.

Experts principally agree that integral planning is required to

28 building

august/september 2010

Building-integrated thin-film PV modules in variable colours with fine-lined pinstripe looks for use in back-vented curtain walling.

efficiently leverage the energy and architectural potential of largesurface glazing in building skins. Planners and façade installers must, where possible, cooperate in the development stages of a project. Only this multi-disciplinary collaboration and the consideration of the given climatic conditions at the location can ensure an optimized interplay of summer-time solar protection, ventilation and heating and/or cooling technologies.

New opportunities through building-integrated PV Building-integrated — or to be more precise façade-integrated — photovoltaics will also play an increasingly pivotal role in boosting energy efficiency in the future. Although numerous product solutions are already available on the market, installed systems can only be found in isolated cases. The reason for this is a lack of consideration on the part of architects — something which solar industry experts discovered at the international Solar Summits congress in 2009. Even so, PV modules can now be installed as systematically as conventional façade elements made from other materials.

Even today PV elements featuring the latest thin-film technology can be ordered in various colours thereby providing more design freedom for façades. These cells are based on completely different principles to the semi-conductor technology used so far.

Since the technologies for their production are very similar to those already used in industrial glass processing, efficient manufacturing is possible. In addition to their use in new buildings, integration-enabled photovolatics modules also have multiple applications in façade refurbishment.

Knowledge of the available glass products and their working principles is imperative for realizing sustainable, energy-efficient glass architecture. Only by considering any glass versions that qualify for a building project can multi-disciplinary cooperation come up with holistic building concepts that live up to the high requirements made by both legislators and building owners. B

Photo by StoVerotec

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viewpoint

BY STEPHEN CARPENTER, PEng

The Evolution of Energy Modeling: Is BIM the Next Step?

With the increased interest in creating energy efficient and green buildings, the importance of building energy modeling has been raised amongst design professionals. Building modeling has been around since the 1980s and is typically conducted by engineers who have a solid understanding of building science and the building systems. Building energy use is predicted using specialty computer programs such as EE4 or E-Quest.

In recent years the building design software industry (e.g., Auto-CAD) has been moving to three dimensions (e.g., Revit) and to incorporating detailed building information models (BIM) into the data files. BIM is the process of generating and managing building data using building modeling software to allow the design team to collaborate through the use of one set of online drawings to add their portion of the design. The process produces the “building information model,” which includes building geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information, and building components. Will BIM soon be able to do energy modeling allowing designers to examine the energy impact of a change with a click of a button?

Recently, one Toronto architect claimed in a Daily Construction News article that “[i]n a traditional model, engineers are required to do the modeling for aspects of design involving lighting, site analysis, energy use or water use analysis. With BIM, those calculations can be made at the design level without having to hire a green guru or pay out expensive consulting fees.” It is easy to have this view when you see firms like AutoDesk purchasing energy modeling companies (e.g., Green Building XML) to help with the next version of their software. But is this the future for energy modeling?

Why can’t BIM replace energy modelers?

BIM is an interesting tool for collecting all relevant information — including CAD drawings and lists of equipment — about the building in one place. This can be especially useful for building operators who need to know everything in a building and when it should be replaced and maintained.

However, excuse me if I am skeptical. I first heard the claim “energy modeling at a click of a button” in 1985 (that firm has since gone out of business), and then a presenter at a 2000 ASHRAE presentation on EnergyPlus claim this software would revolutionize the way buildings are modeled. The presenter’s enthusiasm was met with a “they are awfully young” by the energy expert sitting beside me. 10 years later we are still modeling buildings the same way and well, the presenter is a little older.

While there is some potential for BIM and energy modeling to work together if the information required is input into the

30 building

august/september 2010

system. The problem is, at the design stage, the information is rarely known and no one is responsible for getting it. For example, control strategies can have a huge impact on energy consumption; however, the control sequences are often not fully defined until the commissioning agent shows up on site to set up the BAS. Even the envelope is complicated by the fact that most designers and window/curtainwall suppliers are still quoting centre of glass R-values. Someone will need to be responsible to collect, review, vet, and enter this data. These tasks are best performed by an expert who knows how to interpret the data and avoid garbage in = garbage out.

The most complicated part of energy modeling is accurately defining the mechanical systems. To do an accurate energy model requires an understanding of how mechanical systems operate and how the individual thermal zones behave. I have a hard time seeing how a BIM model could handle a building like the Manitoba Hydro Place which includes a double envelope, solar chimney for stack effect cooling and radiant heating and cooling.

The leading BIM developers have recognized this and are aiming for “good enough” energy results — read ‘ballpark estimate.’ The energy modeler’s engineering expertise uniquely qualifies them to understand how the building and its systems (HVAC, plumbing, lighting, and the envelope) will operate and be controlled in the real world. Energy modelers, unlike other members of the design team, think about the average energy use rather than being focused on information to determine peak loads and code compliance.

Energy modelers do more than data entry; they are integrators of the ideas of others and often help by facilitating the coordination of different design professionals. The design team is usually more focused on the project timeline and on the general qualities of the space as opposed to the details of efficiency and performance of the equipment being installed.

For these reasons, BIM and energy modeling will remain separate, or at best provide a general indication of energy use. To get the energy consumption of buildings down to meet the goals of initiatives such as the 2030 Challenge doesn’t require integrated software but more experienced design teams and, yes, energy modelers. B

Stephen Carpenter is president of Enermodal Engineering, the largest green building consulting firm in Canada. Operating since 1980, Enermodal has offices in Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto. Enermodal was the LEED consultant for 40 per cent of all LEED Canada certified buildings.

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