Canadian Architect April 2020

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Shangri-La Hotel & Condos Toronto, Ontario

URBAN TYPOLOGIES MATTHEW MACKAY-LYONS

6 VIEWPOINT

The impact of the COVID-19 shutdowns on Canadian architects.

8 NEWS

National Urban Design Award winners, Parliamentary Precinct Block 2 competition, remembering Clifford Wiens.

12 LONGVIEW

Historian Robert Jan van Pelt looks at the influence of a prefabricated hospital from over a century ago.

34 TECHNICAL

A deep energy retrofit of the OAA’s headquarters targets net zero energy use.

16

40 INSITES

16 B2 LOFTS

MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple deftly blends vernacular and contemporary design in heritage Old Town Lunenburg. TEXT Donald Chong

22 VAUGHAN METROPOLITAN CENTRE

he region around Vaughan’s new subway—and particularly a 100-acre parcel called T SmartVMC—is developing as a new city centre that values architecture, landscape and urbanism. TEXT David Steiner

28 R-HAUZ AND INTELLIGENT CITY

wo Canadian start-ups are creating low-carbon, high-performance multi-family infill T dwellings by harnessing prefabrication technology. TEXT Elsa Lam

44 BOOKS

Larry Beasley’s account of the impact and legacy of Vancouverism, reviewed by Sean Ruthen.

47 CALENDAR

A+DFF in Winnipeg, JeanJacques Lequeu in New York, international events postponed

by COVID-19.

50 BACKPAGE

Dean Richard Sommer reflects on New Circadia, the inaugural exhibition at One Spadina’s Architecture and Design Gallery.

INTELLIGENT CITY

COURTESY DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS

A book examines the influence of Jerome Markson’s modernist works in shaping Toronto.

Platforms for Life by Intelligent City, Vancouver, BC.

COVER

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

CANADIAN ARCHITECT

APRIL 2020 03

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CANADIAN ARCHITECT 04/20

06

VIEWPOINT

COVID-19 AND CANADIAN ARCHITECTS COVID-19 has hit Canada. Architecture firms across the country have scrambled to make arrangements for their employees to work from home, quickly getting acquainted with remote access and collaboration tools like Zoom and Splashtop.

One of the biggest challenges, says Toon Dreesen of Architects DCA, is “providing ways to keep people working in ways that maintain office security requirements”—in particular for federal government and military projects. Even with encrypted software, there is the risk of malware, adds Tania Bortolotto, whose firm was recently hit with ransomware.

Cash flow will be an issue for many firms, says Janna Levitt of LGA A rchitectural Partners. “The consequences to that will be felt quickly, particularly for small firms like ours.

If the government doesn’t step up to support small businesses, their employees and owners are going to be hurting.”

Elaine Pantel of accounting firm Shimmerman Penn says that she sees a widespread issue of delayed payments among her AED clients. “120 days between billings and collections is not uncommon,” she notes. She says that there will be a need for a fast change in the payment cycle, and suggests that senior personnel should work to develop strategies that encourage clients to pay online.

To address immediate cash flow issues, Pantel says that one strategy for entities who pay taxes by installment (such as corporations and sole proprietors) is to change the amount of their upcoming GST/HST installment payments, based on estimating lower profits for the year. “You will be charged interest if you are too conservative with your estimates,” she says, adding that firms should speak with their accountants.

For architects with young children, the closure of schools and daycares poses an additional layer of challenge. “A lot of people in our firm have kids in school—and they will be home full time for at least three weeks,” says Winnipeg architect Lawrence Bird of Sputnik Architecture. “Working at home while kids are there—this is a real challenge, more so the younger they are.”

“I think that a paradigm shift is required,” says Toronto architect Christine Leu of Leu Webb Projects. “Employers cannot expect employees to work at the same degree of productivity as in a non-pandemic situation, regardless of working location. The stress—caring for loved ones, getting supplies, moving homes—is real.”

As I write this piece, Toronto has just announced the suspension of non-core services, including municipal planning departments.

It’s possible that construction sites across North America will shut down soon.

In anticipation of work drying up, some firm owners are turning to the federal WorkSharing program, which allows two employees to “share” a job, working half-time and receiving EI benefits. The government has introduced temporary special measures for the program to apply for a duration of up to 76 weeks—double its usual length. Applications must be submitted a minimum of 30 days before the requested start date.

What will we take away from the current crisis, when all is said and done? Says Vancouver architect Michael Green of MGA, “There’s a failure in our ability to deal with surge problems,” like a pandemic that puts sudden added pressure on hospitals. “How can we build and design in a way that thinks about how to solve these problems when they happen?” he asks. For instance, can we find ways to build much faster in times of crisis, other than deploying the military? “As architects, we should be leading this conversation,” says Green.

There may also be larger implications for the design of public spaces. “What is postpandemic city building and public transit going to look like?” asks Nicolas DemersStoddart of Provencher_Roy. He adds, “The same way that terrorism has defined how we design some places with bollards and security cameras, is coronavirus going to have a broader effect on the way we design cities?”

On an optimistic note, the unusual spatial practices demanded by the crisis may bring new awareness to the importance of design. “Being told to practice social distancing and isolation are extremely important in this crisis, but they have rendered some public spaces empty, others—especially those out of doors—better used than ever,” write architects Avery Gutherie and Wes Wilson of Teeple Architects.

“At the same time, spaces such as healthcare environments and food and pharmaceutical retail are critical to our ability to survive this crisis. Finally, we are reminded of the importance of domestic space; for many, their homes will be the only spaces they experience for long periods, whether this is a family home, a student dorm room, or a shelter bed.”

“Fundamentally, this is a reminder of the importance of good design at all scales.”

Elsa Lam

ELAM@CANADIANARCHITECT.COM

EDITOR ELSA LAM, FRAIC ART DIRECTOR ROY GAIOT CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ANNMARIE ADAMS, FRAIC ODILE HÉNAULT DOUGLAS MACLEOD, NCARB, MRAIC ONLINE EDITOR CHRISTIANE BEYA REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS MONTREAL DAVID THEODORE CALGARY GRAHAM LIVESEY, MRAIC WINNIPEG LISA LANDRUM, MAA, AIA, MRAIC VANCOUVER ADELE WEDER, HON. MRAIC SUSTAINABILITY ADVISOR ANNE LISSETT, ARCHITECT AIBC, LEED BD+C VICE PRESIDENT & SENIOR PUBLISHER STEVE WILSON 416-441-2085 x105 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER FARIA AHMED 416-441-2085 x106 CUSTOMER SERVICE / PRODUCTION LAURA MOFFATT 416-441-2085 x104 CIRCULATION CIRCULATION@CANADIANARCHITECT.COM PRESIDENT OF IQ BUSINESS MEDIA INC. ALEX PAPANOU HEAD OFFICE 101 DUNCAN MILL ROAD, SUITE 302 TORONTO, ON M3B 1Z3 TELEPHONE 416-441-2085 E-MAIL info@canadianarchitect.com WEBSITE www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian Architect is published 9 times per year by iQ Business Media Inc. 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.

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NEWS

PROJECTS Design for zero-carbon Centennial College building revealed DIALOG and Smoke Architecture are designing a $105-million expan-

sion to Centennial College’s Progress Campus A Block building. The mass timber building will embody the College’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and sustainable design when it opens in 2023. If it were completed today, the development would be the first zero-carbon, mass timber higher-education building in the country.

The design firms approached the project using the concept of “two-eyed seeing”—viewing the world through the lens of Indigenous knowledge and the lens of western knowledge. The resulting design brings together Indigenous and Western cultures in both form and function.

“This project grows beyond the simplistic application of Indigenous elements onto a mainstream design,” said Eladia Smoke, Principal of Smoke Architecture. “This design is rooted in Indigenous principles, evoked in a contemporary setting. The building’s narrative is a story of seed, growth, culmination and balance, revealing the seven directions teachings in a cyclical view of an interconnected world.”

“This project will be a clear demonstration of how higher-education facilities can make an important contribution to reducing environmental harm by eliminating CO2 emissions,” said Craig Applegath, Project Principal, DIALOG. “Its zero-carbon emissions design, and its ability to store thousands of tonnes of carbon in its sustainably harvested mass timber wood structure, will form an important precedent in both Canada and around the world.” www.dialogdesign.ca BisonIP-CANArchitect-3.8x4.85-April2020.pdf

COURTESY DIALOG

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ABOVE Designed by DIALOG and Smoke Architecture, Centennial College’s planned A Block building targets net-zero carbon.

Parliamentary Precinct Block 2 Design Competition announced

Public Services and Procurement Canada has announced an upcoming design competition for a major redevelopment in Ottawa’s Parliamentary Precinct.

The Block 2 project aims to redevelop the existing property and buildings that comprise the city block immediately south of Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa. Block 2 is bounded by Metcalfe, Wellington, O’Connor and Sparks Streets. The new and renovated facilities will provide accommodations for Parliamentarians, as well as retail spaces on the Sparks Street Pedestrian Mall.

The design competition will bolster new ideas and promote design excellence, both of which reflect the importance of this significant site.

In fact, the original Canadian Parliament Buildings were the result of a design competition held in 1859.

The competition comprises two separate phases: a Request for Qualifications to be followed by a Request for Proposals. The latter takes shape as a two-stage, limited design competition. The Request for Qualifications is expected to officially open this spring, but prospective applicants are encouraged to apply to obtain the required security clearances in advance. www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

AWARDS Grafton Architects wins Pritzker Prize

21c Museum Hotel | Oklahoma City OK architects: Deborah Berke Partners & Hornbeek Blatt Architects original architect: Albert Kahn photographer: Mike Schwartz

Rooftops redefined. bisonip.com | 800.333.4234 denver | colorado

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, partners and co-founders of Dublin-based Grafton Architects, have been awarded the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize. With more than 40 years of professional experience, Farrell and McNamara are the first two Irish recipients—and the first female duo—to be awarded architecture’s highest honor.

The award was given to the partners for the “integrity in their approach to both their buildings and their practice, their generosity towards their colleagues, their responsible attitude toward the environment, and their unceasing commitment to excellence in architecture,” according to the jury.

Farrell and McNamara are educators and architects who create spaces that honour history while demonstrating a mastery of the urban environment and craft of construction. The duo has completed projects that respond to local needs in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Peru.

“Within the ethos of a practice such as ours, we have so often struggled to find space for the implementation of such values as humanism, craft, generosity, and cultural connection with each place and context within which we work. It is therefore extremely gratifying that this recognition is bestowed upon us and our practice and upon the body of work we have managed to produce over a long number of years,” says McNamara. “It is also a wonderful recognition of the ambition and vision of the clients who commissioned us and enabled us to bring our buildings to fruition.” www.pritzkerprize.com

Winners of the 2020 National Urban Design Awards announced

Twelve projects across Canada have been selected for the 2020 National Urban Design Awards by the RAIC, the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CLSA).

The awards are part of a two-tier program held in cooperation with Canadian municipalities and will be presented during the RAIC ’s Conference on Architecture in Edmonton from June 3-7. The National Urban Design Awards program judged winners of the 2020 municipal awards and entries submitted at large.

In the Urban Architecture category, an Award of Excellence goes to Casey House (Toronto) by Hariri Pontarini Architects. A Certificate of Merit goes to The Springdale Library and Komagata Maru Park (Brampton) by RDH A rchitects (RDHA). In the Civic Design category, the Mechanized River Valley Access (Edmonton) by DIALOG received an Award of Excellence, and two projects received Certificates of Merit: Berczy Park (Toronto) by Claude Cormier + Associés and North East Exchange District Public Realm (Winnipeg) by HTFC Planning and Design in collaboration with WSP Engineering, the City of Winnipeg and CentreVenture Development Corporation.

An Award of Excellence for Urban Design Plans goes to Plan d’intervention pour le confort et la sécurité des piétons et cyclistes dans le Vieux-Québec (Quebec) by Groupe A / Annexe U. In Community Initiatives, an Award of Excellence goes to The Warming Huts (Winnipeg) by Sputnik Architecture and The Forks Renewal Corporation.

In the category of Urban Fragments, an Award of Excellence was captured by 18 Shades of Gay (Montreal) by Claude Cormier + Associés and a Certificate of Merit goes to The Fourth Street SW Underpass Enhancement (Calgary) by the marc boutin architectural collaborative.

In student projects, two University of Toronto projects were recognized. An Award of Excellence goes to Topographic Urban Expansion (Toronto) by Qiwei Song with thesis advisor Fadi Masoud, and a Certificate of Merit goes to The Drainage Filter for the Everglades (Toronto) by Qiwei Song, Meikang Li and Chaoyi Cui with instructors Fadi Masoud and Elise Shelley.

A Special Jury Award for Sustainable Development goes to Corridor de biodiversité, Arrondissement de Saint-Laurent, Montréal by civiliti, LAND Italia, Table Architecture and Biodiversité conseil. www.raic.org

Moshe Safdie Wins Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award

Moshe Safdie will receive the Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The award recognizes an individual who has made contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, enhancing cities and the lives of their inhabitants.

The architect’s practice includes projects in North and South America, the Middle East, and throughout Asia and Australia. www.ctbuh.org

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NEWS

Snøhetta and DIALOG receive AIA Architecture Award

Snøhetta and DIALOG have received an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Award for the Calgary Central Library. The library is among eight award winners in the 2020 cycle.

“Thoughtful, integrated and exemplary design that artfully weaves together the collective vision and values of design, client, community and sustainability… a true reflection of Calgary as well as this AIA Honors Award,” commented the jury. www.aia.org

Blouin Orzes architectes wins Emerging Voices Award

Montreal-based firm Blouin Orzes architectes is among the eight recipients of a 2020 Emerging Voices Award, given by the Architectural League of New York. The firm has designed and built several civic projects for the Inuit communities of Nunavik—the region of Quebec north of the 55th parallel. “Our work is not just about designing and building.

It is about ‘accompanying’ our clients as best we can, from the very beginnings of a project until its final realization,” said the principals.

As the founder and first CEO and President of Integral Group, Kevin R. Hydes established a reputation as an innovator, pioneer and green business leader.

Lenore Lucey, FAIA served as Chancellor of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2017. Lucey served as the first female Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and held the role for over fourteen years.

Mariam Kamara is a founder and principal of architecture and research firm atelier masomi, in Niamey, Niger. Her firm’s ReligiousSecular Complex of Dandaji in Niger won the 2017 Gold LafargeHolcim Award for Africa and the Middle East, and the 2018 Silver Global LafargeHolcim Award for Sustainable Architecture.

Mickey Jacob, FAIA is the Regional Vice President for Florida at GMC A rchitects. A native of Windsor, Ontario, Jacob has been involved with the AIA at every level of the organization, including serving as its President in 2013. www.raic.org

International Garden Festival designers announced

www.aiany.org

WHAT’S NEW RAIC announces 2020 Honorary Fellows

Four professionals who have significantly impacted architectural practice around the world have been named Honorary Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).

Five new projects will be featured at the 21st edition of the International Garden Festival. The new gardens will be on display at Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens from June 20 to October 4, 2020.

The five new gardens include: Augmented Grounds by Soomeen Hahm, Jaeheon Jung, and Yumi Lee (Seoul); Corps de resonance

by Charlotte Barbeau, Leila Desrosiers, Félix Roy, and Jean-Benoit Trudelle (Montreal); ENTWINE by Waiyee Chou and Carlos Portillo (Toronto and Montreal); Forêt corallienne by Lucie Bulot and Dylan Collins (Montreal); and (Mé)Tissages by Duke Truong (Strasbourg). www.festivalinternationaldejardins.com

THEAKSTON ENVIRONMENTAL Consulting Engineers

Ontario Place for All releases framework for keeping iconic park public

Ontario Place for All is calling on the government to use their framework for a reimagined Ontario Place, produced in conjunction with HR&A Associates, as a foundation to keep the waterfront park public.

The report, Ontario Place, The Value of Toronto’s Public Space, argues that the government’s focus on the private sector redevelopment of Ontario Place delivers only short-term profits at the cost of longerterm benefits. “When compared to public use spaces, commercial uses will typically create short-term improvements but at the expense of long-term enduring benefits,” says the report. It says that public spaces create stable neighbourhoods, increasing social interaction between different groups and increasing residents’ sense of belonging. www.theakston.com The report additionally says that the City’s public spaces are a key reason companies and workers locate in Toronto. “Local amenities are particularly important for employees in the knowledge economy sector,” the report states.

Ontario Place for All says that the government should take a more comprehensive approach to reimagine the lakefront site, starting with a robust consultation process.

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Wind Snow Exhaust • Odour • Noise • Particulate • Ministry (519) 787-2910 spollock@theakston.com Approvals • CFD Analysis •

www.ontarioplaceforall.com

519.787. 2910 spollock@theakston.com www.theakston.com

IN MEMORIAM Clifford Wiens

On January 25, Saskatchewan architect Clifford Wiens passed away at the age of 93. Wiens is known for his iconic structures in the province,

ABOVE Architect Clifford Wiens has passed away, leaving a legacy of significant buildings in his home province, Saskatchewan.

including John Nugent’s Studio (also known as St. Mark’s Shop) in Lumsden (1960); the University of Regina Heating and Cooling Plant (1968); the Qu’Appelle Silton Summer Chapel (1967); the Regina CBC Broadcast Centre (1983); and the Prince Albert City Hall (1984).

Wiens was born in 1926 near Glen Kerr, Saskatchewan, and raised on his Mennonite family’s farm. He studied industrial design and architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1954.

He returned to Regina to apprentice with firms Stock and Ramsay, and

to work with architect Joseph Pettick. In 1957, he started his own practice, which was active until 1995.

As one of the pioneers of a distinctive Prairie architecture, writes architectural historian Graham Livesey, Wiens created an idiom that related to the distinct landscape of the Prairies, with its strong horizon lines. According to Livesey, “His Central Heating and Cooling Plant at the University of Regina is most indicative of his architecture in that it is seemingly straightforward, yet intricate in execution; its bold shape is reminiscent of both iconic Indigenous and agricultural forms.”

In 2005, architectural critic Trevor Boddy curated an exhibition on Wiens’ work at the Mendel Art Gallery. “He’s a true Prairie original. There’s a lot of bandying about who’s Modernist and who’s not, but with Clifford, there’s no doubt,” says Boddy. “Every building project was a problem to be solved and an inventive solution to be devised.

His originality really stands out.”

Wiens has been a visiting professor at the University of Manitoba, University of Calgary, University of Arizona and Arizona State University. After closing his practice in 1995, Wiens permanently relocated to his wife Patricia’s hometown, Vancouver. His architectural archive resides at the University of Regina. Wiens is survived by his six children.

ERRATUM Our review of Springdale Library and Komagata Maru park (CA, Feb. 2020) used an incorrect abbreviated name for RDH Architects.

The correct abbreviation is RDHA .

For the latest news, visit www.canadianarchitect.com and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter at www.canadianarchitect.com/subscribe

Congratulations The Alberta Association of Architects would like to recognize our newest architects and licensed interior designers. Moving from internship to registered architect or licensed interior designer is a milestone that takes many years and countless hours to achieve.

Congratulations on your hard work and perseverance!

Architect, AAA Esha Das Adrian Camacho Lee Halwa Alexa Collopy Amina Oyakhilome Erin Chartrand Caroline Stark Slaymaan Altasaini Theresa Te Andrew Dejneka Dalton Kaun Michelle Goss

Emma Dunn Noorullah Hussain Zada Lea Lohnes Eugene Dening Mark Isinger Faria Hamidzadeh Andrew Pun Mareko Gaoboe Michael Corpuz Kaitlyn Labrecque Deepa Somani Krista Perrin

Maraicris Ussher Danielle Lalonde Tiffany Shaw-Collinge Stephen Faust Bin Tian Melissa Cowan David Tyl Rui Nakao David Flynn Liza Skaria Hironobu Nishizawa Michael Svec

Carlos Gamez Ruiz Jorge Hernandez Varela

Licensed Interior Designer, AAA Lisa Hering-Donnelly Lacey Pearn

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GOING VIRAL THE IDEA OF PREFABRICATING HOSPITALS TO CONTAIN EPIDEMICS HAS A LONG HISTORY THAT INCLUDES A DANISH-DESIGNED FELT HUT, IN WIDESPREAD USE OVER A CENTURY AGO. TEXT

Robert Jan van Pelt Courtesy Berlin State Library and Robert Jan van Pelt

IMAGES

In early January, the Chinese Government recognized that Wuhan had become the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic. It responded to this public health crisis with a well publicized effort to construct, in ten days, two massive hospitals for a total of 2,500 patients, using prefabricated modular rooms. The purpose of the project was threefold: to isolate those infected with the virus, to provide opportunities for treatment, and to convince a skeptical world that the government was on top of the situation.

Watching the effort to provide the citizens of Wuhan with instant hospitals brought to mind a large-format, handsomely illustrated catalogue that was published 125 years ago by the Danish-German firm Christoph & Unmack. I had discovered a copy of Transportabeles Baracken-Lazareth für 200 Kranke (Portable Hut Hospital for 200 Patients) in the Berlin State Library while researching the history of the barrackhut. The catalogue presented a Red Cross-approved, prefabricated, demountable emergency hospital, for use in war or during epidemics, in four coloured lithographs captioned in German, French, English, Russian, Danish, and Ottoman-Turkish. The pictures gave the potential purchaser—most likely a national Red Cross organization, a public health department, or the medical service of a national army—an opportunity to immediately assess and comprehend the hutted hospital as a tool that might do some good in the world.

The origin of Christoph & Unmack’s hutted hospital went back to the American Civil War (1861-65), when groups of women volunteers, inspired by the example of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War (1853-56), pushed for the creation of a system of comprehensive care of the wounded. Surgeon-General William A. Hammond and Philadelphia architect John McArthur, Jr. conceived of standardized military hospitals to be assembled out of identical wooden barrack-huts (or “pavilions”) made from dimensional lumber, each holding sixty patients.

In short order, the Union built 202 such hospitals with 136,894 beds.

Before the Civil War, army hospitals had been many times more lethal than the battlefield because of the prevalence of typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery. In Hammond’s hutted hospitals, army surgeons were able to control the spread of infectious diseases, reducing the mortality of admitted patients to eight percent—with the majority of those dying from battle wounds.

A single Doecker Hut contains an operation room, pharmacy and hospital management office. The prefabricated, portable hospitals were developed in 1885, and used around the world, including in the First World War. In America, they were marketed for managing epidemics in the wake of the 1892 typhus fever outbreak in New York.

LEFT

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LONGVIEW

A hospital complex for 200 patients. A line of ten Doecker Huts serves as the sick wards, while four Doecker Huts provide an operation facility, a pharmacy, a laundry, a kitchen, and quarters for medical personnel. In the foreground is the steam disinfection unit. ABOVE A sick ward for 20 patients (in summer) and 17 patients (in winter). The winter capacity was smaller because of the need to accommodate two stoves. The folding field beds were produced by the Karl Schulz company in Berlin, and were standard issue in Prussian Army hospitals.

TOP

While war raged in America, delegates of sixteen “civilized powers” reached an agreement to create an international network of relief organizations coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Red Cross made a first public presentation of its aims and tools at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867, where it included models of Hammond’s hospitals and its pavilions.

In 1885, the ICRC initiated a high-profile design competition for a lightweight standard hut for twelve patients to be produced as a kit: to be rapidly assembled by unskilled labour, and to function either as a stand-alone unit or as part of a larger emergency hospital. German Empress and Prussian Queen Augusta—who was a great admirer and friend of Nightingale, and who had been instrumental in creating many women-run relief organizations—sponsored the competition. Contestants were encouraged to submit a full-size prototype, to be exhibited at the International Exposition in Antwerp that year.

Danish furniture makers Christian Ferdinand Christoph and Christian Rudolf Unmack submitted two prototypes of a hybrid between a tent and a hut developed by Captain (ret.) Johan Gerhard Clemens Døcker.

The filttelt (felt-tent) consisted of rectangular frames that were covered with lightweight, waterproof, easily disinfected sheets of felt, pressed on a base of canvas and impregnated with linseed-oil. The assembly could be clipped together by a system of rabbeting, screw fastenings, and clamps. The two submissions were supported by a thorough engineering report on the thermal behavior of the felt-tents during earlier trials at a Danish military base. Both shelters earned a gold medal.

In the wake of the competition, the Prussian War Ministry adopted the award-winning hut as the main type for its military hospitals, but insisted on an increase in size so that it could hold twenty patients in summer, and seventeen or eighteen in winter (when two or three beds had to give way to stoves). Twenty was the number of patients a single nurse could handle. The materials for two such huts were to fit in a standard railway freight car. The orders from Berlin came with an important condition: the manufacture of the huts was to take place in Prussia. Christoph contacted a cousin who owned a machine factory some 200 kilometres southeast of Berlin. The result was a new facility for producing the portable hospitals—now known as Doecker Huts—that quickly became the largest manufacturer of prefabricated huts in the world.

In 1892, a typhus fever epidemic erupted in New York. It was traced back to a ship that had arrived a few weeks earlier; all passengers that could be located—some 1,200—were quarantined in canvas tents. A year later, the Federal Government passed the National Quarantine Act, which gave it broad powers to detain ships and passengers.

Frederick W. Elsner, the American sales representative of Christoph & Unmack, saw a big market. He began a public campaign in which he discredited canvas tents as incubators of disease, while praising Doecker Huts as “germ-proof, fire-proof, and capable of disinfection, ad infinitum, by chemicals.” He sketched a perfectly managed emergency response using the Christoph & Unmack product. “If an epidemic breaks out anywhere on the American continent, all you have to do is to wire to headquarters for one, two, or more hospitals, which on arrival are unpacked and erected at once. Fill them with patients as required, and when your epidemic is stifled, take them down again, disinfect and repack them, and return to headquarters.” In Germany, the manufacturers of the Doecker Hut produced the beautifully illustrated catalogue to support the sales pitch— with its doll-house-like representations that reduced the imagined terrors of a ward full of deadly sick people to manageable proportions.

Ultimately, few Doecker Huts were sold in the United States.

But elsewhere in the world, thousands of Doecker Huts did remarkable humanitarian service—including in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) and the First World War (1914-18), and in the aftermath of natural disasters such as the Messina earthquake (1908). As advertised, most of them were reused on multiple occasions.

Today, only one Doecker Hut survives: constructed in 1911 as a single-hut hospital to serve the Pallars Jussà hydroelectric power station in the Spanish Pyrenees, its felt-panel-wall technology quickly failed in the mountain climate. The hut was abandoned—it was modified and used as a shed by people in the area—and forgotten until its rediscovery a few years ago by architect Sígrid Remacha Acebrón.

Today, the beautiful plates published in 1895 and the disintegrating ruin in the Pyrenees bear material witness to a lofty idea about the lifesaving potential of prefabricated emergency hospitals.

Robert Jan van Pelt is a professor at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. He is the Chief Curator of the international travelling exhibition Auschwitz. Not

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HOMECOMINGS A SMALL-SCALE DEVELOPMENT IN LUNENBURG IS A CASE-STUDY IN ARCHITECTURAL SYNTAX— AND A PROTOTYPE FOR A NEW MARITIME URBANISM.

B2 Lofts, Lunenburg UNESCO World Heritage Site, Nova Scotia MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects TEXT Donald Chong PHOTOS Matthew MacKay-Lyons PROJECT

ARCHITECT

Located on lands previously inhabited by native Mi’kmaq and Acadians, Lunenburg is widely considered the continent’s best preserved planned British colonial settlement. It is best known for its brightly coloured mix of shingle-sided and gabled structures, climbing the steep hillside along the harbour.

These picture-perfect façades form a compact urban setting, built upon a 270-year-old working waterfront. In 1995, Old Town Lunenburg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its living catalogue of architecture related to 18th- and 19th-century fishing, shipping and shipbuilding. An extraordinary number of its timber buildings were handcrafted by German and Swiss Protestant settlers, and have been scrupulously preserved. While known for being the birthplace of the Bluenose, Lunenburg’s advanced shipwright culture produced an array of businesses and accompanying buildings—from foundries to sailmakers, and from cooperages to blacksmiths.

To this day, many of Lunenberg’s prime harbour locations continue to be used for the maritime industries, including a scallop fishery, a millwright’s shed, and a dory building shop (for the local cod-fishing boats originally deployed from schooners at sea).

Rigorous heritage conservation is the starting point for any architectural intervention in this milieu. So it is particularly interesting to examine a new project in the heart of Lunenberg, developed and designed

by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects (MLSA).

“Laurel and Hardy”: Partnering and Infill At first blush, B2 Lofts is a simple pair of structures on the well-travelled (and largely gentrified) Montague Street, the town’s southernmost thoroughfare. Look more closely, and it reveals itself as a spirited architectural duo of forms—a pleasantly balanced “Laurel and Hardy” pairing.

A new addition to the east is slender and nimble, adorned in doryyellow paint and weathering cedar. To the west is a finely refurbished Set on one of the main streets of Old Town Lunenburg, a pair of structures inflects heritage typologies with contemporary programs and details.

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nineteenth-century gabled commercial building—stoic, stout and rendered in charcoal tones. All told, this combination of two ostensibly separate buildings on a compact lot yields a rich mix of programs: six residential units shared between the two sides, a small retail unit, and a full-depth double-fronting space that currently houses MLSA’s Lunenburg architectural studio.

Syntax and Strategy: Trim Modernism The most striking aspect of B2 Lofts is its confident and unapologetic embrace of Lunenberg’s architectural vernacular. Double-hung

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windows, wide-boarded corners, painted trim boards, panelled wood doors and articulated bargeboard details are all gracefully deployed— and, as if with a gentle wink to those who are attentive, with seemingly modern sensibilities.

The brevity and resulting dexterity with which B2 Lofts works within its constraints offers a prototype for Lunenburg and beyond. Without pretension, the project asks what it takes to remain contemporary and progressive in a highly-scrutinized, protected and well-loved historical town. Such circumstances could easily lead to acritical, rote and nostalgic references from a disconnected past. Here, however, we are

witness to a present-day builder’s hand, evidently synchronized with architects who are not the least bit unnerved in this historic setting with its preference for a local architectural language.

One begins to regain a certain respect for a traditional language that is naturally deep in its repertoire of go-to conditions, yet materially robust enough to accommodate tolerance, incremental change and future-proofing. B2 Lofts prompts a sincere, refreshing and long overdue salute to premodern architectural detailing, with its proven resilience and intelligence.

Type and Town: Utility, Toughness and Circumstance First and foremost, this project is about clarity of type. B2 Lofts respects its Montague Street context, with its historic mix of gabled and gambrel-roofed typologies. The gambrel top of the new addition side allows for a tidy, narrow massing that maximizes height within the narrow lot. Paired with the existing building, the infill offers an inconspicuous presence that succeeds in re-anchoring the street.

Contributing to the background as much as the foreground aligns with the project’s persona: it blends while being bold. It’s both a quiet contributor, and an active participant. This humility is a virtue befitting for a modernist studio applying heritage language onto a succinct and efficient pair of recognizable building forms—reminiscent of Giorgio Morandi’s Swiss paintings of “pure type” rural buildings or Heinrich Tessenow’s honest and modest typological approach to architecture.

The playfulness in the façade’s apertures gives the sense that the composition is circumstantial, rather than curated, in line with the characteristics of heritage detailing as well as the solid-to-glazing ratio

The project includes a new addition, to the left, and a refurbished commercial building, to the right. TOP The residential units inside the new addition feature a web-like filigree of steel tension members and a snug upper sleeping loft. ABOVE MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple’s Lunenburg office is housed on the ground floor of the yellow building, which steps up from north to south to meet grade facing both streets.

OPPOSITE

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ABOVE The timber-lined interior of the existing building has been carefully restored, giving it the feeling of a boat’s hull. On the north side, the lofts offer views of Lunenburg’s historic harbour.

and rhythm of neighbouring buildings. The contemporary take on barn doors, too, takes on a weathered “batten-down-the-hatches” appeal, appropriate to the harshness of the North Atlantic seas.

The buildings share a single crisp, cruciform circulatory set-up, with double-egress stairwells at grade in the north-south axis, and four sets of single-run stairs in the east-west axis starting from the second floor.

This pays off with a generously lit interstitial space, nesting between the west and east blocks. From the street, the space acts as civic-realm reveal, and provides natural, unimpeded residential entry points to the upper level units from either street. This careful typological detail allows the two buildings to command independent street-level storefront presences, smartly in keeping with the character of Montague Street. At grade, one can also access the only street-level residential unit, with its grand garage double-doors and a cleverly integrated standard-sized door.

Maritime Frugality: Snug-fit, Well-packed Heading upward to the five loft units, one is rewarded with generous views to the harbour and town. In the new structure, a complement of vaulted spaces, finished in white, includes a cheerful cascade of unabashed structural hot-rolled tension members which, as the architects put it, create a “weblike” space that nods to Andy Goldsworthy. In the renovated building, the original timber-lined space feels akin to the inside of a cooper’s aged barrel. Among all of the units, a well-packed arrangement of galley kitchens, bathrooms and single-flight stairs admirably acknowledges the original intent of this type of building: to maximize space, daylight and views from both gable ends. The units in the new building, in particular, squeeze utility out every part of the space by including a delightful upper bedloft—yet one more nod to the frugal and wise Lunenburg way.

Building as Civic Instrument Perhaps unwittingly, the B2 Lofts touch on a key issue in Lunenburg: the rapid decline of affordable housing. The town’s original single-

family homes are now occupied by far fewer people than a century prior, and are further pressured by a trend for more seasonally occupied homes. As a result, the available year-round bed-spaces have diminished while housing prices have escalated. In this evolving context, B2 Lofts could pose an interesting and progressive opportunity to volley between short-term rentals and long-term options.

B2 Lofts suggests how architecture ought to position itself generationally, irrespective of its originating program or pro forma. It remains to be seen, decades from now, how this building may change, adapt, and outlive its first intended use. Altogether, one would hope that the astute combination of resilient typologies, smart urbanism and robust detailing imparts a lasting maturation and elegance—which ultimately cradles a future yet unknown, but ready to be embraced.

Evolutions and Progress: A Galápagos Moment Lunenburg is a fitting place for B2 Lofts, with its ability to tweak a mixed-use building archetype within a compact urban setting.

With every small gesture or nudge to its architecture, Lunenburg serves as, quite possibly, a perfect testing ground. It’s a Galápagos Island of sorts, with a manageable sample size and an in vivo civic laboratory to witness reaction, response and perhaps positive change. This is, arguably, architectural evolution at its best.

Toronto-based architect Donald Chong is a Design Principal at HDR. He has relatives who live in an Old Town heritage home in Lunenburg.

CLIENT BRIAN & MARILYN MACKAY-LYONS | ARCHITECT TEAM BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS (FRAIC), WILL

PERKINS, JOSEPH BURKETT, DIANA CARL, ZACH GREWE, KELSEY WOTILA, BEN FUGLEVAND |

STRUCTURAL CAMPBELL COMEAU ENGINEERING LIMITED | INTERIORS MARILYN MACKAY-LYONS CONTRACTOR DAVE KNICKLE, FELLOE CONSTRUCTION | CONSTRUCTION GARY KILGOUR CON-

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SMART GROWTH A MEGA-SCALE DEVELOPMENT IN VAUGHAN IS OFF TO A PROMISING START, WITH STRONG IDEAS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE AND URBAN DESIGN. David Steiner Tom Arban RENDERINGS Diamond Schmitt Architects TEXT

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Just the promise of a subway station is enough to launch serious development. More than a decade ago, the TTC committed to building a station in Vaughan, at the northern end of Toronto’s University Line extension. This announcement provided the fuel for an enormous development called Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC). The project’s ambition is plainly stated in the name—nothing less than a new urban area in the sprawling suburbs of Vaughan.

As a developer, SmartCentres is best known for outlet stores at the perimeter of cities—less so for urbanism. Paula Bustard, an executive for the company, recounted how she was in a meeting with the TTC when the transit officials disclosed, without forewarning, that they

intended to build a subway station on SmartCentres property in the city of Vaughan. Such an unlikely event is as valuable as it is rare.

For SmartCentres, it led to rethinking their entire approach.

The VMC is four hundred acres, owned by various developers and commercial landowners. Much of it is covered in parking for a handful of big-box stores. The remainder is sparsely populated by warehouses and some squat office buildings, an abandoned movie theater and a yard for an earth-moving company. In one or two decades from now, when the development area is fully built, it will have the density and make-up of a small city: twenty-five thousand residences in towers of varying heights, commercial offices, institutional buildings, and park space.

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A tower nearing completion features golden anodized aluminum fins, setting the tone for SmartVMC as a fresh, design-forward development; the completed KPMG Tower raises the bar for the design quality of commercial office developments on Toronto’s outskirts.

ABOVE An exposed heavy timber structure creates a warm, inviting atmosphere at the York Region Transit bus terminal, which is laid out to prioritize pedestrian movement. OPPOSITE TOP Green spaces knit together residential, commercial, and community buildings in the master plan for the 100-acre SmartVMC district. OPPOSITE BOTTOM A paving pattern in the complete public square spills over into the adjacent street. The square connects three major transit hubs: the YRT Bus Terminal, at right, and the TTC subway along with a bus rapid transit stop, off the image to the left.

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No suburbs around Toronto have anything like the concentration of transit currently found here: a subway line terminus along with two regional bus transit hubs. One of these, the York Region bus terminal, is located immediately north of the subway; the other, a major stop on a dedicated rapid bus transit right-of-way, is to the south. All three nodes—bus stop, subway and regional bus—are mere steps from each other, connected both at grade and by a tunnel. It is a triumph of putting the horse before the cart. An enormous increase in density is preceded by an equally large investment, by all levels of government, in mass transit. Especially in the Toronto area, where government is forever playing catch-up—barreling through existing fabric with new tracks, stations or tunnels—the foresight seems miraculous.

Of the four hundred acres, SmartCentres owns a hundred. For context, that’s the size of forty Manhattan city blocks. Diamond Schmitt Architects, along with Claude Cormier + Associés, were engaged in 2011 to develop a master plan for the SmartCentres parcel, known as SmartVMC. At the time, the subway station was under construction, Vaughan was still working on the secondary plan, and York Region had a vague idea about leasing five acres of land somewhere east of the subway station to build a conventional bus station.

Two major decisions came out of Diamond Schmitt and Claude Cormier’s masterplan. One was to include a linear park as the development’s primary feature. The other was a proposal to place the bus station above the TTC tail track (the extra subway track running past the platform). Taken together, the linear park and bus terminal location will organize the entire site. The park adds a wide aisle down a future row of towers. The bus terminal, constructed immediately north of the subway, aligns all three transit nodes.

Revising the bus terminal location from its original planned location, removed from the subway station, sounds simple in retrospect. But when Diamond Schmitt finalized the master plan, the TTC had already started construction on the subway station. The project was years behind schedule and grossly over budget. Despite all that, they agreed to change the tail track design to include the bus terminal—so long as SmartCentres paid for the entire change order. The results were worth the cost and SmartCentres agreed. Diamond Schmitt’s team redesigned the end of the track and bus terminal above. (Because SmartCentres picked up the extra cost, they were permitted to put their corporate logo on the bus terminal.)

The bus terminal was the first of nine completed and in-progress buildings that Diamond Schmitt has designed on the site. It turns the

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typical bus station typology on its head. Instead of a lonely island surrounded by circling buses, here, a horseshoe shaped canopy allows passengers to approach the terminal from the public mews immediately west, and from the urban square to the south. As part of the project’s public art commitment, the team worked with electrical engineers Mulvey and Banani, Studio F-Minus, and artistic advisor Jim Campbell to design a massive video wall—17 metres high and over 50 metres long.

It will hang on the southern façade of the tower podium immediately in front of the horseshoe, concealing a six-storey parking garage.

SmartCentres has commissioned a group of artists to provide videos to be displayed on the wall. Depending on the art (and one’s tastes), waiting for a bus may become a cultural event in Vaughan.

Diamond Schmitt’s first completed office building on the site is a commercial tower, with consulting firm KPMG as the lead tenant. It is an elegant object: long and slender, set on a wide two-floor podium and clad in curtain wall with back-painted and fritted spandrel panels. At fourteen floors, the building is a reasonable height (though dwarfed by three 55-storey residential giants to the north) and creates a backdrop to the

public square at its doorstep to the east. It will also serve as a quiet terminus to the future linear park. Mike Szabo, the principal-in-charge from Diamond Schmitt, points out how the detailing and materials are a significant departure from the more generic offices along Highway 7. From a commercial perspective, it also demonstrates that a strong design, coupled with location, can compete with lower-cost leasing options nearby.

PwC is the main tenant of a second tower, now nearing completion.

It’s made of two volumes—a modest nine-storey block to the south and a three-storey block to the north. As people emerge from the subway, the tower’s main feature is front and centre: a seven-metre-high ribbon of gold anodized aluminum fins wrapping the podium. The fins are bright and fun. Their colour gives the public square a visual focus and lends the entire development its most memorable image. Two terraces—one facing east over the public square, for PwC clients, and the other facing west, part of a suite of municipal offices—further animate the facades. The mixed-use building also houses a YMCA (who owns their space within the building, purchased with their own funds and a developer contribution), a public library branch, a Balzac’s coffee shop, and several commercial tenants.

OPPOSITE Designed by Claude Cormier + Associés, the proposed central park includes a grand sunken lawn to be used for large gatherings and sports, an open glade featuring a large fountain and oversized pergola, and a hilled area for outdoor movie screenings. Curved paths link together the different landscapes. ABOVE A massive video wall, hanging in front of a six-storey parking garage, will display commissioned video art as part of the project’s public art commitment.

Visit Vaughan Metropolitan Centre today and you’ll see two functioning office buildings and three nearly complete residential towers.

Despite such a tremendous amount of construction, the sheer size of the remaining parking lots is disorienting. This arrangement of new architecture sprouting all at once, amidst a jumbled suburban fabric, is like clearing a cluttered table, unrolling a fine tablecloth, and carefully setting out cutlery and dishware.

The tablecloth comes from Claude Cormier + Associés’ landscape design. Claude Cormier says that the landscape was designed to create an “urban, modern picturesque” experience. Pop artist Bridget Riley’s pattern paintings inspired a supersized circle motif in the as-yet-unbuilt linear park. In the finished public square, black and white concrete pavers are set within an oversized grid, a pattern that came from examining the knitting in Louis Vuitton’s canvas handbags, with their offset dark and light threads. Seen from eight floors up, the pattern achieves its intended effect, working, as Cormier puts it, on a “larger-thanhuman scale… a metropolitan scale.”

The white grid on the square spills out over the road to the south side of the KPMG tower, extending the public space into the street.

Rolled curbs reinforce this extension of the public realm, as does the precision of the pattern’s edges (never severed in the middle, same as that Louis Vuitton bag). Cormier’s office reworked Vaughan’s typical city details to make what they refer to as a “new language for the right-of-way design.” In another turn towards urbanism, passenger pick-up is accommodated in lay-bys on the new streets, rather than by creating dedicated parking. Cormier and associate Sophie Beaudoin were emphatic they would never have achieved this level of detailing in the City of Toronto, with that municipality’s rigid standards.

The commercial success of the SmartCentre development is virtually assured, due to its subway and transit cluster. And if the entire 400 acres is built as planned, it is likely that the area will have a mini-metropolitan vibe, at least in its density.

Tabula rasa-type projects, of which there are no shortage in the greater Toronto area (think East Harbour, the Portlands, Woodbine Districts, Port Credit West Village, Regent Park) are unique creatures.

Being so large, they are effectively devoid of a human-scale context, and must create their own character out of ideas alone.

For SmartVMC, strong ideas about building, landscape and urban design, both on paper and constructed, are abundant. But designing and constructing dozens of buildings over a hundred acres to a consistent level of quality also requires a great amount of stamina and vision.

Considering the precedent set by the initial crop of nine towers and the accompanying landscape, SmartCentres appears fully committed.

David Steiner is a freelance writer living in Toronto.

KPMG TOWER | ARCHITECT DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS | STRUCTURAL READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL SMITH + ANDERSEN | LANDSCAPE CLAUDE CORMIER + ASSOCIÉS

MIXED USE BUILDING & PWC | ARCHITECT DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS | STRUCTURAL READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL SMITH + ANDERSEN | LANDSCAPE CLAUDE CORMIER + ASSOCIÉS YRT BUS TERMINAL | ARCHITECT DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS | STRUCTURAL FAST + EPP |

MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL SMITH + ANDERSEN | LANDSCAPE CLAUDE CORMIER + ASSOCIÉS

TRANSIT CITY | ARCHITECT DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS | STRUCTURAL JABLONSKY, AST & PARTNERS | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL ABLE ENGINEERING | LANDSCAPE CLAUDE CORMIER + ASSOCIÉS

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HOME PRODUCTS TORONTO AND VANCOUVER START-UPS ARE USING HIGH-TECH PREFABRICATION TO PRODUCE INFILL HOUSING THAT’S BETTER DESIGNED, BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT—AND COSTS LESS THAN STANDARD DEVELOPMENT.

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Elsa Lam intelligent City, unless otherwise noted

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Construction is a field ripe for efficiency improvements: notwithstanding improvements in materials and in building science, a building takes roughly the same amount of time and labour to be built today as it did seventy years ago.

Prefabrication technologies, with their factory precision and production-line efficiency, have long promised to improve things. That promise was realized spectacularly this winter, when a 1,000-bed hospital in Wuhan were constructed in just 10 days on-site.

Canadian architects and designers have also been realizing the potential of prefab construction beyond the scale of modular homes. Potentially, some of the most impactful work is in mid-rise, infill housing—the “missing middle” that is considered crucial for densifying Canada’s cities. Bringing mass timber into the mix—a natural fit, in that mass timber products are fabricated to spec—has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the resulting buildings.

In Toronto, a company called R-Hauz is completing a pilot version of a six-storey mass timber townhouse, and will have a pilot version of a two-storey laneway suite under construction this summer. And in Vancouver, Intelligent City has four mass timber projects underway— the tallest two rising to 12 storeys each—which share a common, integrated platform and will be made through an automated, robotically assisted manufacturing process.

R-Hauz From the beginning, R-Hauz conceived of their townhouse and laneway suite as “repeatable products,” rather than one-offs, according to founding partner Leith Moore, a veteran of the development industry.

His team started by developing a site strategy adaptable to a wide number of locations, and designing a structural core that would allow for various unit configurations.

For the townhouse, it’s envisaged that the building would be divided into multiple units, to be either occupied by the owner or leased to commercial and residential tenants. The units use standard bathrooms, prefabricated as modular units. Plumbing and HVAC are also part of the core design, including a greywater recycling system. A green roof, permeable paving, and soaker and tree pits work together to manage storm water on-site.

The design is tailored to Toronto’s guidelines for the redevelopment of its many east-west avenues—a set encompassing some 10,000 properties that are well-serviced by transit. Currently, most of these are underdeveloped two- and three-storey buildings, with a storefront at street level and single residence above. R-Hauz’s design packs in more density, hitting the city’s target height of six storeys. The design pulls back on its rear laneway side to allow for soft landscaping and at-grade parking—a move that eliminates the need for a costly underground parking level. The team has also gained approval for a wood circulation core, as an alternative solution to the concrete core that is usually required.

As a result, the only poured concrete in the building is a slab on grade, making the building relatively quick and economical to construct.

The complex process of navigating the requirements for that circulation core—as well as a plethora of other details to make the units conform to the municipality’s site plan, zoning, water, and green building standards—is part of a long game, according to Moore. “At the end of the day, we have a package of repeatable solutions,” he says. Crucially, the city has agreed to streamline approvals of R-Hauz’s products, provided the core building and site plan remain the same (the buildings will have varying façades).

At the pilot stage, the construction process is being carefully monitored, in order to seek further efficiencies, which will ultimately help compress the construction timeline. The subconsultants on R-Hauz

R-HAUZ

OPPOSITE TOP R-Hauz’s six-storey mass timber townhouse is a replicable design. It can be divided into multiple units, to be either occupied by the owner, or leased to commercial and residential tenants. OPPOSITE BOTTOM The company worked with superkül on a design for its mass timber laneway home, which would also be prefabricated. The company says it can be erected in a month. BELOW A diagram shows the construction sequence for the prefabricated walls and floors of R-Hauz’s townhouse.

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have signed an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) contract—a model usually deployed only on larger buildings—that ties the delivery time and cost to financial rewards, incentivizing the team to work collaboratively in optimizing the build. “For me, IPD, pre-fabrication, and mass timber go hand-in-hand,” says Moore.

When the offerings are in full swing, the company anticipates a sixmonth timeline on the front end of design and municipal approvals, and six months of construction—from pouring the slab to delivering the front door key to the owner. The company’s net-zero-ready laneway houses are targeting a four-week on-site construction period.

Moore has been fielding inquiries from private property owners as well as affordable housing providers.

Intelligent City Can the efficiencies of designing housing as a replicable, pre-fabricated product—and the carbon-sequestering advantages of building with mass timber—be translated into taller buildings with greater variation? A Vancouver group called Intelligent City, led by architect Oliver Lang and designer Cindy Wilson, is doing just that.

Lang and Wilson—who also head a sister company, Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture (LWPAC)—founded Intelligent City in 2008, after building a Vancouver infill project that explored the typology of densified urban living. Completed in 2006, the 1,950-square-metre ROAR _one fills the maximum permissible building volume for its site, and then perforates that space with patios,

Intelligent City’s Platforms for LIfe system produces mixed-use infill buildings that are Passive House-standard and have zero embodied carbon. ABOVE The adaptable design includes courtyards to provide natural light, ventilation and views from multiple sides of each unit.

RIGHT Robotics is key to the company’s planned prefabrication facility.

OPPOSITE

slotted courtyards, and open-air sky gardens. Each of its ten residential units spans two levels and includes double-storey interior and exterior spaces; the strategic use of aluminum-grate sliding screens and bamboo plantings provides privacy and reduces heat gain.

ROAR _one netted the young designers a Governor General’s Medal in Architecture and became one of the City of Vancouver’s first Passive House reference projects. Says Lang, “it had the DNA for high quality urban housing that prioritized livability, but it was impossible to replicate a building like it and make it scalable.”

Lang and Wilson’s next foray was MONAD —a multi-unit building half the size, but with the ambition to be replicable. It drew on the duo’s longstanding research into parametric software, automation technologies, and advanced building materials.

Completed in 2012, MONAD houses a commercial ground floor with four residential units above, on a 10-metre-wide site—a standard single-family lot size in Vancouver. The main structure was prefabricated in a series of shipping-container-sized modules, which were lifted onto the site in a single weekend.

Today, Intelligent City’s and LWPAC ’s shared office is on the ground f loor of MONAD, and the couple lives with their two teenage children in a penthouse unit above. On a recent trip to Vancouver, I stayed in their guest room, which doubles as a family room. Despite the unit being just over 150 square metres in size, its careful planning, natural light, double-height spaces and expansive views made its rooms feel generous—more like a modernist single-detached home than a typical, shoebox-tight condo.

At the time, wrote architecture critic Adele Weder, MONAD’s idea of mass customization made it a “rarified design.” But it may simply have been ahead of its time. Fast-forward eight years, and Intelligent

City is realizing its original mission—of making high-quality urban housing replicable, scalable and adaptable.

“From the beginning, we asked, how could we bring the qualitative aspects of MONAD to far more people?” says Lang. Intelligent City’s answer is a prefabricated mass timber housing system called Platforms for Life that can be configured and customized in myriad ways, and that targets carbon neutrality.

Like R-Hauz, Platforms for Life sees housing as a product, rather than the result of one-off design. A common design and technology platform—a kind of DNA that can be repeated between buildings—includes a patent-pending mass timber structural floor panel system that integrates various building systems, and a fully integrated Passive House façade.

(According to Lang, this platform gives Intelligent City’s four active projects 80 percent of the same construction systems and building products).

An urban home—which enjoys the same kind of slot courtyards and multi-directional views developed for ROAR _one and MONAD —is made up of three to four f loor panels. These homes can be grouped and configured in many different ways. The platform-based approach means that the resulting buildings can be adapted over time, for instance, to suit shifting family configurations or changing societal needs. Structural systems have been engineered to support a building up to 18 storeys in height.

Lang and Wilson foresee that design-engineering, supply chain integration, and manufacturing efficiencies, along with the predictable costing of prefab, will make the units substantially more affordable than current housing in Vancouver. “Our industry is centred on the costing of projects, and today, that’s based on the exploitation of loopholes in contracts,” says Wilson. “The net result is that projects are more expensive than they should be, and not as good as they can be.”

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In Intelligent City’s model, the potential efficiencies extend from the beginnings of the design process through to construction. The practice’s team has developed generative design software that explores multiple scenarios for any given site, reduces the time needed for developing construction drawings, and communicates directly with CNC and robotic fabrication equipment. They’ve designed a highly automated manufacturing facility, which they modelled virtually to maximize spatial efficiencies. They’re currently writing the machine code for its robotic systems. The fully equipped factory is expected to open this summer.

The approach is already seeing significant success. Two projects based on the platform—the four-storey Monad_Rupert and 12-storey Corvette Landing—received a 2017 LafargeHolcim North America Award in their design phase. Both buildings start construction this summer. Corvette Landing was one of 11 projects selected in the CleanBC Better Buildings competition for net-zero energy-ready buildings.

Last October, Intelligent City was selected as a prioritized proponent for the CMHC ’s Affordable Housing Innovation Fund, which would provide a full financing package to see its four present projects through to

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completion. And in February, the platform was one of ten winners in the national Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada Initiative, a public-private effort to accelerate the development of scalable clean energy technologies. The win comes with $3 million in R&D funds, adding to some $3.1 million in private financing that Intelligent City secured last fall.

Traditionally, prefabrication is based on creating a uniform, standardized product. Lang says that their approach is fundamentally different. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the beginning, our platforms were designed to be as adaptable as possible,â&#x20AC;? he says. Even with MONAD, they considered how the design could scale up to a 17-storey-building and be brought to a higher level of environmental performance.

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OPPOSITE TOP Intelligent City’s software generates a detailed animation illustrating the construction process for each of the multi-unit buildings created through their system. OPPOSITE BOTTOM Standard flooring platforms make the system replicable, but also scalable and adaptable to different use scenarios. ABOVE Corvette Landing is a 12-storey mixed-use development in Esquimalt, BC, being constructed with the Platforms for Life system.

Being active in national and provincial committees to review and regulate the use of mass timber was part of the long timeframe of advancing the project. Now, with building codes permitting 12-storey mass timber unfolding throughout Western Canada and the northwestern States, the ground is ripe for rapid advancement. “There’s the possibility that we could start manufacturing from Alberta down to Oregon,” says Lang.

“That’s an incredible opportunity to build an industry.”

The future–of architecture?

The clean tech sector rarely talks about buildings. And yet, they’re responsible for 40 percent of global GHG emissions. These emissions must decrease rapidly to stabilize the climate.

For designers like Lang, Wilson, and Moore, new models for implementing change must take hold. “Most of the time, architects are still building custom homes like artisans,” says Wilson. “We can’t implement innovation since it’s impossible on the individual level of the

building.” She adds, “For us, the motivation is that we want to get to better buildings—not just for a few, but as an industry.”

At present, the pinnacle of an architect’s career is the prospect of creating a landmark building—a showcase museum, a concert hall.

But with the starchitect era on the wane, one can imagine this ideal shifting towards a goal of enacting systemic change. “What is the ability of the architect to make a deeper contribution? What if we could really use the power of industry and technology 3.0 to change buildings, so that they’re not like making one custom suit at a time, but so that they can have a larger impact on society?” asks Lang.

“Think 2050—can you imagine that we are still building cars with internal combustion engines?” says Lang. “Can we imagine that we still construct buildings as one-offs with manual labour? That we create buildings that are not based on renewable materials, that are not carbon neutral and resilient?” He adds: “30 years may seem like an eternity in other industries, but in construction, that is the day after tomorrow.”

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A DEEP ENERGY RETROFIT OF THE OAA’S TORONTO HEADQUARTERS AIMS TO MEET THE 2030 CHALLENGE GOALS—A DECADE EARLY.

Ontario Association of Architects Headquarters Retrofit, Toronto, Ontario ARCHITECT David Fujiwara Architect (retrofit), Ruth Cawker Architect (1991 original building) TEXT Kathleen Kurtin

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This May, the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) officially reopens its doors to the public and its members after completing the renovation of its headquarters in Toronto. The net-zero targeted project embodies a commitment to demonstrate first-hand how existing buildings can be adapted rather than replaced, as the profession strives towards climate stability.

The OAA has a history of proactive environmental responsibility.

When the headquarters was designed by Ruth Cawker, winner of the 1989 province-wide design competition, it was built to the R2000 standard—the environmental high bar of the day. The project anticipated the future, with its proposal for rooftop solar panels that would act as louvres. Thirty years later, that final piece has become a visible reality. As a whole, the building stands as an example of the profession’s environmental responsibility to members and guests as well as the neighbours and motorists passing by.

MICHAEL TENEGLIA

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THE ROAD TO RENEWAL

After serving the Association and its members well for more than 25 years, the OAA Headquarters required extensive maintenance.

Additionally, there was a space crunch, as staff had grown to support a steadily increasing membership.

In 2015, the OAA faced the decision of whether to renovate its headquarters or find a new home. The OAA Council ultimately decided that the financial impact of moving from a landmark building and the OAA’s largest economic asset—combined with the environmental impact of discarding the embedded carbon in the existing building—was not in the best interests of the membership or the public. Further, there was an opportunity to be realized by updating the current building: it could demonstrate how, through renovation and updating, architects could be leaders in reducing the environmental burden of unnecessary demolition and new construction.

Once cutting-edge, the building’s mechanical system was now outdated and approaching the end of its life cycle. This meant energy consumption was significantly higher than in new low-rise office buildings of the same type. After much research, the OAA found that net-zero carbon emissions could be achieved through a deep energy retrofit that reduced consumption, the installation of a geothermal system, and the addition of photovoltaic systems to offset remaining energy use.

Environmental concerns had escalated over the building’s life, and technologies had evolved. In 2009, the Association committed to the 2030 Challenge, which aims to take the building sector to zero carbon emissions by setting performance targets for all new buildings and major renovations. For this initiative, rather than meet the 70 percent rate projected for 2020, the OAA chose to take a leadership position and set a target of 100 percent. The plan was to meet the 2030 Challenge a decade early.

STEVEN EVANS

OPPOSITE The original headquarters were designed to high energy efficiency standards for their time. 30 years later, the building is being retrofitted to target netzero carbon emissions.

RIGHT The headquarters’ closed offices were replaced with open office areas and glasswalled meeting rooms, increasing daylight through the floor plate.

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As both the owner and the occupant, the OAA understood that investing in the building would reduce future operating costs and provide a simple payback (somewhere between seven and 20 years, depending on energy costs). The result would also serve as a strong case-study for architects to use in their own work and outreach to clients. The carbon neutral renovation would have educational value for members, the general public, and students.

THE NEW BUILDING SYSTEMS

The OAA Building Committee, led by architect Sheena Sharp, worked with multiple consultants for more than three years to research various options, looking for a “sweet spot” that would balance operating and embedded carbon ambitions.

The final result was coordinated by David Fujiwara Architect and focuses on three areas of intervention: • completely rethinking the mechanical systems; • intensifying and transforming the office and meeting room environment, prioritizing transparency and openness; and • reusing the existing carbon footprint of the building wherever possible.

Reaching the goal of net zero meant eliminating the use of fossil fuels and offsetting any electricity consumed. This was achieved through installing a geothermal system and three types of solar panels, as well as reducing energy consumption.

The geothermal heating and cooling uses a closed-loop groundsource exchange system, composed of a double circular field of 15 wells that are more than 180 metres deep. As Toronto’s climate requires more heating than cooling, the field is balanced using warm water from solar hot water panels on the roof.

STEVEN EVANS CANADIAN ARCHITECT 04/20

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OPPOSITE The OAA’s previously underused atrium has been transformed into a vibrant hub for the building. The double-height space serves as a lunch room and casual work area for staff and members, and can also be used to host receptions and networking events. An adjacent terrace is partially shaded by photovoltaic panels.

In addition to the solar hot water panels, two types of photovoltaic (PV ) solar panels were installed on the existing roof armature.

This includes more than 400 square metres of PV panels by Heliene, as well as about 200 square meters of an innovative system by Morgan Solar, combining translucent and PV panels. The Morgan Solar system forms a semi-transparent canopy over the outdoor terrace on the south façade, and includes an integrated LED array for special events and detail lighting.

Electrical production from the rooftop PV panels—100,000 kWh annually—is returned to the grid, offsetting the power used to operate the building. The goal is to be electrically power-balanced over the course of the year, thereby achieving net zero energy.

At the same time, the building’s base level energy consumption is reduced through enhanced installation, triple-glazed View electrochromic glazing, right-sized fans and pumps, and high-efficiency LED occupancy-activated lighting.

Daylight is the primary source of light throughout, working in conjunction with dynamic glass that automatically adjusts to sunlight, providing ideal levels with minimal glare. A 3M daylight-redirecting film added to the transom windows deflects exterior light towards the ceiling, so that it bounces deeper into the building.

Windows can be responsible for up to 40 percent of a building’s total heating and cooling energy consumption. Compared to traditional lowemissivity (low-e) glazing, the OAA Headquarters’ combination of View dynamic glass, triple-glazing, low-e film (double low-e at transom windows) and the daylight redirecting film is expected to reduce the building’s peak energy load by approximately 20 percent.

Thermal bridging has been reduced by adding insulation to soffits, solid exterior walls, and walls under windows that were opened during

the renovation. The R-values of the completed walls vary from the existing R-10 to a new R-30 level where possible.

Critical to the success of the project is maintaining the airtightness of the existing building. Unlike many other buildings constructed in the early 1990s, the OAA Headquarters was very airtight right from the beginning, as verified by a preconstruction blower door test. The renovation work required penetration of the existing envelope in some locations, and the contractor has been challenged in resealing the building to its previous levels. The team continues to make adjustments with the goal of meeting and exceeding the standard set by the original building.

This will need to be confirmed by a subsequent blower door test.

The transition from office to open-plan collaborative space allowed for greater use of natural light, and for the reduction of mechanical infrastructure—including fans, which are heavy consumers of electricity.

TRANSFORMING SPACES

With its new interior layout, the OAA Headquarters doubles its capacity without increasing its footprint.

Having steadily grown over the last 25 years, the OAA staff of 33 now supports more than 35 member committees, dedicated to improving practice, protecting the public, promoting design excellence, and increasing awareness. The Association also supports students and intern architects, as well as regulating complaints and discipline. The layout of the building was updated to optimize the use of space, including adding moveable walls that increase f lexibility in the meeting rooms.

A two-storey atrium and terrace were integral to the original design of the building. The previously underused atrium has been transformed into a café space for staff and members, and doubles as the building’s air displacement system.

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 04/20

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Three types of solar panel are used on the roof: solar hot water panels, a 400-square-metre array by Heliene, and 200 square metres of an array by Morgan Solar, with alternating photovoltaic and glazed panels, allowing light through to the terrace below. BOTTOM LEFT Reconfigured meeting rooms on the building’s main level provide for greater flexibility in use.

COURTESY MORGAN SOLAR

TOP LEFT

The top level surrounding the atrium is devoted to staff work and collaboration areas. Glass walls in atrium-facing collaborative spaces maintain the open, transparent qualities of the original design. The lower level of meeting and conference rooms has been enhanced to today’s standards.

As an employer, the OAA strives to provide an inclusive, safe and healthy workplace that is accessible to all. The staff area has been updated and includes personal workspaces with convertible sitting/standing desks.

A variety of open and enclosed collaborative workspaces—in the very high ratio of one collaborative space per four staff—allows for flexibility in types of work and levels of privacy. A robust wireless network and digital phone system allow staff to move freely throughout the building.

The intensification of use in the existing building was critical for controlling the embedded carbon footprint. Existing seating was reused and refurbished when necessary, while new furniture was produced locally by Toronto-based Global Furniture, helping to minimize its embedded carbon footprint.

All meeting rooms are outfitted with video conferencing capabilities, allowing members and volunteers from across Ontario to participate on Committees without having to travel, increasing accessibility for the membership and further reducing the organization’s environmental footprint.

NEXT STEPS

All systems in the OAA Headquarters are continuing to be adjusted during commissioning and with seasonal changes. The National Research Council (NRC) is monitoring the building, and Siemens will also be tracking the systems to help ensure the building meets its 2030 Challenge targets. This information will be shared with the profession, the wider building industry, and the general public as “lessons learned,” demonstrating some ways to address the retrofit of Ontario’s existing building stock.

The month of May will mark the kickoff of a public awareness program around the building, including participation in the 2020 Toronto Doors Open program and an official opening celebration during the OAA A nnual Conference. Elementary and secondary school students will be invited to tour the building.

The OAA Headquarters is more than offices and meetings spaces— it is also the public and physical embodiment of architects’ skills and aspirations for the community. The OAA continues to talk about the leadership role architects must play—but its Headquarters speaks even more powerfully, by demonstrating first-hand how existing buildings must be addressed to minimize environmental impacts, improve resiliency, and help ensure a sustainable future.

Kathleen Kurtin, OAA, FRAIC, is the president of the Ontario Association of Architects.

CLIENT ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS | ARCHITECT DAVID FUJIWARA ARCHITECT | CON-

TRACTOR MJ DIXON CONSTRUCTION | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL WSP CANADA | STRUCTURAL PETER

STEVEN EVANS

CANADIAN ARCHITECT 04/20

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SHEFFIELD & ASSOCIATES | LIGHTING GOTTESMAN AND ASSOCIATES | INTERIOR LAYOUT CONCEPT INTERIOR ARCHITECTS | QUANTITY SURVEYOR TURNER TOWNSEND | CFO MODELLING WSP CANADA, EH PRICE INDUSTRIES, PROF. BERNIER/ECOLE POLYTECHNIC, TRANSSOLAR KLIMAENGINEERING | CIVIL PLANMAC ENGINEERING | DESIGN CHALLENGE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL AND GREG ALLEN, P.ENG. | COMMISSIONING WSP CANADA | OAA BUILDING COMMITTEE KATHLEEN KURTIN, GORD ERSKINE, SHEENA SHARP, ANDY THOMSON | BUDGET $8.5 M | OCCUPANCY SUMMER 2019

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PETER VARLEY CANADIAN ARCHITECT 04/20

PETER VARLEY

INSITES 40

MARKSON’S MARK REVIEW PHOTOS

David Sisam Roger Jowett, unless otherwise noted

A NEW BOOK AND EXHIBITION CONSIDERS THE QUIET INFLUENCE OF ARCHITECT JEROME MARKSON ON MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY TORONTO. “I am not a stylist, not a functionalist nor any other sloganist… the question of whether a house is really a house is more important to me than the fact that it is made of steel, glass, putty or hot air.”

- Rudolf Schindler

ROGER JOWETT

“If not for people who will inhabit it, then who is architecture for?”

-Jerome Markson

The Smith Residence in Woodbridge, Ontario (1955) includes small openings with coloured glass that enliven the economical structure. Outside, the home creates an expanded sense of space by using the wall of the carport to frame one side of the exterior yard. ABOVE Built at a time when the philosophy of caring for the elderly was shifting, True Davidson Acres includes a street-like ground floor and resident rooms with multiple exterior views. The facility wraps around a large oak tree on the hilly, wooded site.

OPPOSITE, TOP AND BOTTOM

Toronto-based architect Jerome Markson’s career began in the 1950s, just as Austrian-born American architect Rudolf Schindler’s legacy was coming to a close.1 But both shared a profoundly humanistic sense. Markson was not interested in polemics, but rather in the users of his buildings.

As Laura Miller states in her comprehensive and very fine new book Toronto’s Inclusive Modernity: The Architecture of Jerome Markson, those users’ interests were “manifested in aspects of his architecture that transcend conventional notions of programmatic accommodation.” As a result, says Miller, there is “no identifiable signature style of his buildings… the idiosyncratic nature of Markson’s architecture was a deliberate choice.”

The first section of Miller’s book focuses on the human quality of Markson’s work, as evidenced by the way he captured human interactions and signs of occupancy in photographs chronicling his work.

These images contrasted with the prevailing standard of the time— abstracted, formal photographs with no people. The second section of the book focuses on Markson’s long relationship—he is 90 years old—to Toronto, the city in which he grew up and where he practiced.

The third section is a compendium of buildings and projects.

Indeed, the book is as much about Toronto as it is about Markson.

Context was always important in Markson’s work, and a series of commissioned panoramic images by Scott Norsworthy convey the thoughtful integration of the architect’s projects in present-day Toronto.

The images reaffirm Christopher Hume’s observation that Markson is “the rare architect who creates cities while designing buildings.”

There are a number of buildings that stand out. Markson’s health centres of the 1960s, especially the Group Health Centre in Sault Ste. Marie (1962), are notable for using atriums and skylights to introduce light and air to this building type—something very rare at the time. True Davidson Acres Metro Home for the Aged (1967) was also an exemplar (and an exception) for long-term care homes of this era, with its “downtown street,” thoughtful room layouts, daylit lounges and sensitive siting.

Markson and his wife Mayta moved to Don Mills for a period of time, and his work reflects this lived experience. His suburban houses, such as the Seneca Heights Model Homes (1955), were often sited to create garden courts—defined outdoor places that added an urbanizing influence in the suburban landscape. This preoccupation with courts is further explored in Markson’s Urban Courtyard Housing scheme for Stelco Trend (1965) and his Bayview/Post court houses (1968). Particularly notable among his custom houses is the Aalto-inspired J. Posluns Residence (1960), with its carefully calibrated series of brick walls and vertical redwood strips.

The greatest impact of Markson’s oeuvre, however, is his contribution to the many social and market urban housing projects that he undertook.

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ROGER JOWETT

FIONA SMITH

ROGER JOWETT

SCOTT NORSWORTHY

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INSITES

The David B. Archer Co-operative Housing complex is composed to address its different street frontages. OPPOSITE Market Square is bisected by a courtyard with storefronts. LEFT, ABOVE The J. Posluns Residence (1960) in North York uses well-crafted brick and redwood detailing on both the exterior and interior. LEFT, BELOW Markson’s Alexandra Park Public Housing includes exceptional nuance for its time, with a variety of unit types and landscape conditions, as well as portals framing pedestrian walkways under the apartment buildings.

ABOVE

Markson was part of a group of architects (and friends), including Jack Klein, Henry Sears and Irving Grossman, who made significant contributions to the city fabric of Toronto. One of their largest—and most fraught—legacies is Alexandra Park Public Housing (1965), designed

by Markson together with Klein and Sears Architects and Webb Zerafa Menkes. Its architecture is wonderfully animated and nuanced, with elements including triangular bay windows, and reflects an attitude, as Laura Miller puts it, of architects “more concerned with augmenting the city they had grown up within, rather than remaking it.” Alexandra Park’s Achilles heel, however was its planning—a pedestrian-only vision relegated cars to the perimeter, closing off the complex from the surrounding city.

A more universally appreciated building is Markson’s David B. Archer Co-operative (1976), which, unlike Alexandra Park, is fully streetrelated within the St. Lawrence neighbourhood, with retail and community program spaces facing The Esplanade. Its basket-like balconies, red brick, and white window trim bring to mind the quirky but enduring architecture and urbanism of Eigen Haard (1920, Michel de Klerk) and Amsterdam South (1922-27, Henrik Petrus Berlage and others).

Markson’s Market Square Condominiums (1980) is a mid-rise, highdensity, mixed-use perimeter block scheme—a typology present in many European cities, including Barcelona. This typology was espoused by the late British architect Leslie Martin and his Cambridge-based Centre for Land Use and Built Form, as a way of achieving high densities using mid-rise construction. Miller quite rightly states that the city is poorer for the lack of uptake on Markson’s explicit demonstration of a highly livable alternative to high-rise point towers. In his characteristically modest manner, Markson puts it this way: “There’s an inner space for the people that live there, and around the perimeter there’s shops. And upstairs people live. What’s new? And what’s not good about it? I’m not afraid of repeating things. That’s what’s strong about it. The city needs that.”

Markson’s wisdom extends to a larger view of life as an architect: “Certainly we have to take our work seriously, but not ourselves. Then we’ll do better work and have more fun.” My sense is that while making this serious and scholarly volume on the architecture of Jerome Markson, author Laura Miller also had fun. Her tribute to Markson at the end of the introduction is about as good as it gets: “Most especially, my conversations with Jerome have given me insight into the compassion, insight and humour of an architect whose buildings intrinsically reflect the same qualities.”

1 Markson’s

friend and fellow architect Irving Grossman once briefly worked for Schindler.

David Sisam is Principal Emeritus of Montgomery Sisam Architects.

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BOOKS

Vancouverism

By Larry Beasley (UBC Press, 2019) REVIEW

Sean Ruthen

It’s been about a decade since the term “Vancouverism” entered the popular lexicon. Also known as the “Vancouver Model,” we see it typified by glass towers with spectacular views of the sea and mountains, set amidst a rich and variegated public realm. In his new book, Larry Beasley, the city’s former co-director of planning, revisits Vancouverism’s origins, celebrates its successes, and suggests possible solutions for the affordable and social housing crisis the city currently faces.

For as Vancouverites know, much has happened in those ten years— including the sea change with our provincial government, made inevitable by the outgoing government’s denial of the emerging affordable housing crisis. By looking the other way while Metro Vancouver and other housing markets replaced aging low- and mid-market housing stock with luxury condominiums, all three levels of government have been responsible for the current mess.

In the first few pages, Beasley enumerates what the book is not: including that it is not a silver bullet for the city’s problems. And since he left the City in 2006, Beasley has been vocal in criticizing the development industry’s preference for building luxury housing (sold to speculative buyers and investors) over normal housing stock for locals. Several years ago, I heard Beasley speak to a room full of developers at a UDI luncheon. You can imagine their surprise when he outright scolded everyone in the room for not doing the right thing—building affordable housing.

Now back from consultations in Abu Dhabi and Rotterdam, along with a more recent stint in Brampton, Ontario, Beasley provides a much gentler rhetoric in this book than what I heard at that luncheon. The book is centred on an exposition on what has worked locally and abroad with the Vancouver Model. And while he doesn’t claim outright ownership for the brand in the same way that former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan sought title to Eco-Density, this 424-page tome definitely puts Beasley’s stamp on Vancouverism.

An introduction written by local journalist and urban advocate Frances Bula is a history lesson, enumerating the key components that were in play when Beasley and Anne McAfee became directors of the City’s planning department in 1994. Notable were the city’s proximity to nature, the cancellation of a downtown freeway in the 1970s, and the savvy of planning director Ray Spaxman, who put the planning department back together after the freeway scheme was overturned. Bula’s history sets the bar high for the narrative to follow.

Beasley then takes the stage, opting to tell his story in the first person, and in so doing makes the journey very much a personal one.

It’s an entertaining ride, rife with stories of the trials and tribulations of working with developers, architects and politicians during his fourteen years in Vancouver’s planning department.

The book is intended primarily for planners and citizens curious to hear his story. Those in the architectural community are more likely to be familiar with Trevor Boddy’s 2008 exhibition of the same name, which is curiously absent from Beasley’s story. And though he mentions many of the architects showcased in Boddy’s show, the emphasis of the book is primarily on planning policy, told in Beasley’s easy-does-it vernacular of planner-speak mixed with a dose of good old-fashioned anecdotes.

Indeed, it is not until page 282 that Beasley turns to the subject of Vancouverism’s architectural expression, recalling the story of Vancouver’s Wall Centre and the contention over its dark glass cladding.

Beasley points out that it is the peer-to-peer apparatus of the Urban Design Panel in Vancouver’s planning department that weighs in on the character of buildings, abdicating himself of responsibility for the homogeneity that has often been seen to result from Vancouverism.

The one moment when Beasley is unabashedly critical of his own legacy is in discussing the shocking living conditions in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. He calls the area a black eye on the city and the one true failure of Vancouverism, calling on the city to do much better.

These topics and others were discussed at a series of book launches this past summer. One of the events was held in a small plaza in downtown Vancouver on a sunny July day, during a mid-week lunch hour.

Amidst the tall towers that Beasley had helped to shape, McAfee presented alongside Beasley, with the proceedings moderated by urbanist Michael Alexander. The launch was completely sold out—a clear testament to Beasley’s legacy.

Overall, the book is well intentioned, ending with suggestions of how to address our present housing crisis debacle. Rather than rolling back present policies, says Beasley, we need to evolve them—and he posits three different versions: Vancouverism 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, all of which he expands upon in his friendly narrative. For both fans and critics, planning students and municipal planning departments, Vancouverism will be essential reading for years to come.

Sean Ruthen, FRAIC, is a Metro Vancouver-based architect and the current RAIC regional director for BC and Yukon.

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CASE STUDY

Hyatt Regency | Seattle, WA

BILCO Hatches Sit Atop Largest Hotel in Pacific Northwest

Photo: Courtesy of Hyatt Regency Seattle

The Hyatt Regency Seattle soars more than 500 feet into the skyline, and stands as the crown jewel in the city’s vast and growing hotel landscape. The hotel opened in December 2018 and with 1,269 rooms spread out on 45 stories, the hotel is the largest in the Pacific Northwest.

Hotels have become a high priority in Seattle, as seven hotels and a record 2,192 hotel rooms opened in Seattle in 2018. The city is home to six Fortune 500 companies – Amazon’s headquarters are located there and Google has 4,500 employees in the area – and a major expansion of the adjacent Washington State Convention Center is expected to be complete in 2022. Meeting space and hotel rooms are in high demand in the Emerald City.

The Hyatt Regency Seattle addresses the meeting space issue with 103,000 square feet. It also includes two restaurants, bars, and shops and two ballrooms with more than 19,000 square feet each. There is an executive boardroom with a private balcony and 46 meeting rooms that range between 600 and 1,900 square feet. There is a wide range of guest rooms, including the astonishing Presidential Suite, which has 1,700 square feet, living room, dining room, butler’s pantry and workspace. There is plenty of elbow room all around.

Four roof hatches manufactured by The BILCO Company provided an important component in the construction of the hotel. LMN Architects included two hatches that are 3-feet, 2-inches by 12 feet and two more that are 3-feet, 2-inches by 14 feet. They provide rooftop access to mechanical equipment. “BILCO’s reputation as an industry leader and company’s ability to accommodate the sizes needed in a timely matter were almost assuredly important factors for LMN,” said Lisa Stevens of GVA Northwest, which procured the hatches for RC Building Specialties.

The hatches were also equipped with motorized operation to facilitate opening and closing. They included modified curb liners and heating cables with snow sensors, which keep snow from accumulating on top of the hatch and automatically stop when the storm passes. The curb features the Bil-Clip® flashing system, an innovative method to quickly and easily secure single-ply roofing to the hatch. The hatches include compression spring operators for lift assistance and an automatic hold-open arm with grip handle release and are manufactured with corrosion-resistant materials.

Chris Chesire, Managing Partner for RC Building Specialties, said the roof hatches were integral to the design of the hotel by the architectural team. “That’s what they specified, and we were able to install them without any difficulty,” said Chesire, who worked on the project as a subcontractor for Sellen Construction.

Photo: Courtesy of The BILCO Company

The hotel opened 23 years after developer Richard Hedreen purchased the property, and closed the book on one of the region’s most highlyanticipated projects. “It has already become a natural home for many of the city’s most significant economic, cultural and culinary experiences,’’ said Stephen Van Dyck, Design Partner for LMN Architects. “It is also open, welcoming and accessible along the street edge, and has knit itself into the fabric of people’s everyday lives.”

Keep up with the latest news from The BILCO Company by following us on Facebook and LinkedIn. For over 90 years, The BILCO Company has been a building industry pioneer in the design and development of specialty access products. Over these years, the company has built a reputation among architects, and engineers for products that are unequaled in design and workmanship. BILCO – an ISO 9001 certified company – offers commercial and residential specialty access products.

BILCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of AmesburyTruth, a division of Tyman Plc. For more information, visit www.bilco.com.

Continuing Education A strong practice builds a strong profession The RAIC is your partner in practice. RAIC programs give you the skills and tools needed to run a successful architectural practice and build your career.

Continuing Education now offered online

Convenient and flexible Register today! raic.org/continuingeducation

ACROSS CANADA Vancouver 05/04-06

AIBC Conference This year marks the 100th anniversary of B.C. architecture’s regulatory body. The conference looks ahead to the challenges and solutions facing the profession in the coming century. www.aibc.ca

-11/15

Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia This exhibition includes over 300 works of ceramics, fashion, furniture, jewellery and textiles that defined West Coast modern living. www.vanartgallery.bc.ca

Banff

PHOTO BY TONI HAFKENSCHEID. COURTESY THE ARTIST, GALERIA ELBA BENITEZ (MADRID) AND ALEXANDER AND BONIN (NEW YORK).

EDITOR’S NOTE As of our press date, the events and exhibitions listed below are still proceeding as planned, although some of the exhibition venues have been temporarily closed or have restricted their hours. From our vantage point in Toronto—where all museums, schools, and community centres are shuttered until at least April— it seems likely that many of the listings below will be cancelled or postponed until things return to a more normal state of affairs.

Please check the listed websites for updates.

ABOVE Carlos Bunga’s installation Occupy invites visitors to step through a carpet of cardboard boxes that fill the second floor gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto.

Winnipeg 04/22-26

Architecture + Design Film Festival Now in its ninth year, this locally curated film festival presents screenings on design-oriented topics including architecture, urban design, graphics, and product design. This year’s films include Women of the Bauhaus,

Douglas Cardinal: Architect of the Future and City of Dreams. www.adff.ca

05/02

Hidden Winnipeg An all-ages architectural scavenger hunt sends teams across downtown to discover the stories behind Winnipeg’s buildings. www.winnipegarchitecture.ca

05/07-09

Banff Session The Alberta Association of Architects’ biannual conference gathers architects and speakers at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

A Sudden Beginning For its current exhibition, MOCA commissioned two siteresponsive installations by Barcelona-based artist Carlos Bunga.

The sculptures cover entire floors of the museum, and are engineered from cardboard, adhesive tape and household paint. www.moca.ca

Doors Open Toronto The 21st annual architectural festival provides an opportunity to visit more than 150 buildings across the city. As part of the weekend, several local studios open their doors, and the Toronto Society of Architects hosts a panel featuring local architects.

Edmonton 06/03-07

www.raic.org

-05/13

05/23-24

www.banffsession.ca

RAIC Conference on Architecture The RAIC’s annual signature event includes the International Indigenous Architecture Symposium, POP//CAN//CRIT, continuing education and tours.

Toronto

www.toronto.ca

Ottawa -09/07

ABOVE Featured in Winnipeg’s Architecture + Design Film Festival, Lotte am Bauhaus examines the struggle of women in the Bauhaus School.

Unceded: Voices of the Land This multimedia installation speaks to the contribution of Indigenous architects in shaping

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CALENDAR 47

CALENDAR

Turtle Island, particularly through their connection to the land and traditional ways of knowing.

POSTPONED Around the world, industry events have been postponed as a precau­ tionary measure to guard against the spread of COVID-19. Here are some of the affected events.

historymuseum.ca

-09/27

RhythmScape The North American debut of this international exhibition features contemporary artistic strategies to measure the pulse of life, society and work.

04/29-05/03

COURTESY BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE, DEPARTEMENT DES ESTAMPES ET DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE.

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www.oaggao.ca

Montreal -04/11

Concrete in All its Forms The UQAM’s Centre de Design presents an exhibition of artist and architect Mark West’s drawings and constructions, including prototypes of his cast concrete forms, made using f lexible fabric moulds. centrededesign.ca

05/06-10/4

The Things Around Us: 51N4E and Rural Urban Framework The CCA’s new exhibition examines the work of two architectural research labs, based respectively at ETH Zürich and the University of Hong Kong.

Both groups work at the seams of urbanization, with projects in Ulannbaatar’s transitional settlements, rural regions of China, and Albania’s shifting public spaces.

between the Sahara Desert and Atlantic Ocean.

Quebec

Miami

Wandering: A Rohingya Story This multidisciplinary exhibition explores the daily life of the Rohingya refugees through photos, film, and a hundred dioramas.

Forensic Architecture: True to Scale Miami’s Museum of Art and Design presents the first major survey of Forensic Architecture’s work, which uses spatial analysis to investigate human rights violations.

-08/14

New York

www.guggenheim.org

www.cca.qc.ca

-01/24/21

www.mnbaq.org

INTERNATIONAL San Francisco -04/20

Villages of West Africa The Center for Architecture + Design explores the remarkable landscapes and vernacular architecture of seven countries

Jean-Jacques Lequeu’s The Great Yawner is on display as part of the Morgan Library’s current exhibition on Lequeu’s oeuvre.

Society of Architectural Historians The SAH is replacing its planned international conference in Seattle, Washington with a vir­ tual conference. www.sah.org

06/16-21

Salone del Mobile Milan’s international furniture fair, along with the offsite events held under the Fuorisalone banner, are now scheduled for June rather than April.

www.salonemobile.it / www.fuorisalone.it

05/26-29

Design Shanghai Asia’s largest international contemporary design fair has been rescheduled from March to new dates in May. An accompanying lecture series, launched by architecture firm Neri & Hu, has been cancelled. www.salonemobile.it / www.fuorisalone.it

ABOVE

www.centersf.org

-09/27

www.mdcmoad.org

draftsman’s meticulous (and often humorous) pen and wash drawings, on loan from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. www.themorgan.org

Countryside, The Future Curated by Rem Koolhaas and think tank AMO, this Guggenheim exhibition uses the lens of architecture and urbanism to examine urgent environmental, political, and socioeconomic issues that are playing out outside of the world’s cities.

-05/10

Jean-Jacques Lequeu: Visionary Architect The Morgan Library presents sixty of the Enlightenment-era

For the latest events, visit www.canadianarchitect.com and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter at www.canadianarchitect.com/subscribe

08/29-11/29

Venice Biennale The opening of the Biennale Architettura, held in Venice’s historic Giardini and Arsenale, has been postponed by three months. The exhibition will end, as usual, at the end of November. The overall exhibition period will be shortened to three months as a result of the postponement. www.labiennale.org

AIA Conference on Architecture The AIA is working with its partners to determine a new dates—or alternative format—for the A’20 conference, originally scheduled to be held in mid-May in Los Angeles. conferenceonarchitecture.com

LED backlit stretch fabric display Interior Design by SSDG Interiors Inc. Photography by Ema Peter Photography

eurOptimum.com design / develop / deliver

BACKPAGE

HARRY CHOI

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NEW CIRCADIA TEXT

Richard M. Sommer

THE INAUGURAL EXHIBITION IN AN EXPERIMENTAL GALLERY INVITES VISITORS TO TAKE A NAP. When we first imagined remaking One Spadina Crescent into a new home for the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, the site was in a state of disuse. Our scheme, developed with NADAAA and a large team of talented consultants, was to reinstate the format of the old Knox Presbyterian Seminary, and integrate a bold new addition within the north court of the original cloister.

During construction, our contractors discovered a problem: the north-facing, basementlevel foundations of the old building needed shoring up with a concrete “shelf.” We already knew that a large, long-buried coal bin had to be removed from the old court, but then we found out that all of the contaminated soil surrounding it also needed to be removed. The expedient approach would have been to extract the coal bin and tainted soil, fix the foundation, and cap the whole area with clean fill.

I had something else in mind. After some difficult negotiations with the university and our project team, I managed to align everyone behind an alternative plan: rather than fill the void, we’d transform it into a 700-squaremetre concrete “shell” and plan for its future use as an experimental gallery space. After

the main phases of the One Spadina project were complete in 2017, we raised the funds to fit out this found space as a proper exhibition area. We opened the Architecture and Design Gallery this past fall.

The modern university evolved from the religious cloister. The new subterranean Architecture and Design Gallery had a brutal, uncanny beauty to it. For the gallery’s inaugural installation, I thought, what about staging a radical play on the cloister-as-cave?

The result is New Circadia (adventures in mental spelunking), an immersive installation that I designed and co-curated with Natalie Fizer and Emily Stevenson of Pillow Culture, NYC. The installation is modelled loosely on Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman’s 1938 Mammoth Cave experiment (the first scientific study of human circadian rhythm) and the Greek abaton (the sequestered ritual-sleeping temple at the origins of the modern hospital). New Circadia is a soft utopia created from CNCmilled plywood, mesh, and 1,850 square metres of grey felt, with integrated sound works, dim circadian lighting, and Oneiroi (a dream recording station)—all fabricated inhouse with colleagues at the Daniels Faculty.

ABOVE Felted forms, backlit mesh, and large pillows create an atmosphere designed to offer mental and physical respite.

On opening night, as I sprawled on the felted cave floor alongside hundreds of people who had shown up to experience New Circadia, I knew we had started something. We know architecture has been inextricably bound up in the urbanization of the planet and a concomitant technological mediation of human subjectivities. Electric lighting, climate-controlled environments, and, more recently, the timeshifting of labor across geographies accelerated by digital communication have changed our very biology, sometimes driving us to exhaustion. New Circadia is an experimental, countervailing space of mental and physical respite.

Architecture typically gives its full attention to the manipulation of space. New Circadia demonstrates that architecture can—and needs to—pay just as much attention to the marking and shaping of time.

The New Circadia installation continues at the Architecture and Design Gallery at One Spadina Crescent, Toronto through the spring.

Richard M. Sommer is dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto.

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