Canadian Architect February 2023

NEW Metal Wall System

ADAPTIVE REUSE AND RENOVATION

4 VIEWPOINT

Elsa Lam on the growing importance of working with existing buildings.

6 NEWS

Remembering Étienne Joseph Gaboury, 1930-2022.

11 RAIC JOURNAL Conference on Architecture preview; spaces for everyone; towards a climate action plan.

31 SHOW REPORT

Highlights from Feria Hábitat Valencia.

18

MONTAUK SOFA MONTREAL

Cohlmeyer Architecture creates a sanctuary of calm elegance on Montreal’s bustling St. Laurent Boulevard. TEXT Odile Hénault

22 THE ROYAL HOTEL

Giannone Petricone Associates reimagines a 140-year-old Prince Edward County landmark for today’s guests. TEXT Elsa Lam

27

MACKIMMIE BLOCK & TOWER REDEVELOPMENT

Double-skin façades are at the heart of two net-zero buildings at the University of Calgary. TEXT Graham Livesey

34 BACKPAGE

Tiffany Shaw on how Queen’s University is decolonizing its Agnes Etherington Arts Centre from its programming to its architecture.

COVER MacKimmie Block & Tower Redevelopment, University of Calgary, by DIALOG. Photo by Tom Arban.

TOM ARBAN

NANNE SPRINGER

JEFF MCNEILL

BUILDING WITH THE PAST

Existing buildings are, increasingly, a mainstay of the architecture profession. According to the AIA’s latest Firm Survey, 48 percent of architecture firm billings in the United States are linked to work on existing buildings, whether through renovations, adaptive reuse, additions, or historic preservation.

It’s a trend that seems here to stay: these rates have risen steadily from 15 years ago, when a third of revenue was tied to existing buildings. With a predicted moderation in population and economic growth in coming years, it’s expected that the levels of work on existing buildings will remain high.

This is good news on the sustainability front. When it comes to embodied carbon, the most sustainable buildings are, arguably, the ones that already exist. In the United States, some 40 percent of the national building stock is over 50 years old. Many of these facilities would benefit from upgrades to increase energy efficiency, improve accessibility, and address public health risks emerging from the pandemic.

In the current issue of Canadian Architect, we look at three projects that have taken different approaches to working with existing structures. For the University of Calgary’s MacKimmie Block, DIALOG upgraded a 1950s tower by adding a sculpted doubleskin façade. The result is a striking visual presence and a flagship for the university’s ambitious sustainability goals. Adding to this project’s interest as a technical case study, the retrofit was paired with an adja-

cent new-build that is similarly equipped with a double-skin façade system.

Cohlmeyer’s work on transforming a mercantile building in the Plateau neighbourhood of Montreal into a furniture showroom for Montauk Sofa embraces both sophistication and modesty. The designers stripped back the building to its steel-and-concrete structure and removed its front section to create a semipublic outdoor garden, leaving the historic façade in place to keep the street wall intact.

Giannone Petricone’s work on The Royal Hotel in Picton, Ontario, similarly made a strategic decision to reduce a historic building’s footprint; in this case, to improve light and views for guest rooms. Here, little remained of the original building, which had suffered from neglect and extensive water damage, but a conscientious owner and architect still aimed to preserve what they could, while also creating a new contemporary identity for the hotel.

In all work with existing buildings, from the modest to the grand, design works in the tension between the past and the present, asking: what do we value from the past? And how does that interact with our values today? By approaching each existing building with sensitivity, architects bring enormous benefit to creating new places that are grounded and enriched by their past.

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ABOVE Designed by Giannone Petricone, the Royal Hotel in Picton reimagines the historic institution for today’s guests.

JOHNNY LAM

DESIGN WHAT MATTERS

TOMORROW IS YOURS TO SHAPE

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PROJECTS

Diwan Pavilion opens in Edmonton

The University of Alberta has opened the Diwan Pavilion at the Aga Khan Garden, Alberta, part of the University’s Botanic Garden in Edmonton. The project was a collaboration between design architect AXIA Design Associates and architect-of-record Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning, with interiors by Arriz and Co.

The Aga Khan Garden was inaugurated in 2018 in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. It symbolizes the hope, peace and unity that come when people interact with each other amidst the beauty and inspiration of nature. The Diwan pavilion was part of the original vision for the garden to ensure it could be used year-round.

www.ualberta.ca

Espace Rivière winning design announced

La Ville de Montréal has announced Affleck de la Riva, Coarchitecture, LGT and François Courville as the winners of the Espace Rivière design competition. The building will house a library, cultural presentation spaces, community and recreational spaces, and an Accès Montréal office on the site of an existing library in the Rivière-desPrairies neighbourhood of East Montreal.

The competition jurors noted that the winning design makes its mark in its urban setting while addressing the human scale by way of a large, colourful and lively square.

www.designmontreal.com

St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts shortlist announced

CreateTO and TO Live have announced the shortlist for an international design competition to reimagine Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.

The landmark building in the heart of the St. Lawrence neighbourhood was constructed by the City of Toronto as a Centennial project in 1970, and has played an important role in the evolution of the City’s cultural fabric.

The five shortlisted design teams are: Brook McIlroy with Trahan Architects and Hood Design Studio; Diamond Schmitt Architects with Smoke Architecture and MVVA; Hariri Pontarini Architects with Tawaw Architecture Collective, Smoke Architecture, and SLA ; RDHA with Mecanoo, Two Row Architect and NAK Design Strategies; and Zeidler Architecture with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Two Row Architect and PLANT Architect.

The design component of the process will be juried in March 2023. www.createto.ca

AWARDS

New Brunswick Lieutenant-Governor’s Awards

The 2022 New Brunswick Lieutenant-Governor’s Award of Excellence in Architecture was presented to Nordais Architecture for their design of Maison du Bocage project in Caraquet, NB. Awards of Merit were also presented to Studio Shirshekar for the Petitcodiac Baptist Church Addition, ACRE Architects for Run Ragged, and R.V. Anderson Associates for the Elsipogtog First Nation Community School.  The awards ceremony was held at Government House in Fredericton, New Brunswick. www.aanb.org

Alain Fournier receives Ernest Cormier Prize

Alain Fournier, founding partner of EVOQ Architecture, is the recipient of the 2022 Ernest Cormier Prize. Awarded by the Government of Quebec, the prize recognizes an outstanding achievement in the field of architecture that goes beyond a built legacy.

Fournier’s work is distinguished by an exceptional commitment to Canada’s First Nations and Inuit. He has consistently endeavoured to shine light upon, and celebrate, the cultures, traditions, viewpoints, and aspirations of long-marginalized communities. Fournier has also been a frequent speaker, facilitator, and teacher, and has served as president of the Association des Architectes en pratique privée du Québec.

www.evoqarchitecture.com

ABOVE Designed by AXIA Design Associated, Kasian, and Arriz and Co, the Diwan pavilion is part of the Aga Khan Garden in Edmonton.

MICHAEL MANCHAKOWSKI

Étienne Joseph Gaboury, 1930-2022

Manitoba architect Étienne Joseph Gaboury passed away peacefully on October 14, 2022, at the age of 92.

Perhaps more than any other architect in the province, Gaboury has gained enormous attention as someone whose work consciously attempts to communicate the intricacies of regional character and who has shaped the way Manitobans view themselves.

Gaboury was born to a large family on a farm near Bruxelles, Manitoba. He completed his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Manitoba in 1958, and then attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris for one year of study.

During his stay in France, Gaboury made a pilgrimage to see the new Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, designed by Le Corbusier in an Expressionistic style. Facing this curving upswept form, provocative roofline and joyful, idiosyncratic interior, Gaboury was profoundly moved by what he found to be the spiritual impact of the design.

Upon returning to Canada, Gaboury designed the chapel of St. Louis le Roi for Libling Michener. The work won the firm a gold medal in the Massey Awards for Architecture and launched the young architect’s specialization in religious design.

In 1961, Gaboury registered with the Manitoba Association of Architects. His first solo commission was a new church for his home parish of St. Claude, Manitoba. Not long after setting out on his own, Gaboury purchased and renovated an old retreat house chapel on Rue Langevin in St. Boniface to become his office. This building gave the practice

a profile in the very centre of old St. Boniface and led directly to it being awarded the commission for the new St. Boniface Civic Centre and Health Unit. The influence of Gaboury’s visit to Ronchamp is evident from such details as the rich variety of window shapes, their scattered and imaginative placement throughout the masonry facades, and the creative and directed manipulation of light. Another acclaimed structure by Gaboury in this period was his 1963 Church of the Holy Martyrs in Windsor Park. There, sculptural forms enclose intimate sacred spaces lit by irregularly shaped stained-glass windows and masonry construction. All four of these buildings were nominated for Massey Awards in 1964, an auspicious launch to a new architectural practice and a presage of the future.

Gaboury followed this success with numerous commissions for churches, St. Norbert Collegiate, a school complex in Nelson House,

ARCHIVES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ HISTORIQUE DE SAINT-BONIFACE

and residential projects such as 2 Valley View Drive a home that won the architect the Canadian Home Journal’s Centennial Awards for Residential Design gold medal.

Another unique assignment came in 1969: the design of a plaza at the corner of Corydon Avenue and Osborne Street. Gaboury’s solution took advantage of the plasticity of concrete to create a sculptural, almost stage set-like space reminiscent of ancient masonry ruins. Metro Plaza would later be filled in by the River Osborne Community Centre, but its largest vertical element, two interlinked Brutalist panels, remain as a reminder of this larger scheme.

This same interest in the possibilities of concrete would appear in Gaboury’s 1966 design for Blessed Sacrament Church, where the combination of triangular roofline, respect for materials and inspired lighting prefigure what would become known as Gaboury’s most famous work: the 1967 Église du Précieux Sang (Precious Blood Church).

Précieux Sang presents a circular plan of curving brick walls topped by a tall spiralling, corkscrew, shingled roof. The interior dominated by warm tones, enormous interlocking wood beams and dramatic natural lighting has been often compared to a tipi. The building was described by architect Ron Thom as “an outstanding example of Canadian regionalism.”

When, in 1968, the St. Boniface Cathedral suffered extensive damage from a fire, it was Gaboury who decided to save the ruins and build within them. Nestled within the roofless stone walls, a smaller modern cathedral was inserted, with a forecourt that is lit up when the low winter sun beams through the former rose window of the old cathedral. The redevelopment of the cathedral won the Heritage Canada Award in 1985, and Gaboury received the Manitoba

Historical Society Centennial Medal of Honour for his contributions to the province in the field of church architecture.

The overlapping of art and architecture is evident in one of Gaboury’s most visible projects a monument celebrating Métis leader and Manitoba political pioneer Louis Riel. This work, unveiled in 1971, stood on the Manitoba Legislative grounds until protests forced its removal in 1994. Gaboury’s contribution to the scheme, which contained a sculpture by Marcien Lemay in which Riel was depicted seemingly nude and disfigured by torment, consisted of a broken, textured concrete cylinder (reminiscent of the concrete slab art of Metro Plaza) encapsulating the conflicted central form. The piece now stands at Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, not far from Riel’s tomb at St. Boniface Cathedral.

The sculpture would not be Gaboury’s last effort in creating a local landmark. In 1975, the architect was commissioned to design the new Winnipeg site of the Royal Canadian Mint. Throughout the design stage, the concept of this building would evolve from a relatively taciturn, inward-looking institution into a public place and a tourist attraction where people could see the manufacture of coins even as security was strictly maintained.

The later period of Gaboury’s career continued apace with significant projects including the Canadian Embassy in Mexico (1981), the Abijan Centre School in Ivory Coast, Gaboury’s Heritage Winnipeg awardwinning Le Chatelet Condominiums, the Interpretive Centre at Lower Fort Garry, the Health Sciences Centre’s PsycHealth Centre and the offices of Videon Cable.

Étienne is survived by his wife, his four children, twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

–Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, winnipegarchitecture.ca

Solutions for buildings. Designed for people.

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All of our architectural products serve a distinct, functional purpose–from louvers to wall coverings to every detail we perfect–like our entrance mats and grids in the JPMorgan Chase Tower lobby. At the same time, we never lose sight of the effect a building has on people. The inspiration it provides. The satisfaction it brings. For 70 years, we’ve based our success on the idea that putting people first is the foundation for building better buildings. And, for 70 years, our partners have depended on us for architectural product solutions. Are you ready to think beyond the building with us?

Visit c-sgroup.com.

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Pensacola State College

Hurricane Sally slammed the Florida Panhandle in September of 2020, causing an estimated $7.3 billion in property damage and bringing up to 36 inches of rain. Ashmore Auditorium at Pensacola State College was among the buildings impacted by the hurricane.

The hurricane damaged smoke vents at Ashmore Auditorium and needed replacement. The smoke vents, however, are no longer made in the size required for the project. After planning for two 16-feet by 8-feet vents, contractor WB Williamson Bros. requested three smaller vents – 4 feet, 8-inch x 8-feet – which were then spliced together where hinges meet between the three units. The unusual solution met code requirements for the auditorium, which hosts concerts, plays and other events throughout the year.

"Sometimes when we get a special order, as we did in this case, it’s very difficult to get something right. Just about anything can go wrong. We worked with a great distributor in Waldo Brothers, and we were pleased with their service. They delivered when they said they were going to deliver, and it worked out extremely well.”

– Chris Nicholas, WB Williamson Bros., Senior Project Manager

Project Snapshot

•The team from WB Williamson Bros. replaced smoke vents at the college’s Ashmore Auditorium, which were damaged by Hurricane Sally.

•The size of the smoke vents that needed replacement were no longer available. BILCO helped the contractor solve the dilemma by manufacturing three custom-sized smoke vents, which were then spliced together to provide the auditorium with the venting necessary to meet code requirements.

Smoke Vents

•Smoke vents play an important role in commercial projects as they protect property and support firefighters by allowing the escape of smoke, heat and gases from a burning building.

•The vents activate by the melting of a fusible link and are used in venues such as factories, warehouses, retail facilities and auditoriums.

Registration open: Conference on Architecture

With over 35 education sessions, as well as architectural tours and many special events, you don’t want to miss this annual flagship event. Make sure to register before March 19 for the best rates. www.raic.org/conference2023

Inscription à la Conférence sur l’architecture

Cet événement phare annuel à ne pas manquer offre plus de 35 séances de formation, ainsi que des visites architecturales et de nombreux événements spéciaux. Inscrivez-vous avant le 19 mars pour profiter des meilleurs tarifs. www.raic.org/fr/conference2023

Elevate your career: Renew your RAIC membership for 2023

Your RAIC membership helps you stay connected, informed, and up to date with the latest developments in the field. Let’s keep building a strong architectural community that is valued and empowered to create change—renew your RAIC membership today! www.raic.org/renewal

Propulsez votre carrière : Renouvelez votre adhésion à l’IRAC pour 2023

Votre adhésion à l’IRAC vous permet de maintenir des liens et de rester au courant des dernières nouvelles dans le domaine. Continuez de nous aider à bâtir une communauté architecturale forte, appréciée et en mesure de créer le changement – renouvelez votre adhésion à l’IRAC dès aujourd’hui! www.raic.org/fr/renouvellement

Transform your practice with Digital Contracts

Developed by architects for architects, the RAIC’s new Digital Contracts provide a powerful and easy-to-use tool that reduces the burden of administrative work associated with architectural practice, giving you more space to focus on the creative aspects of daily work.

www.raic.org/raic-digital-contracts

Transformez votre pratique avec les contrats numériques

Créés par des architectes, pour des architectes, les nouveaux contrats numériques de l’IRAC sont un outil puissant et facile à utiliser qui réduit la charge administrative associée à la pratique de l’architecture et permet de se concentrer davantage sur les aspects créatifs de la profession. www.raic.org/fr/irac-contrats-numeriques

RAIC Journal Journal de l’IRAC

Registration is open for the in-person 2023 Conference on Architecture, to be held in Calgary, Alberta

L’inscription est ouverte pour la Conférence sur l’architecture 2023 qui se tiendra en personne à Calgary (Alberta)

Meet us in Calgary Soyez des nôtres à Calgary

Mike Brennan Chief Executive Officer  Chef de la direction

The RAIC is excited to be headed to Calgary to host the 2023 Conference on Architecture, May 2 to 6, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency. For five days, architects, interns, students and associates will gather to network, discuss issues related to the practice of architecture, celebrate achievements and socialize.

As the RAIC’s main annual face-to-face event, this year’s conference will be drawing industry leaders from all realms of the design and architecture community. We anticipate a stronger than average turnout this year as our community is eager to engage, connect and collaborate. With our commitment to empower Canada’s architectural community, we have curated a program that feeds directly into our goal of providing the tools, educational opportunities and practice supports to advance our mission to create a better world for all.

L’IRAC est très enthousiaste à l’idée de tenir sa Conférence sur l’architecture à Calgary, du 2 au 6 mai 2023. Pendant cinq jours, des architectes, stagiaires, étudiants et membres associés se réuniront à l’hôtel Hyatt de Calgary pour échanger, discuter de questions reliées à la pratique de l’architecture, célébrer des réalisations et socialiser.

Principal événement en personne de l’IRAC, la conférence de cette année attirera des chefs de file de tous les domaines du design et de l’architecture. Nous nous attendons à une participation supérieure à la moyenne, car nos membres ont bien hâte de s’engager, de tisser des liens et de travailler ensemble. Dans le cadre de notre engagement à donner à la communauté architecturale du Canada les moyens d’agir, nous avons prévu un programme qui s’inscrit directement dans notre objectif de lui offrir les outils, les occasions de formation et les aides à la pratique nécessaires à la réalisation de notre mission de créer un monde meilleur pour tous.

The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built environment in Canada, demonstrating how design enhances the quality of life, while addressing important issues of society through responsible architecture. www.raic.org

L’IRAC est le principal porte-parole en faveur de l’excellence du cadre bâti au Canada. Il démontre comment la conception améliore la qualité de vie tout en tenant compte d’importants enjeux sociétaux par la voie d’une architecture responsable. www.raic.org/fr

Our 2023 program is tailored to promote professional and educational success and creates connections by offering high-quality learning opportunities. Aligned with the eight conference themes, conference sessions highlight key issues in architecture and provide examples from the forefront of the field. A few highlights:

Indigenous-Led Architecture

Indigenous architect Douglas Cardinal and

Notre programme 2023 est conçu pour favoriser la réussite et le développement professionnels et créer des liens en offrant des occasions de formation de grande qualité qui correspondent aux huit thèmes de la conférence et qui mettent en relief des questions clés en architecture en plus de présenter des exemples avant-gardistes dans le domaine. En voici quelques exemples :

Architecture dirigée par des Autochtones

L’architecte autochtone émérite Douglas Cardinal et Jean-François Gagnon de

Lemay’s Jean-François Gagnon will explore their dynamic and harmonious collaboration on Odea Montreal. This architectural design creates links with its urban environment, while its conceptual approach reflects Cree values, culture and symbolism.

Climate, Justice, & Resilience

Mohamed Imam and Cheney Chen from Perkins & Will present an innovative approach to using predictive models for sustainable building performance.

Health, Safety & Accessibility

Stephen Rotman and Maud Joubert from Figurr Architects Collective address the challenges of designing accessible washrooms, including a review of current policies and practices, and a look to the future of fully accessible public washroom design.

Equity and Justice

Darby Young and Kristen Westlake of Level

Playing Field challenge architects to reimagine a fully accessible built environment by fundamentally shifting the design process to a more human-centered approach.

Housing, Planning & Urbanism

Marc Boutin of MBAC and Mathew Parks of DIALOG explore the essential recalibration of existing urban infrastructures as cities evolve to become fully accessible, livable and inclusive.

History, Heritage & Culture

Robert Claiborne of DIALOG presents the reimagining of the iconic Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

Innovation in Materials, Technology & Construction

Glen Furtado from the Cement Association of Canada and Dan Hansen of Concrete Alberta will be presenting on the Cement Association’s partnership with the Government of Canada, with the goal of establishing Canada as a leader in low-carbon cement and net-zero carbon concrete.

The Practice & Business of Architecture

Jessica Shifman and Claudia Cozzitorto of Diamond Schmitt Architects delve into the topic of resource management, with a case study on their firm’s approach to strategic project staffing and skills training.

These are just a few of the speakers who will be sharing their extensive knowledge and experience with us at this year’s Conference. Stay tuned for more information about sessions and speakers, which we will be sharing in the coming months!

But we are not all work and no play. RAIC is also excited to announce a collaboration with local architectural firms MBAC, Spectacle and MODA for a fun-filled soirée at the MBAC studio on May 3. The event will offer a delicious selection of offerings from WadeMade, the best BBQ you’ll find north of Texas. Wade will be onsite with his custom-designed smoker/BBQ trailer. DJ Goodword will also be joining us with the promise to keep the music playing until the last person stops dancing. An event tent will be set up to screen architectural films under the stars.

We are also pleased to announce that Her Worship Jyoti Gondek, Mayor of Calgary, will be opening the 2023 Conference. Mayor

Gondek, who holds a Ph.D. in Urban Sociology, is recognized for her investment in Calgary’s urban challenges. We will also be joined on opening night by Kate Thompson, Vice President Development, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation.

Other staples of the conference include the Expo Showcase, awards celebration, Convocation of Fellows, networking receptions and architectural tours.

Last but certainly not least, the Conference will close with a fabulous event co-hosted with the University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at their City Building Design Lab in downtown Calgary.

We invite you to join us! For more information and to register, please visit www.raic.org/ conference2023

AWARD-WINNING ARCHITECTURE: RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Discover the stories behind Calgary’s award-winning architecture. The 2023 Conference on Architecture will offer a variety of a tours between May 3 to 6, 2023. Expert, local guides will walk small groups through some of Calgary’s most iconic buildings, neighbourhoods and infrastructure. Learn about, explore, and experience the Conference’s host city with inside views and behind-the-scenes access to beautiful spaces. Space is limited; register early to secure your spot.  www.raic.org/conference2023

Calgary’s Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge was designed by GEC Architecture

Centre de loisirs

YMCA de Shane Homes à Rocky Ridge, Calgary, conçu par GEC Architecture

Ahmed Zalabany / Unsplash

Lemay, traiteront de leur collaboration dynamique et harmonieuse dans le projet

Odea Montréal dont le concept architectural crée un maillage avec son environnement urbain tout en intégrant les valeurs, la culture et le symbolisme des Cris.

Climat, justice et résilience

Mohamed Imam et Cheney Chen de Perkins & Will présenteront une approche innovante de l’utilisation de modèles prédictifs pour déterminer la performance des bâtiments durables.

Santé, sécurité et accessibilité

Stephen Rotman et Maud Joubert de Figurr Architects Collective traiteront des défis de la conception de toilettes accessibles. Ils examineront notamment les politiques et les pratiques en cours et porteront un regard sur l’avenir de la conception de toilettes publiques entièrement accessibles.

Équité et justice

Darby Young et Kristen Westlake de Level

Playing Field mettront les architectes au défi de repenser un environnement bâti entièrement accessible en modifiant fondamentalement le processus de conception pour adopter une approche davantage centrée sur les personnes.

Logement, planification et urbanisme

Marc Boutin de MBAC et Mathew Parks de DIALOG examineront le recalibrage essentiel des infrastructures urbaines existantes alors que les villes évoluent pour devenir

pleinement accessibles, agréables à vivre et inclusives.

Histoire, patrimoine et culture

Robert Claiborne de DIALOG présentera le projet de revitalisation du Musée Glenbow, un bâtiment emblématique de Calgary.

Innovation dans les matériaux, la technologie et la construction

Glen Furtado de l’Association canadienne du ciment et Dan Hansen de Concrete Alberta présenteront le partenariat entre l’association canadienne du ciment et le gouvernement du Canada visant à faire du Canada un chef de file en matière de ciment sobre en carbone et de béton carboneutre.

La pratique et les affaires de l’architecture

Jessica Shifman et Claudia Cozzitorto de Schmitt Architects approfondiront la question de la gestion des ressources et présenteront l’approche de leur firme envers la dotation en personnel et le renforcement des compétences.

Ce n’est là qu’un aperçu des conférenciers qui partageront avec nous leurs vastes connaissances et leur expérience lors de la Conférence de cette année. Restez à l’affût pour un supplément d’information dans les prochains mois!

La Conférence n’est pas qu’une occasion d’apprendre et de travailler. C’est également une occasion de se divertir. L’IRAC est ravi d’annoncer une collaboration avec les firm-

Jaume Plensa’s Wonderland (2012) adorns the plaza of The Bow, by Foster + Partners with Zeidler Partnership Architects

La sculpture Wonderland (2012) de Jaume Plensa orne la place The Bow réalisée par Foster + Partners avec Zeidler Partnership Architects

es d’architecture locales MBAC, Spectacle et MODA pour une soirée des plus amusantes au studio de MBAC, le 3 mai. Les délégués dégusteront des grillades variées de Wade Made, le meilleur BBQ au nord du Texas. Wade sera sur place avec sa remorque et son fumoir conçus sur mesure. Le DJ Goodword se joindra également à nous pour faire jouer de la musique tant qu’il y aura des danseurs sur la piste. Une tente sera installée pour projeter des films d’architecture sous les étoiles.

D’autre part, nous avons également le plaisir d’annoncer que son honneur, la mairesse Jyoti Gondek de Calgary prononcera l’allocution d’ouverture de la Conférence. Titulaire d’un doctorat en sociologie urbaine, la mairesse Gondek est reconnue pour son investissement dans les défis urbains de Calgary. Mme Kate Thompson, vice-présidente au développement de la Calgary Municipal Land Corporation sera également présente lors de la soirée d’ouverture.

Signalons enfin parmi les autres volets importants de la conférence, la vitrine des exposants, la cérémonie de remise des prix, l’intronisation des fellows, les réceptions de réseautage et les visites architecturales guidées.

Enfin, la conférence se terminera par un fabuleux événement organisé conjointement avec l’École d’architecture, d’urbanisme et d’architecture du paysage de l’Université de Calgary et tenu dans son laboratoire City Building Design au centre-ville de Calgary.

Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous! Pour en savoir plus et vous inscrire : www.raic.org/fr/conference2023

ARCHITECTURE PRIMÉE : RÉSERVEZ VOTRE PLACE

Découvrez les histoires derrière l’architecture primée de Calgary. La Conférence sur l’architecture 2023 offrira diverses visites guidées entre le 3 et le 6 mai. Des experts locaux guideront de petits groupes à travers certains des bâtiments, quartiers et infrastructures les plus emblématiques de la ville. Découvrez, explorez et expérimentez la ville hôte de la Conférence en profitant d’un accès à l’intérieur et dans les coulisses de magnifiques espaces. Le nombre de places étant limité, inscrivez-vous rapidement pour garantir la vôtre.

www.raic.org/fr/conference2023

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Spaces for Everyone: An Architect’s Responsibility Des espaces pour tous : une responsabilité des architectes

Lisa Jibson Advocacy and Engagement Specialist spécialiste de la défense des intérêts et de l’engagement

Giovanna Boniface Chief Implementation Officer  cheffe de la mise en œuvre

The RAIC’s purpose includes a commitment to promoting equity and justice by creating an architectural community that is valued and empowered to create social change. From its inception in mid-2021, the Promoting Equity and Justice Advisory Committee (PEJ-AC) has had a goal to create a just culture within the organization that strives for social and spatial equity, embraces and respects inclusivity, fosters diversity and is accessible to all.

With these lofty goals and an inclusive mindset, the seven architectural community members of PEJ-AC have been working hard to integrate equity and justice into our organization’s infrastructure, programs and services.

A key building block to promoting equity and inclusion is the creation of a common

vocabulary to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunication. With that objective in mind, the PEJ-AC has created a Glossary of Terms to enable a common language. This glossary is not meant to be exhaustive, because language is continuously evolving. The main goal is to provide a basic framework to support conversations about equity and justice. The resource will be a living document that can be amended as needed.

In addition to the Glossary of Terms, the PEJAC has started a Resource Guide that the architectural community can access in order to help educate themselves and others.

Both new resources will be open-access and available on the RAIC website.

“One of the committee’s most important priorities is taking meaningful and tangible actions. The committee believes both the Glossary of Terms and Resource Guide are concrete steps to start a dialogue on equity, inclusivity and diversity with our community. With the help of feedback from our members, these could develop into excellent

resources for everyone,” says Kourosh Mahvash, Co-Chair of PEJ-AC.

The PEJ-AC’s work has also included initiating an environmental scan of architectural firms that are engaged in social issues and have implemented actions into their practice, advising on the accessibility of content on the RAIC website, promoting gender neutral language use across all programs and services, and sharing key awareness days with the community.

The RAIC wants to set a high standard and create an inclusive environment that welcomes everyone, especially those from historically under-represented communities. Through dialogue, engagement and education, we can start to address the barriers that limit access and design spaces that are diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

To learn more about the work of the PEJ-AC and the resources they have created, visit raic.org/raic/promoting-equity-and-justiceadvisory-committee. If you would like to get involved or share feedback, contact us at www.pej@raic.org

EQUALITY: Everyone gets the same—regardless if it’s needed or right for them.

ÉGALITÉ: Toutes les personnes sont traitées de la même façon—peu importe si elles en ont besoin ou si ça leur convient.

EQUITY: Everyone gets what they need—understanding the barriers, circumstances, and conditions.

ÉQUITÉ: Toutes les personnes obtiennent ce dont elles ont besoin—en tenant compte des obstacles, des circonstances et des conditions.

Courtesy Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

L’IRAC s’est engagé à promouvoir l’équité et la justice en créant une communauté architecturale appréciée et en mesure de créer le changement social. Depuis sa création au milieu de 2021, le Comité consultatif sur la promotion de l’équité et de la justice (le Comité) a pour objectif de créer une culture de justice au sein de l’organisation, une culture qui vise l’équité sociale et spatiale, qui adopte et respecte l’inclusivité, qui favorise la diversité et qui est accessible à tous.

Animés par ces objectifs élevés et une volonté d’inclusion, les sept membres du Comité n’ont ménagé aucun effort pour intégrer l’équité et la justice au sein de l’infrastructure, des programmes et des services de notre organisation.

La création d’un vocabulaire commun pour éviter les malentendus et les mauvaises communications a été un élément clé pour promouvoir l’équité et l’inclusion. C’est pourquoi le Comité a créé un glossaire des termes du domaine. Ce glossaire ne prétend pas être exhaustif, car la terminologie évolue sans cesse. Il vise toutefois à offrir un cadre de base pour favoriser les conversations sur l’équité et la justice. Il sera un document vivant pouvant être modifié au besoin.

En plus du glossaire, le Comité a commencé l’élaboration d’un guide de ressources aux-

quelles les membres de la communauté architecturale peuvent accéder pour s’informer eux-mêmes et sensibiliser d’autres personnes.

Ces deux nouvelles ressources seront en accès libre et disponibles sur le site Web de l’IRAC.

« Le comité s’est fixé comme principale priorité de prendre des mesures significatives et tangibles. Il considère que le glossaire et le guide de ressources sont des premières étapes concrètes pour entamer un dialogue sur l’équité, l’inclusivité et la diversité avec notre communauté. Les commentaires de nos membres nous aideront à les faire évoluer pour en faire d’excellentes ressources pour tous », souligne Kourosh Mahvash, coprésident du Comité.

Par ailleurs, le Comité a également entrepris une analyse environnementale des firmes d’architecture qui s’intéressent aux questions sociales et qui ont mis des mesures en œuvre dans leur entreprise; il a donné des conseils sur l’accessibilité du contenu du site Web de l’IRAC; il a encouragé l’utilisation d’un langage non sexiste dans tous les programmes et services; et il a informé la communauté des principales journées annuelles dédiées à la sensibilisation.

L’IRAC désire établir des normes élevées et créer un environnement inclusif qui accueille tout le monde, en particulier les personnes issues de communautés historiquement sous-représentées. Par le dialogue, l’engagement et la sensibilisation, nous pouvons commencer à éliminer les obstacles qui limitent l’accès et concevoir des espaces diversifiés, équitables et inclusifs.

Pour en savoir davantage sur le Comité  consultatif sur la promotion de l’équité et de la justice et les ressources qu’il a créées, consultez le site https://raic.org/fr/ raic/comite-sur-la-promotion-de-lequiteet-de-la-justice. Pour vous impliquer ou transmettre des commentaires, contacteznous à www.pej@raic.org.

EQUALITY: Everyone gets the same—regardless if it’s needed or right for them.

ÉGALITÉ: Toutes les personnes sont traitées de la même façon—peu importe si elles en ont besoin ou si ça leur convient.

EQUITY: Everyone gets what they need—understanding the barriers, circumstances, and conditions.

ÉQUITÉ: Toutes les personnes obtiennent ce dont elles ont besoin—en tenant compte des obstacles, des circonstances et des conditions.

Courtesy Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

A National Dialogue on Accelerating Design and Construction for Human, Climate and Ecological Health

Un dialogue national sur l’accélération de la conception et de la construction favorables à la santé humaine, climatique et écologique

At its core, the climate crisis is a human problem. The need for climate action has long been identified and the necessary technology to make changes is available. What, then, is needed to accelerate the scale and pace of progress?

Following the release of the RAIC 2022-2024 Strategic Plan in January 2022, the RAIC established a Climate Action Plan Steering Committee to lead the planning, development, and implementation of the RAIC Climate Action Plan. Just over a year into its work, the committee has many important activities under its belt.

Drawing on climate change communications and engagement research literature, the RAIC framed its climate action planning as a suite of communications and convening activities, rather than a set of technologycentric approaches. With feedback in hand from a series of World Café discussions held from late 2021 into early 2022, the committee planned and implemented three engagement events to further inform plan development.

The first was the opening keynote event at the 2022 Conference on Architecture, titled Inspiring Commitment and Engagement to Climate Action. The discussion featured Dr. Jeannette Armstrong, Canada Research Chair in Okanagan Indigenous Knowledge and Philosophy, based at the University of British Columbia, and Keil Moe, practicing architect and Associate Professor of Architecture & Energy in the Department of Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Both challenged the architectural community to think in different ways to promote and inspire discovery, ideas and real change. Both spoke of the importance of relationships and considering architecture as a principled approach to relationships with people, nature, materials, land and how we need to live together.

Next up was the closing event at the Conference, Towards a Climate Action Plan. This multi-panel event focused on inter-

Ember Navarro / Unsplash

professional practice, governmental advocacy and the future of architectural education. The event featured 14 panellists from a variety of organizations, including AEC professional organizations, schools of architecture, and provincial and federal government representatives. It showcased built environment climate leadership across diverse sectors, demonstrated positive momentum and current best practices, and identified potential collaboration opportunities.

Finally, working collaboratively with members of the RAIC Committee on Regenerative Environments and Pilot Projects, we hosted a two-day symposium on Thriving Forests last September. It featured 24 experts from a variety of backgrounds and organizations, with a focus on the future of forests in Canada and the role of design, climate science and cultural leadership in supporting them.

We have listened and learned from each of these events, as well as from other engagement opportunities. Another key milestone was the refinement in focus from a Climate Action Plan to a Climate Action Engagement + Enablement Plan, to make explicit the need for dialogue to inspire transformational change.

The Climate Action Engagement + Enablement Plan Steering Committee continues to meet monthly, alongside 40 RAIC member volunteers and three working groups, to advance the development of the plan.

We are looking forward to releasing the plan in late 2023, and to unveiling a series of engagement opportunities in Spring/ Summer 2023. We invite the broader community share feedback and contributions along the way.

La crise climatique est fondamentalement un problème humain. Nous savons depuis longtemps qu’il faut agir sur le climat et nous possédons les technologies permettant d’apporter les changements nécessaires. Alors comment pouvons-nous accélérer l’ampleur et le rythme des progrès?

Après la publication de son Plan stratégique 2022-2024, en janvier 2022, l’IRAC a créé un Comité directeur du Plan d’action climatique (le Comité). Un peu plus d’un an après le début de ses travaux, le Comité compte déjà plusieurs activités importantes à son actif.

L’IRAC s’est inspiré d’études spécialisées sur les communications et l’engagement en matière de changement climatique pour concevoir son plan d’action climatique. Il l’a orienté sur un ensemble d’activités de communication et de rassemblement, plutôt que sur une série d’approches axées sur la technologie. Fort de la rétroaction obtenue à la suite d’une série de discussions World Café tenues de la fin de 2021 au début de 2022, le Comité a organisé trois événements mobilisateurs dans le but d’optimiser l’élaboration du plan.

Le premier de ces événements a été le discours d’ouverture de la Conférence sur l’architecture 2022, intitulé Inspiring Commitment and Engagement to Climate Action. Jeannette Armstrong, Ph. D., titulaire de la chaire de recherche du Canada sur les connaissances et la philosophie des peuples autochtones de l’Okanagan à l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique, et Keil Moe, architecte et professeur agrégé d’architecture et d’énergie au département d’architecture de la Graduate School of Design de l’Université Harvard, ont participé à la discussion. Ils ont tous deux mis la communauté architecturale au défi de penser différemment afin de favoriser et d’inspirer la découverte, les idées et le changement réel. Ils ont parlé de

l’importance des relations et de la nécessité de considérer l’architecture comme une approche fondée sur des principes dans les relations avec les personnes, la nature, les matériaux, la terre et la manière dont nous devons vivre ensemble.

Le deuxième événement s’est tenu en clôture de la Conférence, Towards a Climate Action Plan, alors que plusieurs groupes de discussion ont traité de pratique interprofessionnelle, de défense des intérêts auprès des gouvernements et de l’avenir de la formation en architecture. Quatorze panélistes y ont participé, provenant de diverses organisations, y compris des organisations professionnelles de l’architecture, de l’ingénierie et de la construction, des écoles d’architecture et des gouvernements fédéral et provinciaux. L’événement a mis en évidence le leadership climatique de l’environnement bâti dans divers secteurs, ainsi que l’élan positif et les meilleures pratiques actuelles, et il a permis de cerner des possibilités de collaboration.

Finalement, de concert avec les membres du Comité sur les environnements régénératifs et les projets pilotes de l’IRAC, nous avons organisé un symposium de deux jours sur les forêts florissantes, en septembre dernier. Vingt-quatre spécialistes provenant de divers milieux et organismes se sont penchés sur l’avenir des forêts au Canada et sur le rôle de la conception, de la science du climat et du leadership culturel pour les soutenir.

Nous avons écouté attentivement tous ces intervenants et nous avons beaucoup appris de ces événements et d’autres occasions d’engagement. Une autre étape déterminante a été d’affiner le Plan d’action climatique pour le qualifier plutôt de Plan d’engagement et d’habilitation en matière d’action climatique. Ainsi, la nécessité d’un dialogue pour inspirer le changement transformationnel devient plus explicite.

Le Comité directeur sur l’engagement et l’habilitation en matière d’action climatique continue de se rencontrer une fois par mois, avec 40 membres bénévoles de l’IRAC et trois groupes de travail, pour faire avancer l’élaboration du plan.

Nous prévoyons de publier le plan à la fin de 2023 et d’annoncer une série d’occasions d’engagement au printemps ou à l’été 2023. Nous invitons l’ensemble de la communauté à nous faire part de ses commentaires et de ses contributions en cours de route.

TIMELESS PRESENCE

A TRANSFORMED INFILL BUILDING ON MONTREAL’S ST. LAURENT BOULEVARD STANDS OUT FOR ITS QUIET ELEGANCE.

ARCHITECT Cohlmeyer Architecture

TEXT Odile Hénault

PHOTOS Nanne Springer

In the summer of 2021, Montauk Sofa discreetly inaugurated its new flagship showroom on Montreal’s well-known St. Laurent Boulevard. The three-storey structure is barely noticeable among the heterogenous mix of buildings, which line what was once The Main for successive waves of European immigrants. Today, amid grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and businesses of all kinds, Montauk Sofa’s disconcertingly quiet presence conveys a timeless message, refreshingly at odds with its surroundings.

Five years in the making, the 1,200-square-metre showroom is the result of an intense collaborative effort between Montauk Sofa co-founders Tim Zyto and Danny Chartier, Cohlmeyer Architecture, and HETA land-

OPPOSITE The retained façade of a former commercial building on The Main maintains the continuity of the street wall. ABOVE Behind the façade, a new courtyard garden is an oasis of green in downtown Montreal.

scape architect Myke Hodgins. The flagship replaces the company’s first store, opened in 1995 further up St. Laurent Boulevard. Like Montauk’s later showrooms in New York, Chicago, Vancouver and Calgary, several of which were designed with Cohlmeyer Architecture, the present commission involved the transformation of an aging structure, with the architects taking the lead in carefully uncovering an industrial backdrop and accenting it with understated contemporary interventions.

The Montreal showroom is in the heart of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, known for its narrow streets, lined with century-old, low-scale buildings. The charm of this lively, pedestrian-oriented neighbourhood, which has become one of the most popular areas in the city, comes at a high price for architects and designers called in to upgrade existing properties. The procedure to obtain a building permit even for as basic a request as replacing a window can last for months. Needless to say, it was a real challenge to get permission to tear down part of a building, insert a garden between the retained façade and the building’s remaining portion the latter reclad with a minimalist glass wall and to lower the basement, including consolidating the foundations on poor quality clay subsoils.

Complying with fire code requirements was another major issue for Cohlmeyer Architecture and their engineers. The solution found concealing fire curtains in the ceilings was key to the whole project. The result is four gallery-like areas, open to natural light from front

PROJECT Montauk Sofa Montreal, Montreal, Quebec

STACKED AXONOMETRIC PLANS

to back, displaying comfortable sofas placed among plants and beautiful objects. As architect Daniel Cohlmeyer notes, “It would have been atrocious to put an enclosed exit stairwell in this space and ruin the showroom’s effect of total openness.” Adds owner Tim Zyto, “In this particular building, we have a lot of space. We like to use it, not to cram a lot of furniture in, but rather to let it breathe.”

Architecturally speaking, there is no grand gesture here, but something perhaps more rare: an amazing ability to see a building’s hidden potential and to come up with inventive ways of revealing it. This vision was not about adding, but about subtracting, removing, stripping. The interiors, still showing traces of the past, were left bare. Mechanical, structural, and electrical components were concealed in sculptural, sawtooth-like ceilings designed by Daniel’s father, firm founder Stephen Cohlmeyer, before his untimely passing in 2021.

Special attention was given to the basement, a low, dingy space that required extensive work before it could be turned into a fourth showroom floor. Once it was excavated and less spectacular technical problems, such as redirecting and properly insulating water and sewage lines, were solved natural light was brought in using a 10-foot-wide exterior lightwell running along the front façade. In the centre of the composition, a storey-tall waterfall cascades from the ground-floor garden to the lower courtyard. Creating a magical effect was paramount for Zyto,

OPPOSITE TOP A lower level showroom is capped by the view of an outdoor waterfall feature. OPPOSITE BOTTOM Architectural elements and landscape design were coordinated to create a spacious and lush urban garden. ABOVE A sawtooth ceiling adds a sculptural quality to the minimalist space, while helping to conceal mechanical equipment.

who recalls initially wanting the waterfall to be the width of the entire façade. “For our client, vision is more important than budget,” says Daniel Cohlmeyer. “It is very rare.”

While trendy, of-the-moment architecture is frequently celebrated, anonymous, non-descript buildings often reflect the soul of our cities and neighbourhoods. Montauk Sofa’s revamped new home embraces a sense of quietness, retaining the spirit of the original place. The various landscape, architecture and design awards lavished on this project are a reminder that sometimes, simplicity is the best answer. And at a time when biodiversity is becoming ever more important, small, improbable gardens may point the way to the future.

Montauk Sofa may be heralding a new era for St. Laurent Boulevard. Slated to be built a few doors south of the showroom, the new Montreal Holocaust Museum, as designed by KPMB and Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, also takes a sober, yet entirely contemporary, approach. Hopefully, Montauk Sofa and the future museum, each in its own way, will set new standards for St. Laurent Boulevard as well as for other Montreal locations that have much to learn from these two exemplary projects.

Odile Hénault is a contributing editor to Canadian Architect.

CLIENT MONTAUK SOFA ARCHITECT TEAM DANIEL COHLMEYER (RAIC), MATTHEW VANDERBERG, EMMANUELLE GUÉRIN, CZESIA BULOWSKA, STEPHANIE SHAW, STEPHEN COHLMEYER (FRAIC)

THE ROYAL TREATMENT

PROJECT The Royal Hotel, Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario

ARCHITECT Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. Architects

TEXT Elsa Lam

PHOTOS doublespace photography, unless otherwise noted

In 1881, the newly opened Royal Hotel was a striking presence in Picton, the centre of Loyalist-settled Prince Edward County near Kingston, Ontario. It included a grand staircase leading to spacious upper-level suites, a handsome dining room, and a popular tavern. The whole was topped by an elaborate octagonal cupola.

Over the next century, the hotel went through ups and downs— becoming the hot spot for balls and birthdays among the area’s gentry when an air training facility was built in 1939, then declining when the county’s canning industry faltered in the 1950s and the military base closed in the mid-1960s. By the turn of the 21st century, it had become a boarding house with an unsavoury bar. In 2008, the building was shuttered, its arched windows boarded up.

Former Ontario finance minister Greg Sorbara, whose family runs a real estate development firm, had moved to a farm in Prince Edward County four years earlier. In 2013, after a nearby church was demolished, he decided to purchase The Royal to save it from a similar fate. The restoration process began in 2016, and took off in earnest when architects Giannone Petricone were brought on board and Greg Sorbara’s son-in-law, Sol Korngold, took charge of the project.

The building was in terrible condition. “It was crumbling in on itself,” says Korngold, recalling holes in the roof, mold growing up the walls, soggy carpets, and a swamped basement. The eastern brick wall collapsed during the construction process. The process of rebuilding it as a hotel, says Korngold, was like “making your way through the darkest jungle with a machete.” But Korngold and the architects were determined to save what they could—the handsome upper storeys of the façade, the western brick wall—and moreover, to restore the spirit of the place as a hotel and community hub.

The new Royal Hotel follows a similar formula to its predecessor (luxurious rooms for hotel guests, a restaurant at the back) but with modern updates. Instead of a doughnut-shaped plan with a central lightwell, it’s shaped as an L that occupies only a portion of its previous footprint, allowing all of the 28 rooms to enjoy natural light and views to the surrounding town. The front-of-house tavern has become an all-day counter bar; the open-plan ground floor includes a boutique with artisanal

OPPOSITE TOP Throughout the main floor, corduroy wood walls are a nod to Victorian-era plaster-and-lathe construction. OPPOSITE BOTTOM Guests are welcomed at an upholstered reception desk, with adjacent shelves displaying local artisanal goods for sale. ABOVE The upper storeys of the historic hotel’s façade were maintained and restored.

PICTON’S HISTORIC ROYAL HOTEL IS RESTORED AS THE CENTREPIECE OF ITS COMMUNITY.

JEFF MCNEILL

goods, a fireplace-warmed lounge, and a cozy games room. The basement has been underpinned to accommodate a Finnish spa for hotel guests and conference room for corporate retreats.

“For us, it’s not enough to have an approach of respect, integrity, and commitment to the original structure,” says architect Pina Petricone of Giannone Petricone, who collaborated with heritage specialists ERA on the project. “How do we enhance that structure? How do we not only restore and resuscitate these historic buildings, but take them to their next life?

Early in the design process, Petricone recalls, they brought the client photos of a crisp, folded tuxedo shirt, and a rumpled tweed button-up. The power of the place, they argued, would be analogous to creating a wardrobe that could accommodate both garments. It would need to respond to the building’s past history of formality and grandness, as well as the more laid-back identity of Prince Edward County today. They also wanted to add a touch of humour through details that referenced the hotel’s restoration from a derelict state.

The Royal’s Victorian origins are alluded to in embroidered motifs on upholstered walls, and tartans that adorn carpets and mosaic-tiled washrooms. Ceiling rosettes are reinterpreted as rippled features, nodding to the earlier waterlogged state of the building; Bocci lights with darkened patches hint at the appearance of plastic burned by hot bulbs. In the lobby, a rippling plaster wall surrounding the fireplace suggests a finish damaged by water, unfurling to reveal a strip of seersucker wall-

OPPOSITE TOP The lounge includes an unfurling plaster wall and ripple-like ceiling dimples that reference the hotel’s waterlogged state after its closure. OPPOSITE BOTTOM In the dining room, an oversized ceiling rosette is shaped like the underside of a mushroom. ABOVE LEFT The stone surround of a guest suite fireplace is marked by chiselled channels. ABOVE RIGHT The hotel’s tartan is reproduced in bespoke washroom mosaics.

paper, and a corduroy wall suggestive of an underlying wooden lathe. The elevator is surrounded by construction grade metal grating, a reference to the accordion-like gates of antique elevator cages.

Activity-wise, the twin hearts of the building are its counter bar— a buzzy spot open from morning to evening—and its restaurant. Both spaces evidence Giannone Petricone’s expertise with hospitality spaces, built up steadily over the decades since their renovation of Toronto’s Bar Italia in 1995. The counter bar has a vintage-Italian-meets-farmhouse feel, with chrome-tube bench seats, leather-wrapped columns shaped to suggest fine gloves, and white oak fins that transform from a valence to a display for jams and honey from local producers, including the Sorbara family farm.

Farm produce is also on the menu in the restaurant, which takes on the drama of a theatre: the brightly lit kitchen is framed by an opening that resembles a proscenium arch, with plated food materializing under spotlight-like pendants in the front pass. Heavy drapery to the sides appears like stage curtains, and allows the kitchen to be closed from view. In the centre of the room, a supersized rosette has the presence of a grand chandelier—a dramatic presence, created in part to mitigate the relatively modest floor-to-floor heights of the existing building. (“The way to deal with a low ceiling is to make some areas that are even lower, so that the main ceiling feels higher,” says Petricone.) The designers liken the dining room rosette to the underside of a mushroom, with dew drop-like Bocci 21 lamps floating underneath it.

A more-is-more approach risks becoming a cacophony of competing curiosities. But here, all is part of a coherent vision, built through many details and repeated motifs. The leather-wrapped columns from the main floor, for instance, are echoed in the shape of clay baseboard tiles, turned on end and used to clad basement walls; the same terracotta tone appears in the grout between off-white tiles in the circulation core. The basement

GRAYDON HERRIOTT

includes tapered columns that suggest stems for the mushroom-like rosette above. In premier guest suites, fireplaces are framed by a finely veined marble with rough-cut channels that hint at the quarrying process; the same detail is used on the edge of the stone-top dining tables in the restaurant, where it suggests an imprint left by long-gone starched tablecloths.

Happily, Giannone Petricone not only had its own considerable experience to draw from, but also a passionate client with compatible tastes. While the architects were sourcing washbasins with duck-feet supports for the main floor washrooms (one of the hotel’s most Instagammed spaces), Korngold was ordering a leather punching bag to give the hotel’s gym an old-school feel. He amassed a stock of antique silver trays, purposefully left semi-tarnished, so that guests are greeted with a tea service in their room; common areas are accented with giant vintage clay vases filled with ceilingheight dried bouquets grown locally. “It was five and a half years of waking up at 3 am, and thinking: we need small towels for the spa! We need books for the games room!” recalls Korngold. (The latter resulted in a large, latenight order from Taschen; the games room also includes Korngold’s own guitar, which a guest was thoughtfully strumming during my tour.)

Unlike a Victorian parlour’s fragile cabinet of curiosities, the Royal “wants to feel relaxed—and the more you stay there, the more you discover,” says Petricone. “We’re operating in a place that has a lot of looseness, with many missing teeth in the street wall,” she continues. “This layering [of elements] is essential because it creates much-needed texture: now, new interventions can afford to be more minimal.”

Some of that contrast is created in the Royal Annex, a new-build also completed by Giannone Petricone on the site of the former stables. The barn-shaped building is clad in dark kebony; a zinc roof extends down the north façade to meet fire code regulations for building to the lot line. The geometric shape and dark materials create a backdrop to the hotel itself; the views from the terrace and pool between the two buildings are further screened by espaliered plane trees, part of a landscape design by Janet Rosenberg.

The project is still expanding in breadth and depth. The Sorbara family has acquired two nearby historic mansions for use as staff housing; Korngold jokingly refers to the creation of a “Royal Precinct.” And a planned art program will further the hotel’s connections with its locality. In the summer, the proprietors will display the intricately embroidered jacket of a local who used to room in the hotel when it was a boarding house, and has since passed away. It’s one of many initiatives planned to help make the hotel of its site, and a place that honours its past while looking towards the future. Says Petricone: “The project was to give back to Picton, and to ignite something in this town.”

CLIENT 247 MAIN STREET PICTON LP | ARCHITECT TEAM PINA PETRICONE (FRAIC), RALPH GIANNONE (FRAIC), PARTNERS; ANDRIA VACCA (MRAIC), SENIOR ASSOCIATE; JOSEPH VILLAHERMOSA, AVINASH DAVIDSON, VICTORIA CHIN, CASSANDRA HRYNIW, TRACY HO, KEVIN MARTIN, CAROLYN FEARMAN, MICHAEL RIETTA, ULYSSES VALIENTE, HELENA SKONIECZNA | STRUCTURAL/MECHANICAL/ELEC

ABOVE At the corner of the property, a former horse stable was rebuilt as a barn-like annex, with an art gallery on the ground floor and guest suites for extended stays above.

CRYSTAL BOXES

DOUBLE-SKIN FACADES ARE USED TO ACHIEVE DEEP ENERGY SAVINGS IN TWO BUILDINGS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY—ONE RETROFIT, AND ONE NEW.

PROJECT MacKimmie Block & Tower Redevelopment, University of Calgary, Alberta

ARCHITECT DIALOG

TEXT Graham Livesey

PHOTOS Tom Arban, unless otherwise noted

Glass has fascinated medieval cathedral builders, German Expressionists, and modernists such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. As German art critic Adolf Behne wrote, commenting on Bruno Taut’s Glass Pavilion for the 2014 Cologne Werkbund exhibition: “The longing for purity and clarity the glowing lightness, crystalline exactness for immaterial lightness, and for infinite liveliness found in glass a means of its fulfillment in this most bodiless, most elementary, most flexible material, richest in meaning and inspiration, which like no other fuses with the world.”

And yet the extensive use of glass cladding has been often challenging or plain irresponsible in terms of environmental sustainability in the Canadian context. More recent technologies, however, including the use of double-skin façades, allow for designs that are both fully glazed and well-insulated. While double-skin systems are intricate, expensive, and time-consuming to install, this technology has been deployed with impressive results in the recently completed deep-energy retrofit of the MacKimmie Tower and newly built adjoining Hunter Student Commons at the University of Calgary. The project supports the university’s aggressive sustainability policy: by 2023, the institution will have 16 LEED -certified buildings on its main and peripheral campuses; the university is striving to be net-zero by 2050.

Achieving a highly performative deep-energy retrofit and accompanying new-build was a learning experience for the client, the design

team led by DIALOG, and the construction companies involved. Early in the process, the MacKimmie Complex was selected as one of sixteen projects to participate in the Canada Green Building Council (C a GBC) ’s Zero Carbon Building pilot program, allowing access to additional technical expertise and to the sharing of experiences with other teams in the pilot program. Boris Dragicevic, Associate Vice-President of Facilities Development at the University of Calgary, speaks highly of the process, as do Rob Claiborne and John Souleles, the DIALOG partners-in-charge of the project.

The retrofit involved the reimagining of one of the campus’s earliest structures. The 1972 MacKimmie Tower had its cladding removed,

PREVIOUS PAGE The double-skin façade of the MacKimmie Tower takes on a sculptural form with rounded corners that taper towards the top, while the Hunter Student Commons is articulated with building-integrated photovoltaic panels. ABOVE The paired buildings are a landmark at the centre of the low-slung University of Calgary campus. OPPOSITE, TOP LEFT A multi-storey atrium connects the retrofit MacKimmie Tower and the new-build Hunter Student Commons. OPPOSITE, TOP RIGHT The existing out-boarded perimeter columns of the MacKimmie Tower made it well-suited for the addition of a double-skin façade.

interiors gutted, and two floors added atop it. The concrete structure’s out-boarded perimeter columns made it well-suited for the application of a double-skin glass façade as part of the retrofit. This approach was also supported by expertise from Munich’s Transsolar Klimaengineering. The detailed design of the glass cladding was carefully studied by the DIALOG team, using both physical and parametric models. The final design features a system of diagonal mullions that turn the corners with a faceted geometry. Due in part to its relatively compact floor plate, the Tower is not used for lecture rooms, but rather houses various administrative units, meeting rooms, and the Faculty of Social Work.

Adjoining the MacKimmie Tower, the Hunter Student Commons is a case-study in how a similar double-skin system can be deployed in a new-build. Replacing an older steel-framed building that was structurally inadequate, the Student Commons contains a variety of classrooms, study spaces, the Registrar’s office, and the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking. The centre of the building is occupied by three sculptural shafts that provide solar-assisted stack effect. (In the MacKimmie Tower, a former elevator shaft performs a similar function.) Interiors are minimalist, with exposed concrete structure and simple detailing. What is also noticeable is the lack of exposed HVAC equipment and the generally quiet

MACKIMMIE TOWER SECTION

TUAN PHAM

environment features enabled by the under-floor displacement ventilation system that harnesses supplementary ventilation from the double-skin façade and works with the stack effect (the same approach used in the tower).

A variety of devices effectively transform the pair of buildings into smart machines to achieve net-zero. The active ventilated façades, manufactured in Germany by Hueck Aluminum Systems and assembled and installed in Calgary by Ferguson Glass, are compartmentalized into one-storey zones on the tower, and a multi-storey zone on the Hunter Student Commons. Within these zones, operable windows are controlled by highly reliable motors, which respond to sensors that track the sun, wind, and temperature. Automated blinds between the two façade layers are used for sun-shading. Users can override the automated controls, by means including opening or closing the blinds according to personal preference for up to two hours at a time. Heating for the buildings is provided by the university’s central heating plant, a carbon-efficient co-generation facility. The MacKimmie Complex’s electricity is in part generated by PV arrays on the roof of the tower and embedded in the Hunter Student Commons facade. (Arrays will eventually be added as well to the Student Commons’ roof.)

There is a premium to using double-skin systems. However, as Boris Dragicevic of the University of Calgary points out, this was offset by retaining the existing concrete structure of the tower, as well as by a reduction in the cost of mechanical systems. The per-square-metre construction costs for the project was not extraordinary, and Dragicevic claims

ABOVE Seen at left, three rounded shafts in the centre of the Hunter Student Commons provide solar-assisted stack effect that works in concert with the double-skin façade to encourage natural ventilation as well as passive heating and cooling.

the additional costs of achieving LEED Platinum and net-zero will be recouped in just over twenty years. The maintenance of the façade will involve cleaning twice a year, something the University has accepted. The scheme has received several awards and certifications already, including a 2020 CaGBC Excellence in Green Building: Zero CarbonNational Award and 2020 CaGBC Zero Carbon Design Certification. All of this effort was put towards an impressive result. The properties of glass reflectivity, transparency, and durability allowed the designers to achieve an overall crystalline effect, enhanced by the overall shaping of the scheme. The two new buildings at the University of Calgary are highly precise, but also transform according to the time of day, the weather, and the angle from which they are viewed. The result is a compelling piece of design that has dramatically enhanced the intensity of activity on the campus.

BRECHT, JOEL PENNER, RYAN VAN MARLE, STEPHANIE FARGAS STRUCTURAL ENTUITIVE MECHANICAL DIALOG—TIM MCGINN, MIKE BAUER, AMISHA POPE , MIKE TORJAN, MICHAEL MOCHULSKI, ALEX TANSOWNY | ELECTRICAL SMP ENGINEERING CIVIL | LANDSCAPE DIALOG—DOUG CARLYLE, NATHAN GRIMSON, STACIE HARKER | INTERIORS DIALOG—LOUISE AROCHE, MARIA ZHANG, CARA OAKLEY, LARISSA MOORE | CONTRACTOR STUART OLSON | CLIMATE ENGINEERING TRANSSOLAR KLIMAENGINEERING ENERGY MODELLING, COMPLIANCE AND TECHNICAL MODELLING DIALOG CIVIL URBAN SYSTEMS  | COMMISSIONING WSP | CODE JENSEN HUGHES ACOUSTICS PATCHING AND ASSOCIATES ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL PLAYING FIELD  WIND GRADIENT WIND  | ELEVATOR VINSPEC AREA 35,300 M2 | BUDGET $257 M | COMPLETION TOWER—NOV 2019; BLOCK AND LINK—SEPT 2022

ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 75 KWH/M2/YEAR WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 0.31

M 3/M2/YEAR

Graham Livesey is a professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Calgary.

CLIENT UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY | ARCHITECT TEAM DOUGLAS CINNAMON (RAIC), ROBERT CLAIBORNE (RAIC), JOHN SOULELES (RAIC), STEVE VERES, TRACY LIU, MATT PARKS, JODI JAMES, MATTHEW PARKER, NEAL PHILIPSEN, MATT STEWART, LEANNE JUNNILLA, CALEB HILDENBRANDT, KRISTEN FORWARD, HAYDEN PATTULLO, MICHELLE

REFLECTIONS FROM THE WORLD DESIGN

CAPITAL: FERIA HÁBITAT VALENCIA

2022

Located on the Mediterranean coast, the vibrant port city of Valencia seamlessly integrates its historic heart, El Carmen, with surrounding neighbourhoods. It’s also the hometown of international architect Santiago Calatrava, whose futuristic City of Arts and Sciences sits at the edge of the old town. This dichotomy made it the perfect setting for Feria Hébitat Valencia, a trade show that showcases innovative products inspired by Mediterranean traditions.

Together with sister shows for kitchen design and home textiles, Feria Hábitat Valencia filled 90,000 square metres with 971 exhibiting brands in furniture, lighting, and interior design. Phillipe Starck, Monica Armani and Jaime Hayon were a few of the international design leaders celebrated on the main stage. Patricia Urquiola, one of the most influential contemporary Spanish furniture designers, capped the festivities with a launch of her latest designs for Andreu World, a Spanish furniture company with showrooms in Valencia, Toronto and around the world. Excitement was further heightened as Valencia celebrated its status as World Design Capital 2022, a designation given by the World Design Organization that led to design events and exhibitions throughout the city.

Feria Hábitat Valencia cancelled its 2020 edition at the height of the global pandemic, and a common theme in its displays stemmed from the question: How are people living now? Designers from both North America and Europe share a sense that we are currently focused on how to live better, how to live in closer quarters with our families, how to integrate with the environment and with the Earth. As a society, we are spending more time at home, and have brought the workplace home. The Spanish furniture industry has reacted to this by creating furniture pieces that can be easily used for both commercial and home settings. Furniture that is specific to either work or home such as desks or beds is being cleverly designed to co-exist with a switch in room use, or be put away.

In Spain, living outside has always been part of the culture. People spend time on balconies, enjoy family meals in gardens, sip coffee on sunny terraces. The importance of this style of living was reflected in the sophistication of the outdoor furniture collections on show. Wood from sustainably managed forests, metals with high levels of recycled content, and traditional Spanish rope have been incorporated into enduring products, making them ideal for both domestic and export markets.

Here’s our round-up of standouts from the show.

GLOBAL INSPIRATION

The Centro del Carmen de Cultura Contemporanea featured the exhibition Jaime Hayon: InfinitaMente, a collection of installations, art pieces and company products designed over the course of Hayon’s career to date. Known for spanning fluidly between fine art and design, the Spanish-born Hayon is a global design influencer with a creative base in Valencia and offices in Barcelona and Treviso, Italy.

TOP Combining function with fun, Hayon’s designs introduce humour and liveliness into the home. Exhibited pieces included the Green Chicken, a rocking chair that takes inspiration not from the horse but from the unexplored form of the chicken.

ABOVE Mesamachine was Hayon’s response to AHEC ’s CONNECTED project, which challenged nine international designers to each create a table and seating suited to their lives in the wake of the pandemic. Translated to “table machine”, Mesmachine is a complex piece of cherry furniture that unites the different parts of the designer’s life within a singular space to work, play, and eat. The table’s stools, extending shelves, smiley-faced seats, and bench are symbolic of the variety of functions that the home performed during Covid-19. The project also responds to another key design objective of the post-pandemic world: sustainability. The carbon footprint of the table machine is -102 kg CO2 equivalent, implying a design that is better than carbon neutral.

Valerie Gow is the co-founder of Toronto-based Gow Hastings Architects.

TEXT Valerie Gow

VISUAL COMFORT

Designers Jordi Iranzo and Àngela Montagud of Clap Studio have created a playfully oversized seat for .annud that evokes the sensation of comfort before you even sit on it. The design aligns with their body of work, which focuses on shaping experiences through interiors, products and installations. The soft lounge chair is conceived as an air-filled balloon, trapped by metal legs that compress the rounded cushion like a child’s gripping fingers. A separate ottoman can be placed behind the back of Balloon to double its seating.

MEDITERRANEAN LIVING

Described by designer Christophe Pillet as a contemporary take on the art of Mediterranean living, the City armchair for POINT is fashioned from a powder-painted aluminum structure, nautical teak arms, and waterresistant upholstered cushions. Its four-millimetre rope backing is reminiscent of a strongly roped hammock, traditional Andalusian bulrush weaving, or tightly stretched sailboat rigging—facets of a seaside lifestyle redefined in City’s elegantly modern finish.

MATCH MAKING

French designer Patrick Norguet’s elegant Match chair, created for Spanish furniture company Capdell, has a comfortable upholstered seat and ergonomic backrest. The chair pairs solid oak veneer and metal—a perfect match between nature and industry. This unexpected marriage of materials makes the chair a good fit for both warm residential and sleek commercial settings.

FLUID USE

A collaboration between designers Marco Pocci and Claudio Dondoli of Archirivolto Design, the Fluit chair is made of 80% recycled fibreglass and 20% polypropylene plastic from fruit and vegetable crates sourced from Andalusia, Spain—an arid agricultural region that feeds Europe, but is flooded with plastic waste. The strong, stable, and stackable chair is produced through a double gas injection process that reinforces resistance while providing a soft finish. Bolstered by UVI protection, the fluid design easily flows between indoor and outdoor settings, making Fluit an easy fit for a corporate office or a covered terrace.

SOCIAL CONNECTION

A collaboration between Netherlandish design studio Raw Color (Christoph Brach and Daniera ter Haar) and Spanish manufacturer Sancal, the Link & Loop project emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic as an artistic vision for reviving social gathering. Based on the sinuous volumes of a chain, Link seats form a series of connections that can be steadily increased. The playful Loop pouf features a similar cylindrical form. The Designer’s Edition is finished in two-tone patchwork fabric by Danish textile company Kvadrat that visually disrupts the loop. Together, Link and Loop break down the social boundaries established during the pandemic by encouraging a sense of fun and connection among sitters.

AGNES REIMAGINED

TEXT

QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY’S ART GALLERY EMBARKS ON AN EXPANSION THAT CENTRES ON THE SOCIAL ROLE OF ART.

For over 50 years, Queen’s University’s art gallery has been housed in Etherington House, a neo-Georgian mansion bequeathed to the university by its owner, Agnes Etherington. Starting from a core collection of Canadian historical art in the Euro-American tradition, Agnes has grown its holdings and space over the years to become one of Ontario’s largest art galleries.

Recently, the art centre was due for a renovation and expansion. Director and Curator

Emelie Chhangur saw this as an opportunity not just for a visual refresh but a fundamental pivot that will help Agnes to centre the social impact and social role of an art institution.

Chhangur launched the project by inviting guest graffiti artists from along the Montrealto-Toronto corridor to paint over the façades of part of Agnes’s current facility. The effect was to give a fresh visual presence to the building and to underscore its radically different path.

The graffiti mirrors a sensibility of openness and intentionality about engaging with current and new audiences. Inside the mansion, a range of activities from jam sessions with local musicians to square dancing with schoolchildren are part of reclaiming the

place as a warm, lived-in home which will eventually house artists’ residencies, rather than a stiffly preserved historical house that solely shelters artwork.

In consideration of the current conversation around monuments questioning who they are privileging, and why Agnes is positing a new direction that breaks down the barriers of institutional rigour and the framing around renovations for institutions. As part of this exploration, RIEL Consulting has been invited to create a framework for extensive community engagement, using a basis of Indigenous methodologies throughout, to find new directions for Agnes. Through studio workshops, they explored questions such as: what does hospitality look like in the 21st century? What does it mean to further the cause of art and community as a public, pedagogically driven museum? What needs to be done now to ensure Canada’s future museums no longer look like those of Canada’s colonial past?

The new building continues to be shaped by talking and sharing circles that meet on a regular basis. As Chhangur says, she wants

to ensure that “our new building won’t be a container for old systems, but a proposition for new ideas.”

This work is starting to crystallize in an architectural proposal, led by KPMB, that includes flexible spaces for broad programming, and the idea of a front porch where land enters the fringes of the gallery, with access open to the community after hours.

The process is proving as important as the outcome: by bringing together community members around the kitchen table, the openended conversations around the future of the gallery echo the way women have gathered for generations, in many cultures, including in traditional Indigenous communities, and in Agnes Etherington’s own day and age.

“Agnes Etherington was a philanthropist, and I probably wouldn’t have a seat at her table,” says Chhangur. “But her original gift to Queen’s was made ‘to further the cause of art and community.’ We are taking Agnes’s calls to action and reimagining them today.”

Tiffany Shaw and Elsa Lam

Tiffany Shaw is a Métis architect and founder of Reimagine Gathering.

ABOVE Students from Central Public School on a school field trip to Agnes get to play and dance in Etherington House, an extension of the exhibition guest + host = ghost.

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