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14 Avenue on Portage and Manitoba Start

+ Pool

Shai Gil

James Brittain

Contents

11 News

Through the revitalization and conversion of a significant and historic Portage Avenue building into residential and commercial uses, 5468796 Archi tecture greatly enhances Winnipeg’s urban context. TEXT Lisa Landrum

22 Stephen Hawking Centre

anon Asselin architecte and Jodoin M Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium win the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts competition; winners of the 2013 OAA Awards announced.

30 Insites

Teeple Architects boldy meet the challenge of designing a dynamic new addition to the iconic Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. TEXT David Theodore

rowdfunding offers a viable means to C rally support for building projects in the public realm, as detailed by Brendan Cormier.

Krista Jahnke

33 Report

Pierre-Marc Mongeau provides an update on the modernization process of Ottawa’s parliamentary buildings.

37 Calendar

anada Green Building Council National C Conference and Expo at the Vancouver Convention Centre; Canadian Urban Forum at the University of Ottawa.

38 Backpage

L eslie Jen visits the site of Pop Rocks, a whimsical public space initiative back for its second season—this time on the University of British Columbia campus.

JUNE 2013, v.58 n.06

The National Review of Design and Practice/ The Journal of Record of Architecture Canada | RAIC

COVER Stephen Hawking Centre in Water loo, Ontario by Teeple Architects. Photo graph by Scott Norsworthy.

06/13 canadian architect

NORR

Viewpoint

In NORR’s refurbished Union Station in Toronto, an existing exterior openair moat will be covered with a fully glazed canopy providing enhanced pedestrian circulation. Above

A spring conference organized by CityAge marked one of several perennial efforts to spur big-picture thinking between government, business and community leaders in Toronto. Throughout the presentations and panels, two observations echoed like a refrain. First, a population roughly the size of Montreal is expected to move to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in the next 25 years. Second, the city is about 30 years behind in transit development. A closer look at Ontario government projections reveals a growth spurt ringing the city. Government economists anticipate an overall increase in the order of 2.8 million, or 44.6 percent of the current population, for a total of 9.2 million GTA residents by 2036. In Toronto itself, the population is expected to rise 24.5 percent—a little below the provincial growth rate. The more dramatic growth will happen in the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York. Peel alone is expected to see its population increase by 750,000, while growth for Halton is projected at 78.8 percent over the period from 2011-36. How might architects strengthen transit to support this regional population increase? Antonio Gómez-Palacio, founding partner of DIALOG and formerly of Office for Urbanism, is currently leading the urban design for the Hurontario light-rail transit corridor that links Mississauga and Brampton. Gómez-Palacio ob6 canadian architect 06/13

serves that many transit users own private vehicles. “What will make someone choose to use transit?” he asks. In particular, he identifies the design of the first 10 to 20 metres from transit entry points—between, say, a sidewalk and a streetcar platform—as crucial for the success of transit. In downtown Toronto, the current redevelopment of Union Station promises to result in a vital hub for an expanding regional transit system. A Zeidler Partnership-designed glass atrium, replacing a portion of the fume-darkened steel-and-wood train shed from 1930, will create a welcome new entry point for GO Transit passengers—155,000 people each business day at present. Of equal if not greater significance are renovations to the terminal itself, headed by NORR Architects Engineers with Montreal-based FGMDA as heritage conservation architects. The reconfigured interior includes two new GO lobbies with direct connections to the underutilized Beaux-Arts Grand Hall, designed by John M. Lyle and Ross & Macdonald, one of the city’s heritage jewels. Levelling and sheltering the passage between Union Station and the subway will ease movement between regional and city transit. In order to finesse circulation between the existing subway entrance, new concourses and tracks, an entire new level is being introduced within Union Station’s building section. The occupation of this space by retail, food and beverage providers will offer services useful to commuters and to the rapidly developing residential towers south of the station. It’s a strategy that generates the necessary revenue to fund the restoration of historic portions of the building, while limiting the draw on cash-strapped city coffers and avoiding the unsavoury alternative of selling air development rights over the station. In taking this path, Toronto emulates the model of restored historic transit hubs such as Union Station in Washington, DC and Grand Central Terminal in New York City. In her history of suburbs in the United States, Dolores Hayden argues that from the first rail and streetcar build-outs in the early 1820s onwards, developers have marketed “ever-larger private developments while neglecting to […] build infrastructure for public life.” As the GTA enters an era of major expansion, transit facilities offer the means not only to enable growth, but also to provide it with civic amenity. How will we develop transit that not only functions to transport greater numbers, but that improves quality of life? What will make public transit into more than a necessity, and an active choice? Elsa Lam

elam@canadianarchitect.com

Editor Elsa Lam, MRAIC Associate Editor Leslie Jen, MRAIC Editorial Advisor Ian Chodikoff, OAA, FRAIC Contributing Editors Annmarie Adams, MRAIC Douglas MacLeod, ncarb, MRAIC Regional Correspondents Halifax Christine Macy, OAA Calgary David A. Down, AAA Montreal David Theodore Vancouver Adele Weder Regina Bernard Flaman, SAA Publisher Tom Arkell 416-510-6806 Associate Publisher Greg Paliouras 416-510-6808 Circulation Manager Beata Olechnowicz 416-442-5600 ext. 3543 Customer Service Malkit Chana 416-442-5600 ext. 3539 Production Jessica Jubb Graphic Design Sue Williamson Vice President of Canadian Publishing Alex Papanou President of Business Information Group Bruce Creighton Head Office 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 Telephone 416-510-6845 Facsimile 416-510-5140 E-mail editors@canadianarchitect.com Web site www.canadianarchitect.com Canadian Architect is published monthly by BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business-tobusiness information services. The editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and authoritative information, but they assume no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the text, or its fitness for any particular purpose. Subscription Rates Canada: $54.95 plus applicable taxes for one year; $87.95 plus applicable taxes for two years (HST – #809751274RT0001). Price per single copy: $6.95. Students (prepaid with student ID, includes taxes): $34.97 for one year. USA: $105.95 US for one year. All other foreign: $125.95 US per year. Single copy US and foreign: $10.00 US. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Dept., Canadian Architect, 80 Valleybrook Dr, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9. Postmaster: please forward forms 29B and 67B to 80 Valleybrook Dr, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9. Printed in Canada. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the copyright owner. From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Telephone 1-800-668-2374 Facsimile 416-442-2191 E-mail privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca Mail Privacy Officer, Business Information Group, 80 Valleybrook Dr, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9 Member of the Canadian Business Press Member of the ALLIANCE FOR AuditED MEDIA Publications Mail Agreement #40069240 ISSN 1923-3353 (Online) ISSN 0008-2872 (Print)

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.

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News Projects

The design team for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ (MMFA) new fifth pavilion was re cently announced: the jury unanimously selected Manon Asselin architecte and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium. This new pavil ion of international art will house not only its col lection of international art from the Old Masters to modern works, but also and most notably the collection donated by Michal and Renata Horn stein. Linking to the Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavil ion by a double bridge spanning the entrance to the alley, the new building will also feature an entrance for adult and school groups that will help generate activity on Bishop Street. In December 2012, the MMFA launched the twostage competition, and 20 Montreal-based archi tectural firms took part in the first stage. The eight-member jury, including five independent architects (Clément Demers, Thomas Fontaine, Jean-Claude Marsan, Philippe Poulin and Mario Saïa) and three members of the MMFA (Brian M. Levitt, Chairman of the Board; Nathalie Bondil, Director; and Bruce McNiven, Chairman of the Buildings, Maintenance and Security Advisory Committee) selected three finalists to move on to the second stage. The Government of Quebec has granted $18.5 million to the MMFA for the con struction of this new pavilion. The MMFA’s plan for financing this project is an unusual one: 85% of the funding will be covered by the private sec tor, including the value of the Hornsteins’ gift of their collection. The contribution of the Quebec government will help defray the costs of con struction, while the additional operating costs of the new pavilion will be met entirely by the pri vate sector. The new wing is set to open in 2017. www.mbam.qc.ca

Awards 2013 OAA Award winners announced.

Demonstrating the best in architectural design and innovation, winners of the 2013 Ontario As sociation of Architects (OAA) Awards feature both Canadian and international projects de signed by Ontario architects. The winners in the Design Excellence category are: Assuta Medical Centre in Tel Aviv by Zeidler Partnership Archi tects with Moore Architects and M. Brestovisky Architects & Urban Design; Cedarvale Ravine House in Toronto by Drew Mandel Architects; Centre for Green Cities, Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto by Diamond Schmitt Architects; Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Cana

Doug&Wolf

Manon Asselin architecte and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectes in consortium win MMFA competition.

ABOVE This seductive rendering forms part of the proposal by Manon Asselin architecte and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte Architectes in consortium for the newest addition to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

dian Art in Montreal by Provencher Roy + Asso ciés Architectes; Clear Lake Cottage in Sequin Township, Ontario by MacLennan Jaunk alns Miller Architects; Division 11 in Toronto by Stantec Architecture and E.R.A. Architects (Heritage Consultant); House on the Bluffs in Toronto by Taylor Smyth Architects; Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust in Los Angeles by Belz berg Architects; Place des Festivals + Vitrines habitées—Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal by DAOUST LESTAGE inc. architecture design ur bain; Regent Park Aquatic Centre in Toronto by MacLennan Jaunk alns Miller Architects; Rot man School of Management in Toronto by KPMB Architects; Ryerson Image Centre/School of Image Arts in Toronto by Diamond Schmitt Architects; Stone Residence in Toronto by Hagy Belzberg Architect; the CIGI Campus in Waterloo, Ontario by KPMB Architects; and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences/CDRD in Vancouver by Saucier + Per rotte Architectes & Hughes Condon Marler Architects. In the Concepts & Presentations cat egory, two Honourable Mentions in the Image subcategory were given to The Map is Not the Territory by student Brian A. Urbanik and to Tokyo Reclamation—UENO by architect Michael Conway. In the Artifact subcategory, two Hon ourable Mentions distinguished Cindy Rendely Architexture’s Steel Table, and Knob Portrait— Mayor Ford by Paul Raff Studio Incorporated Architect. In the Proposals/Concepts category, In

Search of Place by intern architect Melody TaghiPoor claimed an Honourable Mention, as did the Islamic Centre in Fort McMurray by Zak Ghanim Architect Inc. The Best Emerging Practice Award was given to Workshop Architecture Inc. Massey College by Ronald J. Thom, Thompson, Berwick & Pratt received the Landmark Award, and A.J. Diamond was recognized by a Lifetime Design Achievement Award. Alexander Rankin won the G. Randy Roberts Service Award and David Crad dock was awarded the Order of da Vinci. Addi tionally, three more honours were unveiled dur ing a recent awards ceremony: Best of Show was awarded to the University of British Columbia Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences/CDRD by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes & Hughes Condon Marler Architects; the Michael V. and Wanda Plachta Award honouring architectural excel lence for projects in Ontario that cost no more than 8 million dollars was presented to Drew Mandel Architects for the Cedarvale Ravine House; and the People’s Choice Award, decided by public vote, went to Taylor Smyth Architects for the House on the Bluffs. www.oaa.on.ca Stantec wins one of two WAN Education Awards for the University of the Fraser Valley’s new campus.

The new Canada Education Park campus at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in Chilli wack, BC has risen above the international 06/13 canadian architect

competition to be named “Best in Class: Uni versity Building” by the World Architecture News (WAN) Education Awards. Architects at Stantec amalgamated four existing and two new buildings in their design, completely gutting the existing structures to create a renewed con nective space. Anchoring the project is a new central atrium, which brings the buildings together as a single construct. The renovations and additions have bred new life and purpose to what was previously an abandoned site. The new building is a radical transformation from the old military engineering building, converting what once was an outdoor courtyard into a vi brant public space. Its energy-efficient technol ogies including a geo-exchange system, solar thermal hot water and light harvesting contrib ute to a forecasted 60% reduction in energy consumption, undergirding the projet’s LEED Gold certification. Most importantly, the new building was designed around a “town square” concept and has developed a stronger sense of community for students by bringing together academic programs and services into one co hesive space with study pockets and social nodes interspersed amongst the learning spaces. Based in London, the annual WAN Edu cation Awards are a major international compe

12 canadian architect 06/13

tition judged by a panel of renowned architects and designers from around the globe. http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com CVDB Arquitectos wins the other WAN Education Award for the Braancamp Freire Secondary School.

CVDB Arquitectos’ Braancamp Freire Second ary School in Lisbon, Portugal was named the completed project winner in the 2013 WAN Award in the education sector. The design pro poses the restructuring of a series of existing pavilions around the school into one uniform unit. At €798 per square metre, it is an aston ishingly low-budget construction for such a high-quality project. Juror Richard Hyams was particularly impressed with the skill of CVDB when it came to blending the existing structures harmoniously into the bold new design, point ing out that “creating an exquisite whole, with out any compromise is extremely tricky.” Javier Quintana complimented the aesthetic qualities produced by CDVB as an “artisanal approach to design,” continuing that “they are combining art and architecture in this design. They have dealt very successfully with the rearrangement of pre-existing buildings.” Stefan Jakobek sum marized the design as a “simple, robust, well-

executed project built with an incredibly low budget.” The architecture practice CVDB Ar quitectos was founded by Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burnay in 1999, and the studio pro jects have been developed since 2009 in associ ation with Tiago Filipe Santos. Diogo Burnay has been the Director of Dalhousie School of Architecture in Halifax since January 2012. www.worldarchitecturenews.com 2013 BC Wood Design Awards announced.

Coastal BC swept the 2013 Wood WORKS! BC Wood Design Awards, with projects of the win ning architects and structural engineers located in and around Vancouver and the Gulf Islands. There were 98 nominations in 12 categories for the 2013 awards from all over the province, as well as some national and international submis sions. The Wood Champion Award was presented to Vancouver-based structural consulting en gineering firm, Equilibrium Consulting and its principals, Eric Karsh and Robert Malczyk. Karsh was also the recipient of the Engineer Award. Kimberley Smith and Bo Helliwell of Helliwell + Smith Blue Sky Architecture in West Vancouver received the Architect Award, while Vancouver-based Peter Busby and Jim Huffman of Perkins+Will Canada won the Wood Innova

tion Award for the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre in Vancouver. The Green Building Award winner recognized Peter Busby of Perkins+Will Canada for the Centre for Inter active Research on Sustainability (CIRS) at UBC in Vancouver. The Residential Wood Design Award was given to Kimberley Smith of Helliwell + Smith Blue Sky Architecture for Solar Crest in Sidney Island, and the Multi-Unit Residential Wood Design Award recognized Oliver Lang of LWPAC Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture for Monad in Vancouver. The Commer cial Wood Design Award went to McFarland Marceau Architects Ltd. for the Bioenergy Re search and Demonstration Facility in Vancouver, and the Queen of Peace Monastery in Squamish Valley by Andreas Kaminski of aka architecture + design inc. took the Interior Beauty Design Award. In the Institutional Wood Design (Small) category, Graham D. Fligg of Merrick Architec ture—Borowski Sakumoto Fligg Ltd.—took the award for the Klahoose First Nation New Rela tionship Centre on Cortes Island. In the Institu tional Wood Design (Large) category, Jana Foit of Perkins+Will Canada claimed the award for the Earth Sciences Building at UBC in Vancouver. The Western Red Cedar Award went to Pam SOPREMA_PubSoprabase-CanadianArchitect.pdf Chilton of Zimba Design for the Urban Long

house in North Vancouver. And finally, honour able mentions were presented to two noteworthy projects and their designer/project teams: Kin sol Trestle Rehabilitation Project in Cowichan Valley (Gord Macdonald, Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Frame Ltd.) and the Pallas Residence in Revelstoke (Keith Starling, Take To Heart). www.wood-works.ca

Competitions Van Alen Institute launches Ground/Work Competition.

The Van Alen Institute in New York has an nounced the launch of Ground/Work, an inter national architecture competition seeking in novative designs for a new street-level venue to house the Institute’s work space and public pro grams. Ground/Work invites emerging design ers, up to ten years out of school, to propose bold visions for a light and highly flexible groundfloor space to accommodate public events, ex hibitions and installations, office space, and a bookselling platform. This two-stage competi tion seeks portfolio submissions from designers through June 13, 2013. Up to three individual de signers or firms10:05 will be selected as finalists for 1 12-10-11 the second stage of the competition, receiving a

stipend to develop their design proposals over a three-week period. Finalists will reveal their designs on September 4, 2013, and the winner will be announced on September 12, 2013, after which the team will have four months to com plete design work. Construction is expected to begin in winter 2013. Submissions will be evalu ated by a jury composed of Stephen Cassell (Architecture Research Office and Board of Trustees, Van Alen Institute); Winka Dubbeldam (Archi-tectonics and University of Pennsylva nia); Mark Gardner (Jaklitsch/Gardner Archi tects); David van der Leer (Van Alen Insti tute); Mark Robbins (International Center of Photography and Board of Trustees, Van Alen Institute); Ada Tolla (LOT-EK); and Marc Tsuru maki (LTL Architects). www.vanalen.org/groundwork

What’s New RAIC | Architecture Canada to welcome 2013 Fellows.

The RAIC | Architecture Canada is pleased to welcome two Honourary Fellows, who will par ticipate in this year’s Festival of Architecture being held in partnership with the Nova Scotia (continued on page 35)

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Avenue Action Mirrored balconies and tapering glass walls contribute to a playful, engaging revitalization of a historic building in downtown Winnipeg.

The Avenue on Portage and Manitoba Start, Winnipeg, Manitoba Architects 5468796 Architecture Text Lisa Landrum Photos James Brittain Projects

Before Portage Avenue became famous for forming, together with Main Street, the coldest, windiest intersection in all of Canada, it was celebrated for hosting Winnipeg’s warmest receptions and most heated public events. Nearly every parade, procession and protest in the city’s history—including royal visits, the 1919 General Strike, and the 2011 return of the Jets— has trodden on or across Portage Avenue, originally a muddy trading trail extending west to Portage la Prairie and beyond. The Avenue Building, recently redesigned by Winnipeg’s award-winning 5468796 Archi tecture, participates in the animated history and potential of the legendary street it fronts. With its array of reflective balconies projecting over Portage Avenue like box seats in an urban theatre, this revitalized building performs as both avid spectator and engaging actor upon the Prairie’s primary promenade. Originally built in 1904 for a mix of small businesses eager to join the commercial boom along Portage, the Avenue Building flourished in the early 20th century. But by the 1990s it had fallen into disuse and disrepair. By 2000 it was completely vacant and at risk of demolition. Then, in 2010, local developers Mark and Rick Hofer courageously opted, with city and prov incial support, to rehabilitate the neglected structure into much-needed downtown housing. If that was the Hofers’ first praiseworthy decision, their second was equally laudable: enlisting 5468796, the firm named for its incorporation number. Following a successful collaboration in converting a nearby warehouse into 43 loft apartments (the Edge on Princess, which earned a 2010 Preservation Award), the Hofer brothers commissioned project architect Colin Neufeld, together with fellow principals Johanna Hurme and Sasa Radulovic, to tackle the century-old Avenue Building. Their task, as Hurme put it, was to invent “a new act for the old body.” This new act entailed everything from bold programmatic and structural interventions to cunning material and spatial transformations. The architects were initially asked to accommodate 75 residential units, 40 underground

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Opposite Balconies jut out from the building at different depths, creating a dynamic façade and encouraging social interaction. Top right The project merged the Avenue Building with the adjacent Hample Building, the latter of which gained a three-storey addition.

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Above left Daring, open metal grates lend a sense of adventure to the balcony floors. stainless steel to matte black as it cuts back towards the building.

parking stalls, and grade-level commercial space in the existing historic shell. The envelope included both the Avenue Building and the neighbouring Hample Building, named for Adolphe G. Hample, a prominent butcher and hide dealer. Though built just two years apart, the adjacent structures differed in construction: cast iron and heavy timber on stone foundations for the 88-foot-wide six-storey Avenue Building, and reinforced concrete (a new technology at the time) for the 44-foot-wide three-storey Hample. Reconciling these constructional differences, however, was ultimately less of a feat than what was to follow. Well into construction, the not-for-profit tenant Manitoba Start signed on with a program requiring more space than the grade level provided. Adding area by reducing the number of residential units was out of the question, since city and provincial funding were contingent on 75 units.

original building

acquisition

minimum parking ramp length economic viability

original commercial allocation

Above right

The entrance canopy shifts from

For the agile designers, this spatial challenge became an opportunity. In short order, they proposed a three-floor addition atop the Hample, allowing Manitoba Start to fill the existing three-storey building while accommodating the requisite units in the new construction above. Once again, an obstacle gave rise to a creative response when it was determined that the hundred-year-old reinforced concrete could not support the added load. Neufeld and his team ingeniously floated an independent steel structure above the Hample with columns piercing through the existing building to bear on new poured-in-place piles reaching deep beneath the original footings. Structural moves are only part of this buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full performance. Acts of public engagement and expression are performed by key mediating elements of the faĂ§ade. Every new architectural element facing Portageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

long-term tenant

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too heavy addition requires subtraction

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“pulling in”

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extending the suites out in to the city

Above On the sides of each balcony, polished aluminum panels reflect the ebb and flow of city life on Portage Avenue.

floating addition, the projecting balconies and the receding entries— shares in a material vocabulary of glass and mirrored-finish aluminum. They also share in interactive engagement, accomplished through a series of pushing and pulling moves, which, as 5468796 explain, “soften the boundary between the public streetscape and the private interiors.” For instance, the addition atop the Hample is articulated with glass walls folding back from the line of the façade, drawing residents out onto slender triangular porches. Receding walls of glass also define the street-level entries, inviting pedestrians into a tapered portico. The angular canopy amplifies the depth of the portico both by extending beyond the colonnade and by transitioning from mirrored aluminum to matte black as it slices back into the residential core. All these new glass and metal elements—at once receding and projecting, inviting in and drawing out— perform dynamically against the more static brick façade, itself largely unaltered. Unaltered, that is, save for a heavy coat of grey paint. Strict preser vationists may cringe at the homogenizing effect this paint has on the historic masonry. The original cut-stone sills, brick arches, pilasters, quoining, foliate surrounds and decorative spandrels, with their diamond motifs and herringbone patterns, are all effectively flattened by the industrial grey. This paint dematerializes the brickwork and dulls the crisp shadows of its ornamental features by diminishing the depth of detailed relief. To be fair, by the 1970s the Hample’s earth-toned brick had already been painted a ghastly salmon; and, to their credit, 5468796 dissuaded the owners from their initial urge to clad over the brick completely. But

entrance recedes back into building

brushing on breathable grey paint was no mere compromise. Rather, Neufeld insists, this action was a choice intended to transform the two historic façades into a more unified neutral backdrop: a visually recessive surface against which the assertive balconies and colourful street life could claim centre stage. Zealous Modernists may applaud this neutralizing paint job as a decisive turn away from traditional ornament. But make no mistake: ornament here is not abolished, but reinterpreted. Though the paint mutes the ornamental brickwork, it defers to other kinds of ornament revealed in material finishes. In particular, the highly polished aluminum recalls the reflective 06/13 canadian architect

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finish of the columns in Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion and Tugendh at House. The Avenue Building’s balconies are also effective by their overall distribution. By cantilevering them at distances from five to nine feet, and alternating their position from floor to floor, the designers have transformed the perception of the façade’s regular pattern into a whimsical loose array. But seeing these balconies as funky sculptural elements, as a kind of Donald Judd display, would be an oversimplification. These balconies perform not just formally and aesthetically but socially and situationally, contributing to the experience of living in a dynamic community. Residents benefit, for example, from direct experience with the urban outdoors and with one another, via the surprising social opportunities these gregarious platforms provide. Moreover, in spite of their minimal form and detailing, these balconies have wonderfully excessive effects for passersby. This is not simply because their sheen is eyecatching but because, like the works of artist Anish Kapoor, they capture and reflect a surplus of movement and light from their milieu. These balconies do not simply attract, but redirect and disperse attention: gesturing to prosaic movements in the streetscape below, to ephemeral phenomena in the sky above and, laterally, to more distant horizons. Wrapped with mirrored aluminum on their east and west sides, the balconies shine with morning and late-day sun. Open industrial grating serves as their streetfacing side and floor, causing the balconies to begin to disappear when viewed frontally. This allows the building to play a more deferential role alongside the grand diva of Portage: the

1917 Paris Building, with its bodacious ensemble of Neoclassical and Art Nouveau motifs. The building’s most notable interiors are those for Manitoba Start, a government-supported agency providing new Canadians with employment, language and settlement services. Serving up to 400 clients daily, Manitoba Start required a mix of administrative, educational and social settings with varying degrees of privacy and openness. The architects responded with a playful distribution of rooms, echoing the plans of Sou Fujimoto’s Children’s Centre (2006) and Aldo van Eyck’s Municipal Orphanage (1956). Like Fujimoto and van Eyck, 5468796 sought a city-like balance between private spaces and socially integrative opportunities. Interconnectivity is also recognized in hexa gonal motifs etched onto glass and cut into birch plywood and painted MDF partitions. Shifting back and forth, these porous panels finesse inter relationships among the spaces. Alternatively masking, veiling and framing, the partitions softly divide, blend and join the buzz of activity. According to Neufeld, the hexagonal geometry—explicit in the partition patterns and implicit in the plan—was part of a design strategy to reconcile the non-orthogonal footprints of the two buildings and the non-aligning column grids of their distinct structures. For Neufeld, the 30-, 60- and 120-degree angles also reflect the oblique angle at which Portage meets Main, two blocks east. But the hexagonal configu rations evoke much more: the patterns of mashrabiyas—the lattice-like wooden screens adorning windows and balconies in Islamic architecture; the mosaic-like quality of a world map; and the image of a beehive, a metaphor of

Overlapping honeycomb panels form a porous privacy screen in the Manitoba Start tenant space. Above The honeycomb motif weaves through the partitions. Right, top to bottom A meeting room with etched glass walls; the deep ground-floor entrance pulls residents and visitors into the building. Opposite

organic cooperation invoked by exemplary Modern architects. In short, these layered hexagonal gestures mimic the social infrastructure that Manitoba Start and 5468796 Architecture aim to provide. Are there missed opportunities in the Avenue Building? Or, acts yet to be performed? Certainly. For instance, one hopes that the owners will not only invest in long-term maintenance of the parapets and rear masonry—work that appears to have been deferred—but also cultivate an ecologically active habitat in the building’s generous light wells. But the more significant acts to come are those the Avenue has always participated in: those parades, processions and protests, together with a variety of prosaic affairs, which have for so long brought life to the city’s core. As many Winnipeggers know, the downtown core has not lived up to its potential for much of the last century. Thus, having pleaded for proper attention for years, the Avenue Building, in its revitalized state, now stands poised to act again with confidence as a knowing witness and leading actor, agitating for further vital change. CA

The Avenue on Portage Clients MARK AND RICK HOFER Architect Team SHARON ACKERMAN, MARIA AMAGASU, MANDY ALDCORN, KEN BORTON, JORDY CRADDOCK, MICHELLE HEATH, AYNSLEE HURDAL, JOHANNA HURME, JAYNE MILES, COLIN NEUFELD, ZACH PAULS, SASA RADULOVIC, SHANNON WIEBe Structural LAVERGNE DRAWARD & ASSOCIATES INC. Mechanical G.D. STASYNEC & ASSOCIATES LTD Electrical NOVA 3 ENGINEERING LTD. Interiors 5468796 Architecture Contractor HOFER CONSTRUCTION Area 95,500 ft2 Budget $10.8 M Completion 2012

Manitoba Start Client MANITOBA START Architect Team SHARON ACKERMAN, MANDY ALDCORN, KEN BORTON, JORDY CRADDOCK, MICHELLE HEATH, AYNSLEE HURDAL, JOHANNA HURME, JAYNE MILES, COLIN NEUFELD, ZACH PAULS, SASA RADULOVIC, SHANNON WIEBE Structural LAVERGNE DRAWARD & ASSOCIATES INC. Mechanical G.D. STASYNEC & ASSOCIATES LTD Electrical NOVA 3 ENGINEERING LTD. Interiors 5468796 Architecture Contractor HOFER CONSTRUCTION Area 22,500 ft2 Budget $1.7 M Completion 2012

Lisa Landrum is an architect, writer and Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. 06/13 canadian architect

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Perimeter Twist

Shai Gil

A dynamic addition gives a challenging new spin to a landmark contemporary research institute in southern Ontario.

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Shai Gil Shai Gil

Project Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario Architect Teeple Architects Inc. Text David Theodore Photos Scott Norsworthy unless otherwise noted

In order to celebrate the new Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, some staff members made a short video Christmas card animating the addition as if it were a spaceship lifting off. It’s a clever tease, because it draws attention to the Centre’s jaunty metalclad façades, and also plays up the architects’ decision to visually separate the outside of the new addition from the old. Toronto-based Teeple Architects designed this four-storey addition, which adds 55,000 square feet of space to the existing 65,000-square-foot facility, curving around the short end of the old building like a pair of wraparound sunglasses. It features creased and folded walls, ribbons of horizontal glazing, a bold cantilever, and slender V-shaped concrete columns. But there’s a rub: to say that the addition resembles a spaceship is

Opposite The new entrance to Perimeter Institute through Teeple Architects’ daring addition. Above, left to right On the ground floor, A view down the main corridor with the cafeteria to the left; Courtyards and a green roof flank the corridor, generously daylighting two suspended stairs.

to imply that it looks out of place, even alien. So while it’s a forthright, fun and welcoming design, it also highlights a paradox Canadian architects face today—namely, the task of making buildings both stand out and fit in. Perimeter Institute began life in Waterloo, Ontario in 1999, and officially opened in a renovated post office in 2001. This non-profit, independent research organization might have the most ambitious mission of any organization anywhere: “to forge new, mind-bending ideas about the ultimate nature of our universe, from space and time to matter and forces.” Its operations were instigated by a $100-million personal gift from local entrepreneur and Research in Motion founder Mike Lazadaris. In 2004, Perimeter got its first purpose-built facility, moving into a building that garnered Montreal-based architects Saucier + Perrotte a 06/13 canadian architect

Governor General’s Medal. The institute flanks Silver Lake in Waterloo Park, and shares a parking lot with another architectural icon, Patkau Architects’ Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. In 2008, theoretical physicist Neil Turok, plucked from the University of Cambridge, became director. He quickly undertook an ambitious plan to triple the number of researchers and to enlarge the institute’s training and outreach programs. For instance, under Turok they’ve added a Masterslevel program known as Perimeter Scholars International, which is con-

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ducted in collaboration with the nearby University of Waterloo. Astoundingly, a mere five years after the first building opened, Perimeter was ready to double in size. The addition’s budget came through a publicprivate partnership involving the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation, and private donations, including continuing support from Lazaridis. Perimeter chose Teeple Architects from among a small shortlist. “Stephen Teeple was the only one who seemed to have listened to the director’s requests,” says longtime faculty member Robert Myers. The crucial instruction, notes Teeple, was that the new and the old together form “one institute, one culture,” and not a campus of pavilions that might divide the institute into cliques. In terms of atmosphere, Turok asked the architect “to design the optimal environment for the human mind to conceive of the universe.” Underlying Turok’s requests was a premise that Teeple clearly grasped: in today’s competitive academic market, attracting and maintaining excellent scholars and students has upped the demand for signature exteriors and showcase interiors. The design comes down to earth, programmatically, with a mix of research and administration offices, breakout areas, places for casual interaction and a ground-floor cafeteria. Physicists love chalk—it’s handy for drawing and erasing mathematical notation—so blackboards abound. Turok had strong opinions on how the building should work: a layout that encouraged informal interaction, he thought, would lead to more formal collaborations between specialists. For instance, he wanted to move the café from its old haunt on the fourth floor down near the ground-floor entrance. The Black Hole Bistro now gives direct access to a deck beside the reflecting pool, providing welcome respite out in the sun. The bistro is split onto two levels: public events such as jazz concerts and movie

Shai Gil Shai Gil

screenings take place downstairs, while upstairs provides a bar and food service support for special occasions—fundraising dinners, conferences and the like—and also serves as casual study space. Teeple’s team cleverly doubled the building’s size but increased the footprint only by a fifth. The building abuts the edge of the flood plain, although an upper storey is allowed to cantilever over. “It’s about effectively finding space in constrained areas,” says Teeple. The tight planning left no room for a grand staircase, and in any event, security considerations restrict public access above the ground floor. Instead, the designers constructed two user-friendly fire stairs. The Cyclic Stair, which goes up to the top-floor classrooms, is especially flamboyant, full of twists and folds that seek to express the mathematics behind theoretical physics. The new floor plan swirls horizontally and vertically around two trapez oidal courtyards. One contains a second-floor herb garden connected to the upper level of the café, and the other pulls sunbeams down to the reflecting pool on the building’s north side. The window arrangement around the light wells provides sightlines across and through the building, again meant to encourage interaction, but it is also good for the subtle pressure of peer surveillance, which Turok felt would goad researchers towards greater productivity. Facing the lake, the designers grouped together all of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the research offices, and then outlined the ensemble in a ribbon of metal. This exterior is meant to suggest a collective team of researchers, in contrast to the play of individual cantilevered boxes that characterizes the earlier building’s offices. Keeping with the theme of collaboration, Teeple’s team clustered research offices of different sizes together. The idea is that a senior faculty member leaving her office might bump into graduate students sharing a three- or four-person office next door, or a visiting scholar sharing a

Opposite A second-level dining area perches above the Black Hole Bistro. Clockwise from top left A view of the addition from a south approach; Cafeteria and offices overlooking the reflecting pool; The researcher office wing viewed from the northwest.

two-person office with a postdoctoral researcher just down the hall. More formally, the building’s characteristic creases are generated from funnel-shaped floor plans meant to increase collegiality. And Teeple found a prominent place for the Sky Room, a generous lounge to be used by anyone, anytime. The building can’t force people to interact infor mally, but its planning offers numerous places for serendipitous meetings to occur. The architecture much less gracefully supports accessibility for people with disabilities. Halfway between the floors sit intimate “interaction areas” topped by green roofs. Unfortunately, they are reached by small flights of stairs; there are wheelchair lifts, but they look retrofitted, and are not integrated into the main promenade. These stairs create a rift between 06/13 canadian architect

walkers and wheelchair users, an unsettling predicament in a building named in honour of wheelchair-bound physicist Stephen Hawking. In terms of overall access, the addition also changes Perimeter’s urban logic. Saucier + Perrotte had optimistically placed the front entrance fac ing the city, turning the building’s back on its parking lot, shared with the Patkaus’ Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. Teeple’s addition has now become the main public entrance for the ensemble. Pragmatically, this change improves the movement of staff and visitors from the parking lot. At the same time, it makes for a more suburban arrival sequence, because the front door is set back in a sea of cars. The buildings that share the parking lot together make a miniexhibition of three strong trends in contemporary architecture. The 1993 Clay and Glass Gallery concentrates on tectonic clarity, on the effects that come from a display of construction techniques and structure. The first Perimeter building is more concerned with perception, with how flat sheets of materials slip and slide vertically and horizontally to compose walls, floors, rooms and views. Teeple’s addition emphasizes dynamic Existing spatial effects. The comparison between the three is rich and rewarding. In the interests of architecture, it would have been exciting to build the addition as a separate pavilion rather than an attached structure that sometimes masks, sometimes overwhelms its predecessor. But institutional growth—rather than architecture—is the real driver of the project.

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Shai Gil Clockwise from top LEFT The researcher office wing overlooks a reflecting pool; The reception area enjoys a view of the courtyard; A classroom features terraced seating; The generous third-floor Sky Room serves as a meeting area and all-purpose lounge; A casual interaction area is equipped with a chalk board; The second-floor interaction area in the researcher office wing.

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Shai Gil Above, left TO RIGHT Complex folded geometries contrast boldly with the existing building; The mathematics of theoretical physics inspired the corkscrew Cyclic Stair.

The new addition acknowledges the old by respectful deployment of recessed bands of glass in some places, and bold contrasts in others. Teeple decided to treat the 2004 structure as a historic building, creating a skylit atrium between the old exterior walls and the new addition’s circulation spine. The new is self-consciously “fun,” while the old is “Zen.” The new is angular, the old rectilinear; the new is compressed, the old expansive. The balance is not even, however. Where the two meet, the old is used as a foil to activate the new, especially in the entrance hall. Overhead, the circulation spine weaves, jostles and juts into the gap between the new office floors and the black metal of the former exterior wall. Near the top, a cantilevered meeting room comes within a hand’s length of the old parapet. “There’s some pretty subtle engineering here that makes it all work,” says Teeple. Perhaps Teeple’s enthusiastic grasp of Turok’s vision compounded something similar to the “new chef” problem familiar in restaurant design. When the new chef arrives, the old restaurant—however perfect for the last chef—suddenly seems inadequate. We are used to rapid change in restaurant interiors, but it makes one pause to see change overwhelm this major institution before the ink is dry on the awards lavished on the “old” building. Yet if rapid institutional change complicates the architect’s role, Teeple found in it a source of inspiration. The Stephen Hawking Centre is tightly 28 canadian architect 06/13

organized, carefully built, and consistently detailed—even the classroom lecterns and front reception desk follow the crease-and-fold motif. The board-formed concrete and angled plasterboard joints invite visitors to appreciate craftsmanship, while navigating the warren of offices never becomes confusing. The building is seeking LEED Silver accreditation, and would meet the requirements for Gold but for a lack of daylight in the main lecture hall. All in all, it’s a compelling and boisterous design that sets Perimeter Institute in a new orbit. CA David Theodore is a doctoral candidate in the History of Architecture, Medicine and Science at Harvard University.

Client Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Architect Team Stephen Teeple, Chris Radigan, Bernard Jin, William Elsworthy, Martin Inglis Baron, Myles Craig, Rob Cheung, Maryam Mohajer, Jan Kroman, Mike Sargent, Mark Baechler, Neeraj Bhatia Structural CPE Structural Consultants Mechanical Cobalt Engineering (now called Integral) Electrical Mulvey & Banani International Inc. Landscape Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc. Interiors Teeple Architects Inc. Contractor Ball Construction Ltd. Acoustics State of the Art Acoustik Civil MTE LEED Enermodal Engineering Area 55,000 ft2 Budget $25.6 M Completion December 2011

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Building With the Crowd

Design At News

Ossip Van Duivenbode

INsites

Crowdfunding offers a viable means to build support for innovative projects in the public realm. Text

Brendan Cormier

Last year in Rotterdam, amidst the fanfare of live music, balloons and an animated crowd, designers Elma van Boxel and Kristian Koreman of design collective Zones Urbaines Sensibles (ZUS) proudly inaugurated a pedestrian bridge called the Luchtsingel. The bridge spans a six-lane road and, when completed, will connect an up-and-coming area by the train station to a new elevated park. However, it wasn’t the design of the bridge turning heads—a fine but unremarkable span in wood—nor the vital connection it would soon make. It was the way the bridge was funded. ZUS sold the bridge piece by piece via a crowdfunding website. For 25 Euros, anyone could purchase one of the bridge’s wooden planks and have their name emblazoned on it with laser-cut letters. The people that assembled it on opening night weren’t just eager onlookers—they were owners. Anyone following the development of crowdfunding over the last few years is familiar with 30 canadian architect 06/13

Opposite, top to bottom Opening party at the Luchtsingel, a pedestrian footbridge in Rotterdam built largely through a crowdfunding initiative by design collective Zones Urbaines Sensibles (ZUS); Donor names adorn the bridge’s vertical wood planks. Above The filtration technology for +Pool in New York City’s Hudson River was developed through crowdfunding. A traditional fundraising campaign is currently underway to construct the floating public pool.

its meteoric rise. The pre-eminent website, Kickstarter, began in 2009 with the simple ambition of providing an online platform to raise funds for creative projects. People could pitch their ideas in the form of a short video and reward donations with gifts—postcards, T-shirts, and so on. What distinguishes crowdfunding from traditional fundraising is the broad reach and relative anonymity of the process. Donors are free to choose at their leisure the projects they want to back, without the direct and personal solicitation of a fundraiser. As with many things on the Internet, successful projects can go viral, far exceeding their original fund raising goals. This deceptively simple rejigging of the fundraising model has created nothing less than a revolution in the way products are financed. Kickstarter has grown accordingly. Every year it has roughly tripled its number of pledges, and is projected to bring in $1 billion this year alone. Although crowdfunding sites have thrived on products that can be privately owned and consumed—films and music albums are the most commonly funded projects—there is a small contingent of architectural projects vying for

donations. A quick keyword search of “archi tecture” on Kickstarter reveals a handful of such pitches: Architecture for Humanity Denver wants to repurpose a parking lot into a classroom ($20,000), a young architect in Austin proposes building a new porch for a bakery ($1,450), and students from the California College of Art hope to prototype a prefabricated classroom for developing nations ($2,800). The allure of crowdfunding for many architects is obvious. Architecture today is often a market-driven service for the wealthy; many architects hoping to address social concerns through building seldom have the opportunity. Also attractive is the idea of the self-initiated unsolicited project. Instead of waiting for a dream client to call, or slugging away at another competition, the architect is em powered to identify a worthy project and pitch it to the people. Alas, it’s easier said than done. Built projects remain marginal on crowdfunding websites for a slew of reasons. For starters, they are locationspecific. While a watch can be shipped anywhere, a built project can only exist in one place and be enjoyed by the people living around it.

Then there is the cost factor: built projects are expensive. While recent movie projects have broken crowdfunding records—a proposed Veronica Mars movie pulled in over $5 million— built projects are unlikely to reach such heights. Add to this the inherent complexity of building. Recording an album or prototyping a new lightshade is a relatively contained affair, involving a handful of stakeholders and a short timeline. Built projects, especially ones in the public domain, involve politics, multiple stakeholders, unforeseen liabilities, drawn-out timelines, and questions of ownership and maintenance. Enter Brickstarter, a research project developed by the Helsinki Design Lab that explores the complex ecosystem of crowdfunding and attempts to clarify its pros and cons. Dan Hill, a former Helsinki Design Lab researcher and current CEO at Italian communication research centre Fabrica, is particularly interested in what he calls “dark matter”—the messy politics and institutional dynamics that usually take place above a designer’s head. For the researchers at Brickstarter, the trickiest part of crowdfunding a built project is not raking in the donations, but translating that momentum into 06/13 canadian architect

Daniel Hewitt

Daniel Hewitt Above, left to right Designer Jimenez Lai with his crowdfunded installation Three Little Worlds at the Architecture Foundation in London, UK; Lai’s sculptures are part of his super furniture series. BOTTOM Toronto’s About Face Collective launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the renovation of a roof deck atop a community workspace.

Lauren Pirie

successful negotiations with City Hall, developers and lawyers. Brickstarter points to some successes that provide valuable lessons. The New York designers of +Pool, for instance, broke a large crowdsourced project down into several stages with manageable outcomes. To garner interest, they first published their concept online for a floating swimming pool that could filter polluted water. Engineering firm Arup offered to help with a feasibility study. Once it was confirmed that it could be done, the designers launched a Kickstarter campaign to build a prototype filtration device. The campaign exceeded its $25,000 goal to bring in $41,647. With this success, the buzz grew and politicians and

City staff got on board. Now, they’ve embarked on a more traditional fundraising campaign to find sponsors for the multimillion-dollar built project. Indeed, crowdfunding may be most viable as a stepping stone to funding architecture, rather than a singular means. It has the power to generate interest and to fund initial prototypes, which can all be leveraged into broader popular and political support. The Luchtsingel follows a similar scenario. After ZUS successfully fundraised for the bridge’s first leg by selling wooden planks, they entered the project into a competition sponsored by the local government, which allowed groups to submit civic projects to a citizen’s vote. The Luchtsingel had already

mobilized media and popular support through crowdfunding and thus easily won the competition, landing ZUS $4 million to complete the next span to the new park. On the home front, the number of architects in Canada venturing into crowdfunding is comparatively sparse. Last summer, Toronto-raised architect Jimenez Lai used Kickstarter to fund a live-in installation at the Architecture Foundation in London, UK. The Everything Roof, ini tiated without an architect at the helm, will convert the roof of Toronto’s Centre for Social Innovation Annex into an urban farm, community hub and educational space. It garnered $10,000 on Indiegogo. In fact, Canadian communities have proven quite adept at selfinitiating improvements to their civic spaces. Over the past decade, Friends of Dufferin Grove Park in Toronto raised funds to construct an outdoor brick oven, improve the Zamboni shed adjacent to their skating rink, build a new playground, and bring a farmers’ market and other regular events to the park. While a serious discussion is needed about the financing of improvements to our public realm, crowdfunding undoubtedly opens up opportunities, presenting an option to be considered by both designers and communities alike. Architects seeking to work more proactively on local civic improvements might be wise to seek out local organizations, find projects worthy of crowdfunding, and start a campaign. You have my pledge. CA Brendan Cormier is an urban designer, writer and currently the managing editor for Volume magazine.

32 canadian architect 06/13

Report

Parliamentary Shuffle The current modernization of Ottawa’s Parliament Hill is giving rise to a cascade of needed renovations throughout the surrounding Parliamentary Precinct. Text

Pierre-Marc Mongeau

The metamorphosis of Ottawa’s Parliament Hill occurs only about once every century. Not since the original construction of the Parliament Buildings in the mid-1800s has the Hill undergone a transformation as extensive as the one underway, which began in 2007. The rehabilitation—in scale, complexity, and time frame—is one of the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Canada. Towering at the edge of a cliff that rises out of the Ottawa River, the dramatic beauty of Canada’s seat of government rivals any in the world. The Centre, East and West Blocks rank with the most accomplished surviving examples of mid19th-century Gothic Revival buildings and are rare examples of parliamentary buildings in this style. But the seemingly robust sandstone buildings belie a fragile grandeur: crumbling mortar, cracked stones, aging electrical and mechanical systems, outdated technology and modern building code requirements have necessitated the present course of action. To tackle a program of this magnitude, a comprehensive strategy for the entire Parliamentary Precinct, which includes Parliament Hill and the facing street, was developed. Known as the Long-Term Vision and Plan (LTVP), the strategy focuses on renovating the aging buildings in order to meet Parliament’s long-term accommodation requirements and establish a balance between accessibility and security. The LTVP identified a multitude of projects of varying scale on the Hill and in the Precinct at large, to be implemented over a 25-year period. Engaging Stakeholders

The rehabilitation of the prominent buildings on Parliament Hill naturally involves numerous stakeholders, which include the Senate, the House of Commons, the Library of Parliament, the National Capital Commission and Parks Canada’s Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office. These groups are represented at the table to ensure their interrelated but unique requirements are incorporated into the planning, design and implementation. Additionally, design review committees were established for initial major projects, including the West Block. The committees, whose members have included RAIC Gold

A complex sequence of moves is required to rehabilitate Parliament Hill while enabling Parliament’s continual functioning.

ABOVE

Medal recipients, provided professional advice on initial design strategy and direction. The West Block Leads

The renovation of Parliament Hill is a series of interwoven projects orchestrated to ensure that Parliament continues to function and the Hill remains accessible to visitors and tourists. There is a logical sequencing of the projects, but the execution, timing and synchronization is complex. The first priority of the multi-phased plan is to rehabilitate the core Parliamentary Buildings—the Centre Block, West Block and East Block. As the Centre Block—home to the Senate and House of Commons Chambers—cannot be rehabilitated while occupied, interim space is required. The innovative decision was made to construct an interim House of Commons Chamber within the courtyard of the West Block, which, as the most deteriorated of the three core buildings, was in critical need of rehabilitation. The new construction, which involves enclosing the courtyard, is a significant contemporary architectural intervention to this 19th-century building. Concurrent with the rehabilitation of the West Block is the development of Phase One of the underground Visitor Welcome Centre, which includes a shipping and receiving facility. This will form the backbone of an intricate underground arterial system for the movement

of utilities, goods and people. The required emptying of the West Block initiated a cascading sequence of projects to provide interim accommodations within short walking distance from Parliament Hill. Facing the Hill is a row of historic buildings that runs along Wellington Street. These buildings, along with those that back onto them from Sparks Street, were acquired by the federal government in 1973 to safeguard the grandness of Parliament Hill and to provide room for the growth of Parliament and the federal government. To date, three buildings along this stretch are being rehabilitated to accommodate displaced offices, meeting spaces and reception areas from the West Block. These include the BeauxArts-style Wellington Building, the 1970s La Promenade Building and the recently renamed Sir John A. Macdonald Building (formerly the Bank of Montreal). The Wellington and La Promenade buildings will provide parliamentary office and committee-room space while the Sir John A. Macdonald Building will be resurrected as a reception space. The former reception space, called the Confederation Room, was created in the 1960s by demolishing floors and interior walls from the northwest wing of the West Block. The proverbial killing of two birds with one stone is being invoked, as many of these buildings are beyond their life-cycle capacity and in need of renovation. 06/13 canadian architect

A rendering of NORR’s design for the renovated Wellington Building lobby; a rendering of the copper-clad library on the upper level of the Wellington Building. BOTTOM A view of the work underway on Parliament Hill showing the West Block, the Sir John A. Macdonald Building and the Wellington Building. Above, Left to right

Additional committee-room space has been leased at 1 Wellington Street, a modern glass and concrete building, adapted from an old railway structure running alongside the storied Chateau Laurier. The building recently housed the Cana dian Museum of Contemporary Photography. Implementation Framework

Ron de Vries Photography

Important lessons were learned from earlier approaches to implementing parliamentary projects, which led to the development of an implementation framework suited to realizing the long-term vision. Rather than regarding the 25-year plan as a master blueprint and defining projects on a fixed schedule, the implementation framework is composed of a broad strategic direction and rolling five-year planning cycles. These shorter-term cycles give more flexibility in responding to government and parliamentary priorities, building conditions and markets. The cycles also improve predictability and provide greater accuracy in determining functional requirements and establishing project costs and scheduling.

By 2010, 15 projects had been completed to prepare for the emptying of the West Block and the Wellington Building at a cost of $246 million. The work involved renovating a series of buildings at various locations to accommodate offices, committee rooms and support functions. The completion of these projects triggered the start of construction work on the West Block and the Wellington Building, as well as on the Sir John A. Macdonald Buildings. The exteriors of these heritage buildings are being rehabilitated, which includes the repair and replacement of damaged masonry, windows and sculptural elements. The interiors will undergo complete restoration including replacement of the electrical/ mechanical and life safety systems, which are beyond their normal life expectancies. The buildings will also be structurally upgraded and reinforced to meet current seismic code requirements. The rehabilitation of the Sir John A. Macdonald Building will include a new structure: the 3,100-square-metre contemporary-style annex will add meeting rooms, a secure entrance and essential support functions for the facility.

The projects are tracking on time and on budget: the 2010-2016 rehabilitation of the Wellington Building is budgeted at $425 million; the 2011-2017 rehabilitation of the West Block at $863 million; and the 2012-2015 rehabilitation of the Sir John A. Macdonald Building at $99 million. The more modern La Promenade, which at the end of its life cycle required a significant upgrade, was rehabili tated from 2007 to 2010 for $73 million. To date, approximately 1,800 employees have been relocated and 78,695 square metres of space is being, or has been, renovated. Construction Management Manages Complexity

To move designs from concept to construction, new thinking was employed. Rather than following the contracting route that has typically been employed by the Parliamentary Precinct Branch, a construction management process was adopted for the LTVP’s major projects. The hiring of a construction management firm helps to provide constructability advice and allows construction to commence in advance of completing contract documents. This method allows designers and contractors to work together, permitting a more harmonious interpretation of the design during construction, an essential component when rehabilitating heritage buildings. Construction management also enables multiple construction firms to simultaneously work on the site while maintaining clear responsibility for health and safety, ensuring work can proceed efficiently. This is critical to completing these major projects on time and on budget. The Road Ahead

The completion of the current rehabilitation projects, as well as others in and around Parliament Hill, will in turn enable the Centre Block to be rehabilitated. Lessons learned will be incorporated into upcoming projects. The first key step in the rehabilitation of the Parliamentary Precinct—the development of the comprehensive strategy—will continue to guide projects to come and its realization will help to ensure the future sustainability of Parliament Hill as a national treasure, a centre of government and a well-visited tourist destination— a true legacy for all of Canada. CA To follow the rehabilitation of Parliament Hill, please visit www.parliamenthill.gc.ca. Architect Pierre-Marc Mongeau was the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Parliamentary Precinct Branch at Public Works and Government Services Canada from June 2010 to April 2013. He is currently the Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Branch, Public Works and Government Services Canada.

34 canadian architect 06/13

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CALL TO DESIGN TEAMS

NATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION Location: Ottawa Opens: May 16, 2013 Deadline: September 4, 2013 canadascapital.gc.ca/holocaust-monument

NEWS (continued from page 13)

Association of Architects this year in Halifax from June 5-8, 2013. American architect Ed Feiner, Hon. FRAIC, is among the leading experts in US public building design and planning and has held the most senior professional architectural position in the United States government. He has received the AIA Thomas Jefferson Award for public architecture and the United States Government Distinguished Service Award, and currently serves as Director of the Perkins+Will Design Leadership Forum. Prestigious Pritzker Prize recipient in 2011, Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, Hon. FRAIC, has completed over 60 spectacular and innovative buildings, leaving his mark in Portugal and throughout Europe. The 2013 RAIC Fellows are as follows. From the Atlantic region: Malcolm R. Boyd, FRAIC; James Philip Dumaresq, FRAIC; Sydney Philip Dumaresq, FRAIC; Ole Hammarlund, FRAIC; Marie Thérèse LeBlanc, FRAIC; Steven Stuart Mannell, FRAIC; Robert J. Ojolick, FRAIC; and Donald Sterritt, FRAIC. From Quebec: André Cousineau, FIRAC and François Hogue, FIRAC. From Ontario North and East & Nunavut: Ritchard Brisbin, FRAIC; David Caulfeild, FRAIC; James Wesley Farrow, FRAIC; Rick MacEwen, FRAIC and

Liza Medek, FRAIC. From Ontario SW: Christopher Borgal, FRAIC; Roberto Chiotti, FRAIC; Gerrie Doyle, FRAIC; Ralph Giannone, FRAIC; Robert Glover, FRAIC; Mary Jo Hind, FRAIC; Allen E. Larden, FRAIC; Luigi LaRocca, FRAIC; Alice Liang, FRAIC; Ivan Martinovic, FRAIC; Jon Neuert, FRAIC; Maureen O’Shaughnessy, FRAIC; Lisa Ann Rapoport, FRAIC; and Michael H.K. Wong, FRAIC. From Manitoba: Arthur Ernest Martin, FRAIC. From Alberta/Northwest Territories: James Alden Dykes, FRAIC; Samuel Oghale Oboh, FRAIC; James Scott Pickles, FRAIC; and Katherine Ann Wagner, FRAIC. And finally, from British Columbia/ Yukon: Veronica Gillies, FRAIC; Karl W. Gustavson, FRAIC; Scott M. Kemp, FRAIC; Farouk Noormohamed, FRAIC; and Kim Smith, FRAIC. http://festival.raic.org/index_e.htm Canadian Wood Council announces opportunity for high-rise wood demonstration projects.

The Canadian Wood Council (CWC) has issued a request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Canadian developers, institutions, organizations and design teams willing to undertake an innovative approach to designing and building

high-rise wood demonstration projects. With funding support from Natural Resources Canada, the goal of this initiative is to link new scientific advances and data with technical expertise to showcase the application, practicality and environmental benefits of innovative woodbased structural building solutions. The objective of the EOI is to identify building project(s) in the concept, schematic or design development stages, within Canada, which safely and successfully demonstrate the use of wood as a viable structural element/system in buildings of 10 storeys and more. Above and beyond the safety, environmental and economic benefits of wood, the demonstration project(s) will push designers, builders and manufacturers to further refine the specification and use of structural wood products—ultimately expanding upon the opportunity for new market development. This is the first step of an exciting new CWC initiative to identify the paramount selection of project(s) within Canada for consideration by an expert evaluation team of scientists, researchers, building code officials, fire safety professionals, designers, engineers and construction industry experts. www.cwcdemoproject.ca 06/13 canadian architect

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Calendar Toronto Architecture Tours

May 13-October 6, 2013 The Toronto Society of Architects’ guided walking tours feature iconic buildings designed by world-renowned architects. The design context, details and unusual features that make these buildings notable will be explained. www.torontoarchitecturetours.com The Intersection of Art and Architecture in City Building

June 4, 2013 This presentation and panel discussion at EPCOR Centre’s Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary features world-renowned artist Jaume Plensa and architect James Barnes of Foster + Partners. publicart@calgary.ca Canada Green Building Council National Conference and Expo

June 4-6, 2013 This year’s conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre features the theme of Building Lasting Change, and focuses on how buildings and com-

munities should be planned with sustainable longevity in mind. www.cagbc.org Modern Home Tour Toronto

June 8, 2013 A tour of modern homes in Toronto features the Hugo Aven ue Residence by Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited, and the Albany and Walmer Road Residences by PLANT Architect Inc. http://toronto.modernhometours.com Transforming & Revitalizing the Downtown Summit

June 12-13, 2013 This event at the Westin Hotel in Edmonton enables attendees to make communities more liveable and sustainable by creating new public spaces, im proving transit options and utilizing innovative design strategies. www.revitalizingdowntowns.net Atlantic Real Estate Forum

June 18, 2013 This event at the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre will provide valuable in-

sights on the trends, issues, strategies and opportunities in what is becoming one of Canada’s strongest regional economies. www.realestateforums.com Canadian Urban Forum

June 18-19, 2013 This forum at the University of Ottawa features leaders from across Canada who will identify new models for tomorrow’s infrastructure. Speakers include MPP Glen Murray, City of Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, and Andrew Haughwout, VP of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. www.canadianurbanforum.eventbrite.com The Stop’s Night Market

June 18-19, 2013 This fundraising event in support of The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto brings together chefs and one-ofa-kind food carts created by local designers such as the Brothers Dressler and Tinsel & Sawdust. http://nightmarket.thestop.org

West Coast Points East: Ron Thom and the Allied Arts

July 4-September 21, 2013 This exhi bition at the West Vancouver Museum unfurls the story of West Coast architect Ron Thom, showing the provenance and influences of his creative process, with drawings, artifacts and other materials exhibited for the very first time. www.westvancouvermuseum.ca Sustainable Design: A Critical Guide

July 6, 2013 Part of the Philosophy Café series at Shelf Life Books in Calgary, this 10:00am discussion features David Bergman’s book, one of the Architectural Briefs series published by Princeton Architectural Press. www.shelflifebooks.ca For more information about these, and additional listings of Canadian and international events, please visit www.canadianarchitect.com

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BACKPAGE

Pop Rocks

The second iteration of a soft sculpture installation successfully activates an important public space on the University of British Columbia campus. TEXT

Leslie Jen Krista Jahnke

PHOTO

Things are looking a bit rocky on the University of British Columbia campus these days, and that’s because Pop Rocks has made a soft but welcome landing on Main Mall, the primary axis of the ever-expanding university grounds. The result of a collaborative effort between AFJD Studio (Amber Frid-Jimenez and Joe Dahmen) and Matthew Soules Architecture, the installation is the second iteration of an initiative begun last year, when the City of Vancouver commissioned the team to design a temporary space downtown for residents and visitors to “sit and recline, sunbathe and eat, and interact and play”—on a heavily trafficked stretch of Robson Street that divides the Vancouver Art Gallery from Arthur Erickson’s Law Courts. A curious assemblage of what looks to be a cluster of amorphous white beanbags to which passersby are irresistibly drawn, the soft forms recall the scale and whimsy of Pop artist Claes Oldenburg’s iconic giant hamburger sculptures from the 1960s. Pulled out of storage and refreshed for its second unveiling only a few weeks ago, Pop Rocks invites all to flop their weary selves down to soak up the idyllic surroundings, look up at the sky or across to the North Shore mountains—while inhaling the re38 canadian architect 06/13

The lure of Pop Rocks proves irresistible, encouraging passersby to stop for a rest ful break on the UBC campus—all while making good use of 100% post-industrial waste.

ABOVE

storative fragrance of lush spring blooms. The pale alien forms are installed prominently in front of the clock tower and library on Main Mall, the defining pedestrian-only thoroughfare of a sprawling campus peppered with a spate of new buildings. Kind of like Chicken McNuggets, these giant yielding cushions comprise three unique shapes: bean, kelp and seed. The organicism of the forms seems fitting for this West Coast city, but was arrived at rather unexpectedly. In fact, the rigorous material explorations that drove the project took the team away from their initial intention of crafting more prismatic hard-edged boulder shapes, and the architect’s predictable bias towards strong geometries was sorely tested through this prolonged exercise. The distinct qualities of the chosen materials ended up dictating the resultant soft structures, and steered the trio in completely unanticipated directions—not unhappily, however. Fabricated entirely from post-consumer and post-industrial waste, the installation makes use of discarded Teflon-coated white fibreglass fabric that once formed the distinctive sails on the roof of Canada Place, Vancouver`s iconic waterfront megastructure. As one might expect, the fabric is incredibly durable and virtually indestructible. And despite its blinding white-

ness, the Teflon coating repels all manner of dirt and debris, and what does adhere can easily be blasted off with a pressure washer. Sewn by sailmaker Evolution Sails, the giant fibreglass bags were then filled with a loose aggregate of lightweight post-consumer expanded polystyrene beads from Mansonville Plastics, resulting in a collection of appealingly squishy and malleable blobs. Scattered here and there along the campus promenade, 12 of these soft “rocks” form a pillowy landscape—a defining focal point and locus for new kinds of social interaction. Aside from the laudable achievement of utilizing 100% post-consumer waste in a highly intelligent manner to create something of value to the city, Dahmen maintains that the primary satisfaction derives from the degree to which people enthusiastically engage with the installation, and the consequent appropriation and activation of public space by a variety of user groups. It is anticipated that Pop Rocks will continue to delight well into the fall season, until the relentless late autumn rain begins its onslaught. CA Other members of the Pop Rocks design team are Jen Boyle, Byron Chiang, Baktash Ilbeiggi, Warren Scheske and Derreck Travis. Structural engineering services were provided by Bevan Pritchard-Man.

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