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Bob Gundu

Ema Peter

community hubs 7 News

Thompson Rivers University reveals new law school building; Professional Prix de Rome awarded to Omar Gandhi.

26 Review

David Newton reviews the second installment of the Archaeology of the Digital exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

29 Report

Building Waterloo Region is an ambitious initiative that traces the concentration of award-winning buildings in Southwestern Ontario to its 19th-century architectural vernacular.

33 Calendar

14 Surrey Civic Centre Kasian and Moriyama & Teshima Architects address the explosive growth of this suburban community in British Columbia with a new sustainably designed municipal headquarters. TEXT Brent Toderian

All Beneath the Moon Decays at the Daniel Faria Gallery in Toronto; 2014 World Conference on Timber Engineering in Quebec City.

34 Backpage

20 Residence for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto

CCA MontrĂŠal

A home for 58 elderly nuns manifests in a materially unique and serpentining form that hugs the edge of the Don Valley. TEXT Kenneth Frampton

A new parkade by Bing Thom Architects in collaboration with Marshall Tittemore Architects is a surprisingly poetic addition to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology campus in Calgary.

COVER Surrey Civic Centre by Kasian in joint venture with Moriyama & TeshÂima Architects. Photo by Ema Peter.

v.59 n.08 The National Review of Design and Practice/The Journal of Record of Architecture Canada | RAIC

canadian architect 08/14

august 2014

Editor Elsa Lam, MRAIC Associate Editor Leslie Jen, MRAIC Biff Henrich/IMG_INK

canadian architect 08/14

Viewpoint

Editorial Advisor Ian Chodikoff, OAA, FRAIC Contributing Editors Annmarie Adams, MRAIC Douglas MacLeod, ncarb, MRAIC

Above Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Complex is one of several Buffalo projects recently restored with the aid of tax incentives from multiple levels of government.

Buffalo, New York—often known for spicy chicken wings and raucous hockey games—is building a new reputation as an epicentre for historic renovation projects. Incentivized by tax breaks, foundations and developers are leaping in to restore the city’s 19th- and 20th-century architectural treasures. The Martin House Complex, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed composition of residential buildings, shines among recent success stories. For decades following the death of its original owner, the property suffered from benign neglect. In 2002, a $50-million restoration project was initiated. Due for completion this year, the ambitious scope included demolishing three apartment buildings constructed on the estate in the 1960s, rebuilding a skylit greenhouse, creating a new visitors’ pavilion by Toshiko Mori, as well as extensive interior upgrades and restoration work on the main house. “The funding is half public, half private,” explains Mary Roberts, executive director of the Martin House Restoration Corporation. On the public side, a key source is the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, which since 1976 has offered a 20% tax credit for the rehabilitation of buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. A linked state tax credit program, established in 2006, kicks in an additional 20%. The Martin House also benefits from programs such as access to a state-run preservation facility, which is restoring the estate’s historic furniture. These, along with other grants, are seen as investments in the regional economy: the restored property is expected to attract up to 84,000 visitors annually, generating $17.6 million in local tourism dollars each year. Other cultural projects in the area have also benefited from federal and state incentive programs. Graycliff, a Wright-designed summer home for the Martins, is in the final stages of restoration. The Guaranty Building by Louis Sullivan was completely renovated, inside and out, following a fire. The sprawling Richardson-Olmsted Complex, a former asylum, is being adaptively reused as a hotel and con ference centre, a $76-million undertaking. A grassroots group is exploring possibilities for revamping Grand Central Terminal, a

Regional Correspondents Halifax Christine Macy, OAA Regina Bernard Flaman, SAA Montreal David Theodore Calgary Graham Livesey, MRAIC Winnipeg Lisa Landrum, MAA, AIA, MRAIC Vancouver Adele Weder

Publisher 500,000-square-foot train station at the edge Tom Arkell 416-510-6806 of downtown. A restoration of the complete Account Manager Faria Ahmed 416-510-6808 building is expected to cost $100-$120 million, Circulation Manager says executive director Marilyn Rodgers, who Beata Olechnowicz 416-442-5600 ext. 3543 is already planning for the project to meet fedCustomer Service Malkit Chana 416-442-5600 ext. 3539 eral historic restoration guidelines in order to Production qualify for tax credits. Jessica Jubb Graphic Design Developers have been in the game as well, Sue Williamson converting older commercial buildings into Vice President of Canadian Publishing Alex Papanou apartments and office space. The historic President of Business Information Group Lafayette Hotel was put back into use with Bruce Creighton the help of $8 million in tax credits for the Head Office 80 Valleybrook Drive, $42-million project. The former Alling & Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 Cory warehouse was turned into student apartTelephone 416-510-6845 Facsimile 416-510-5140 ments, using $3.24 million in tax credits for E-mail editors@canadianarchitect.com Website www.canadianarchitect.com the $15-million project. $4.7 million in credits helped in the $28.3-million restoration of the Canadian Architect is published monthly by BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian information Buffalo General Electric Headquarters into company with interests in daily and community newspapers and businessto-business information services. Class A office space. The editors have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and Last year, the state approved another 30 reauthoritative information, but they assume no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the text, or its fitness for any particular purpose. habilitation projects, and this spring, Buffalo’s Subscription Rates Canada: $54.95 plus applicable taxes for one year; $87.95 plus applicable taxes for two years (HST – #809751274RT0001). mayor rolled out a survey of 571 aging properPrice per single copy: $6.95. Students (prepaid with student ID, includes ties that would be eligible for historic restorataxes): $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. tion tax credits. Once rehabilitated, these legReturn undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Dept., Canadian Architect, 80 Valleybrook Dr, Toronto, acy buildings will add to the city’s vibrancy as ON Canada M3B 2S9. well as its property tax coffers. Postmaster: please forward forms 29B and 67B to 80 Valleybrook Dr, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9. Printed in Canada. All rights Canada would benefit from imitating the hisreserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the copyright owner. toric preservation incentives of our southern From time to time we make our subscription list available to select neighbours. A beginning was made in 2003, companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made when Parks Canada established federal stanavailable, please contact us via one of the following methods: dards and guidelines for preservation. “That was Telephone 1-800-668-2374 Facsimile 416-442-2191 really supposed to be the basis for starting up a E-mail privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca tax policy structure,” says Michael McClelland Mail Privacy Officer, Business Information Group, 80 Valleybrook Dr, Toronto, ON Canada M3B 2S9 of ERA Architects, a Toronto-based firm Member of the Canadian Business Press specializing in heritage buildings. But political Member of the ALLIANCE FOR AuditED MEDIA Publications Mail Agreement #40069240 will faltered, and federal incentives for restoraISSN 1923-3353 (Online) ISSN 0008-2872 (Print) tion currently consist of less reliable grants. Beyond making many projects feasible, the incentive programs in the United States raise Member of the quality of work and support heritage preservation as a shared value. “People jockey like crazy in the States to be on the National Register—it’s very prestigious, and the potential that they may get a significant grant is a serious deal,” says McClelland. If tax breaks can yield such spectacular results in Buffalo, We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical similar programs in Canada would change the Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. face of heritage across the nation. Inc.

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2014 Awards of Excellence Canadian Architect invites architects registered in Canada and architectural graduates to enter the magazine’s 2014 Awards of Excellence. Eligibility

Projects must be in the design stage, scheduled for construction or under construction but not substantially complete by September 18, 2014. All projects must be commissioned by a client with the intention to build the submitted proposal. All building types and concisely presented urban design schemes are eligible.

Judging Criteria

Awards are given for architectural design excellence. Jurors will consider the scheme’s response to the client’s program, site, and geographic and social context. They will evaluate its physical organization, form, structure, materials and environmental features.

Presentation

1. Anonymity. The designer’s name must not appear on the submission except on the entry form. The project name and location should be identified and MUST match the project name on this submission form. 2. Each entry must be securely fastened in a folder or binder of dimensions no greater than 14´´ x 17´´. One (1) copy of this entry form must be enclosed within an envelope and affixed to the front of each folder, without tape or adhesives. Clips are ideal. 3. Each project folder must include: a) first page—a brief description of the project (500 words or fewer) b) second page—a brief description indicating the project’s ability to address some or all of the following issues (1,000 words or fewer): i) context and/or urban design components ii) integration of sustainable design iii) innovation in addressing program and/or the client’s requirements iv) technical considerations through building materials and/or systems

c) drawings/images including site plan, floor plans, sections, elevations and/or model view 4. Please do not submit any material in CD, DVD or any other audio-visual format not confined to two dimensions, as it will not be considered.

Entry Fee

$100.00 per entry ($88.50 + $11.50 HST). Please make cheques payable to Canadian Architect. HST registration #809751274RT0001.

Publication

Winners will be published in a special issue of Canadian Architect in December 2014. Winners grant Canadian Architect first publication rights for their winning submissions.

Awards

Framed certificates will be given to each winning architect team and client. Details to follow upon notification of winners.

Notification of Winners

Award winners will be notified after judging takes place in October 2014.

Deadline

Entries will be accepted after August 7, 2014 and will NOT be returned. Send all entries to arrive by 5:00pm on Thursday, September 18, 2014 to:

Awards of Excellence 2014 c/o Leslie Jen Canadian Architect 80 Valleybrook Drive Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S9

Name of Project Name of Firm Address City & Province Telephone E-mail Architect/Architectural Graduate submitting the project Signature according to the conditions above

Client Client Telephone

Postal Code

Projects

The first new law school in Canada in 30 years has opened its new home at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, British Columbia. The design by Diamond Schmitt Architects revitalizes an existing campus building known as the Old Main with an iconic two-storey addition that provides 45,000 square feet of state-of-the-art learning space. Inspired by the natural surroundings and First Nations heritage that inform TRU’s identity, the building features an undulating, 400-footlong roof that echoes the landscape and shades the south façade, allowing for expansive glazing to bring daylight and views deep into the program areas. The Old Main Addition is organized with double-height spaces on the south side for the reading room and main teaching rooms, while two floors house the law library and offices on the north side. Designed with structural engineers Fast+Epp and fabricators StructureCraft Builders, the prefabricated roof panels were constructed using glulam beams, wood joists and plywood sheathing, requiring innovative thinking to comply with the building code. The projecting roof soffit is clad in cedar between exposed glulam beams and appears from ground level as a flowing ribbon of wood against the curtain-wall façade. The two existing floors of Old Main have been reclad in cement-board planks that form curving bands that reference First Nations basketweaving traditions. Two cedar-clad canopies provide prominent new entrances and create a dialogue with the soaring roof above. A glass elevator tower at the north entrance acts as a beacon to complete the $20.2-million transformation of the existing building. A central atrium from north to south provides a sense of arrival and orientation and is a focus for social gathering under a sweeping ceiling, complemented by a sculptural spiral stair. A central corridor divides the library, separating stacks from the reading room, while intimate classrooms and individual and group learning environments create the opportunity for interaction between students and faculty. Designed with associate architects Stantec Architecture, the project received the 2014 Honour Award for Excellence in Architecture for Building Additions or Adaptive Reuse from the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on Architecture for Education. CannonDesign’s Collider opens at Western University.

Western University recently opened The Collider at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), and serves as an intellectual, social and communal hub where Western’s research-

tyler meade

New building for Thompson Rivers Uni versity’s Faculty of Law opens.

ABOVE The revitalized and expanded building for a new law school at Thompson Rivers University is inspired by the landscape of the BC Interior and First Nations heritage. The most striking feature of the building, the undulating roof is constructed from prefabricated panels comprised of glulam beams, wood joists and plywood sheathing.

ers will collaborate with industry partners and accelerate innovation with a special focus on renewable energy and transportation. As the physical structure housing a unique multishareholder partnership between Western University, the City of London and Fanshawe College, The Collider will empower researchers to capitalize on the power of these relationships while forming a magnet for the various research-intensive buildings already in existence at the AMP. An atrium links the academic research programs to commercially leased space that can also host ampitheatrestyle functions. The creation of a shared stair and one shared corridor for all users also promotes interaction and creative “collisions.” The building’s interior is conceived holistically with the exterior through a “ribbon” parti wrapping itself into the interior, terminating at the social stair that bridges the two floors. Light, privacy and security were inherent in the planning of the interior, with organized bands of dense private program toward the rear of the building and a light-filled public “display bar” corridor along the front of the building. “The architecture acts as both an armature for inno vation and a fulcrum for the growth of a dynamic campus,” said Andrew King, CannonDesign’s Canadian design principal. Manon Asselin-led team to design Saint-Jérôme concert hall.

The architectural team selected to oversee the design and construction of a new concert hall in Saint-Jérôme is Manon Asselin and Jodoin Lamarre Pratte (architects in consortium). Having won many architectural competitions, the winning team, headed by architect Manon Asselin, has participated in the design and construction of several projects including the

Théâtre Vieux-Terrebonne, the Bibliothèque Raymond-Lévesque in Longueuil and more recently, the Fifth Pavilion for the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Montreal. Following the call for submissions, three finalist firms were announced in April and asked to submit an architectural concept. The jury was particularly impressed by the multidisciplinary consortium’s approach and its proposed design, which fits perfectly with the site and creates an iconic presence. The use of wood and numerous ecological strategies, including geothermal energy, are among its strengths. The team is currently preparing plans and specifications for the project, expected to be complete by the end of autumn. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2015, and the concert hall is scheduled to open in September 2016. The 875-seat theatre is located close to Place de la Gare, on land donated by the Ville de Saint-Jérôme. The $21-million project benefits from a grant of $14.6 million from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. Design of future Champlain Bridge in Montreal revealed.

The Government of Canada recently revealed the design of the new bridge spanning the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. As technical advisor and engineers on the project, Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm with a reputation for delivering innovative and sustainable designs, was tasked with delivering a high-quality architectural design for the new bridge. Working closely with the Government of Canada, a team comprised of architects Dissing+Weitling of Denmark and Provencher Roy Associés Architectes of Montreal—with the support of Groupe SM for highway components—has created a unique

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canadian architect 08/14

news signature bridge design, sensitive to the needs of Montreal and with the appeal to become a new icon for the St. Lawrence River, the city of Montreal and Canada as a whole. The archi tectural features of the new three-kilometrelong bridge are poetic in their imagery, while respecting rigorously defined technical criteria required to achieve a 125-year lifespan. The curved alignment and sculptural piers create an instantly recognizable shore-to-shore design with the elegant main tower and its harp of cables adding a unique accent to the bridge. The design accommodates the long-term Quebec public transport plans by retaining the flexibility to run buses or a future light-rail train on a central transit corridor. Connectivity between the South Shore and Montreal is further enhanced with a multiple-use path over the bridge and viewing platforms both on and near the bridge that will showcase views of the city and the St. Lawrence River. The Arup team has also contributed to a new procurement approach with the Government of Canada, as this will be the first time that a Canadian public-private partnership procurement will include a defined design for a bridge which ensures that the architectural vision is realized in the finished product while leaving the freedom for innovation to the shortlisted consortia bidding to design, construct and operate the new bridge. http://provencherroy.ca/en/archives.html

Awards Professional Prix de Rome awarded to Omar Gandhi.

Omar Gandhi Architect Inc. of Halifax has won the Canada Council 2014 Prix de Rome prize. The $50,000 prize recognizes outstanding achievement in Canadian architecture and is awarded annually to a young architect or architectural firm to develop their skills and creative practice as well as work with specialists worldwide. Inspired by the maritime climate, Omar Gandhi’s winning project will explore how buildings respond to extreme weather and he hopes to develop progressive design strategies for regions of high precipitation. Gandhi remarked, “We are honoured by the support of our peers and grateful to the Canada Council for this contribution. With the Prix de Rome as our foundation, we can evolve our methodology and integrate a culture of research and experimentation into our practice to create architecture that responds to and engages within its environment.” The Prix de Rome funds will enable Gandhi to travel, consult with, and learn from specialists in Colombia, England, Scotland and the US. His areas of study will be in 3D modelling, innovative manufacturing techniques, biomimicry (nature-inspired innovation), rainwater recovery and sustainable strategies using

both traditional and contemporary architecture practices. Formed in 2010, Omar Gandhi Architect is a studio specializing in custom modern design, and has already won signi ficant acclaim including two Lieutenant Governor Awards in Architecture, and been named in Wallpaper* Magazine’s 2014 top 20 young architectural practices worldwide. Previously, Gandhi worked for Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects and Young + Wright Architects in Toronto, and MacKayLyons Sweetapple Architects in Halifax. He has undergraduate degrees in Architectural Studies from the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University, a Master’s degree from Dalhousie, and is currently a sessional instructor at the School of Architecture and Planning at Dalhousie. Born and raised in Brampton, Ontario, Gandhi now lives and works in Halifax. http://canadacouncil.ca/en/council/news-room/ news/2014/prix-de-rome-professional

D’Arcy Jones wins Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement.

Vancouver-based architect D’Arcy Jones is the 2014 winner of the Canada Council’s Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement. This annual award is given to an architect in the early stages of a career with outstanding creative talent and exceptional potential in

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architectural design. Jones is known for his award-winning projects throughout Canada. He heads a studio recognized for its fine craft sensibility—a reputation earned through collaborations with ceramic artists, traditional woodworkers, metal fabricators and industrial designers. On each project he weaves together construction and context, manipulating materials and space to create original buildings. Designed for a Toronto family, the Åbenbare House was featured in the April 2013 issue of Canadian Architect, followed in March 2014 by the Monte Clark Gallery in Vancouver. The Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement is awarded to either a practitioner of architecture or an architectural firm. The successful candidate must be in the early stages of a career or practice and must demonstrate both outstanding creative talent and exceptional potential in architectural design. He or she must demonstrate sensitivity to architecture’s allied arts, crafts and professions within the context of an integrated built environment. These include landscape architecture, interior design, furniture design, graphic design and decorative arts. The $10,000 award was established in 1990, in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts, by friends and colleagues of the eminent Canadian architect Ronald J. Thom. http://canadacouncil.ca/council/blog/2014/5questionsdarcy-jones

Bjarke Ingels Group and DIALOG win first place in Rethinking the Future Awards.

The winners of the Rethinking the Future Awards 2014 were recently announced, and Bjarke Ingels Group and DIALOG won the first-place award in the Mixed Use Concept category for their soon to be realized Beach + Howe development in Vancouver. The project is described as creating sufficient critical mass to create a complete neighbourhood with the inclusion of office and work spaces, rental housing, market housing and retail including a grocery store, drugstore, banking services and restaurants along with other services such as sports clubs, daycares and mini-storage facilities. The site is a particularly challenging one, situated beside and under a bridge, and the development will mark the gateway into the city’s dynamic downtown. The form of the tower is generated by a thoughtful and specific response to the site, combining an extraordinary architectural form and expression with an extraordinary structural solution. The tower and base are a reinvention of the local typology, and the building aims to preserve view cones through the city while activating the pedestrian street. A network of ramps and stairwells connect the surrounding activated streetscapes with raised intimate internal plazas that serve as both visual amenity and informal gathering space. The competition drew registrations from 83 coun-

tries in the following broad categories: Residential Building, Public Building, Institutional Building, Commercial Building, Urban Design, Landscape Design, Interior Commercial, Interior Corporate and Interior Residential. www.re-thinkingthefuture.org/portfolio/neighbourhoodbjarke-ingels-group-and-dialog/

Competitions Symbiotic Cities International Design Ideas Competition.

DIALOG is sponsoring the 2014 Symbiotic Cities International Design Ideas Competition entitled “Urban Transformations: Designing the Symbiotic City.” Open to planners, urban designers, architects, landscape architects, engineers and ecologists, the competition challenges participants to transform existing cities into more resilient, climate-adaptive, regenerative and symbiotic cities. “Over the next 25 years, cities and the ecosystems they are an integral part of, face enormous challenges,” says DIALOG principal Craig Applegath. “The combined and interacting forces of climate change, fossil fuel depletion, deforestation, collapsing fisheries, and exponential human population growth will create unprecedented challenges for humanity, and our planet. The Symbiotic Cities International Design Ideas Competition is intended to generate critical

INNOVATIVE solutions for unique and vibrant social infrastructure

Jasper Place Library Edmonton, Alberta

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news thinking and discussion around these issues.” Using some combination of diagrams, sketches, 2D and 3D drawings, and accompanied by an explanatory narrative, participants are asked to explore and develop planning and design concepts for transforming the city that they live in into a regenerative symbiotic city adapted to a climate-changing environment. Design concepts should explore key environmental problems associated to the city and transform ecologically destructive urban systems into regenerative symbiotic systems. Entries are due by September 21, 2014. www.symbioticcities.net

Second annual Duravit designer dream bath competition invites submissions.

Duravit USA, Inc. has announced its second annual Designer Dream Bath Competition. The program invites architects and designers to imagine their ideal bath space using a selection of Duravit collections, which include Vero, DuraStyle and Happy D.2. Participants are asked to use their own bathroom as a basis for their designs, and must submit a rendering or sketch illustrating the potential transformation with the implementation of Duravit products. The winner will be awarded the Duravit items used in his or her project up to a value of $15,000. Designers must submit two views minimum (rendering or sketch and floor plan)

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from the resources of Zeidler’s offices in Toronto, Victoria, London (UK), Berlin, Beijing, Chengdu and Abu Dhabi. Zeidler’s senior partners Vaidila Banelis and Tarek El Khatib join Jean Guy Beliveau, Stephen Bugbee, Bill Mitchell and Catherine Richardson, partners at BKDI, to form the new partnership group.

What’s New

Álvaro Siza donates architectural archive to the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

www.duravit.us/competition

Zeidler Partnership Architects’ Calgary office merges with BKDI Architects.

Zeidler Partnership Architects’ Calgary office has merged with BKDI Architects. Called Zeidler BKDI Architects, this new partnership is a natural transition from Zeidler and BKDI’s 15-year history of joint collaboration as a registered collaborative firm working in Alberta. In effect since July 1, 2014, this merger formally recognizes the blend of talents, joint philosophy and experience of a multi-jurisdictional professional practice. At this time, they are working with Cadillac Fairview on the 1.75million-square-foot mixed-use Calgary City Centre development. The principles of designing attractive spaces for people that respond to rapid advances in industry-specific knowledge continue to guide their work. The merger enables the firm to provide a broader set of services to their clients. Zeidler BKDI Architects is a firm of 70 staff in Calgary, and will draw

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Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, recipient of the Pritzker Prize in 1992 and the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2012, has donated a large part of his architectural archive to the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal. Born in 1933, Siza emerged in the late 1950s at the forefront of developing a new architectural language adapted to the cultural and social context of Portugal. The Siza archive at the CCA comprises projects representing his life-long interest and study of houses, housing and cityplanning, as well as designs for cultural centres, museums and universities throughout Europe, Asia and South America. The material includes sketches, drawings and study models, as well as related digital files, correspondence and documentary photographs. The CCA will catalogue and store the materials, making them accessible to scholarly research. www.cca.qc.ca

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Advocacy, influencing government policy at all levels The promotion of excellence in architecture Continuing education offerings and practice support

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City Room A new city hall and civic plaza are at the heart of suburban Surrey’s growing downtown core. Surrey Civic Centre, Surrey, British Columbia Kasian in joint venture with Moriyama & Teshima Architects Text Brent Toderian Photos Ema Peter Project

ArchitectS

One of the biggest challenges of our generation will be addressing the sustainability of North America’s suburbs. The majority of Canada’s population growth continues to occur in suburbia, and despite the deserved attention being given to the renaissance of urban places, there’s little indication that the suburbs are going away any time soon. But suburbia is changing—particularly through the creation of new suburban “downtowns.” Surrey’s new City Hall, designed by a joint venture of Toronto-based Moriyama & Teshima and Vancouver-based Kasian, is a touchstone case. Arguably, nowhere in Canada is suburban urbanization more rapid and ambitious than in the Surrey City Centre development. In fact, it’s not really fair to call this evolving area suburban anymore. For Surrey, having its new City Hall in the emerging City Centre was both a powerful symbolic statement and a highly pragmatic decision. Surrey’s former City Hall was quintessentially suburban in both design and location, and relocating the new City Hall to the core has been a key move in turning it into a real downtown. City Hall’s new location

Opposite The soaring atrium of Surrey City Hall flows into the adjacent plaza. Both are generously proportioned for flexible uses in festivals, performances, and other community events. Above Creating a bold identity, the building appears to be wrapped by a single sheet of Douglas fir-lined concrete.

places it close to transit, businesses, emerging high-density housing, and the regional Main Street. Surrey wants residents, consultants and developers to have easy access to City Hall. And it wants City Hall to be an anchor for its Civic Precinct, the heart of the City Centre. Spurred on by Mayor Dianne Watts and a successful development mechanism in the form of the Surrey City Development Corporation, the Civic Precinct has been evolving piece by piece according to a highly flexible master plan. Even before the new City Hall was complete, the Precinct had been checking the right boxes—it includes a satellite university campus full of students, easy transit access from both SkyTrain stations and a busy feeder bus system, and civic facilities including an acclaimed new public library designed by Bing Thom of BTA Architects (see CA, September 2012). Future plans for the area include an arena, recreation centre, connection to a new LRT line, and increased housing—the goal is to double the City Centre population from 28,000 to 50,000 by 2026. As Kasian’s Michael McDonald puts it, each design change adds to “the choreography and sequencing of movement that’s evolving like a dance.” Ironically, in the early months of City Hall’s occupancy, transit accessibility was a double-edged sword. On one hand, the new City Hall location was easily accessible via SkyTrain, and by what city staff say is a surprisingly efficient bus service on the Fraser Highway. The new Hall

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Surrey Civic Centre

Future Development along University Drive

Phase 3 Residential Tower Future Development Under Construction

City Centre Library

Civic Centre Plaza and Commons

SkyTrain 2050 Master Plan Surrey Central Station Future Development

Future Development and Performing Arts Centre

Central City/SFU Surrey

ABOVE, clockwise from top Sculpted openings adorn the west façade, which continues the street edge formed by Bing Thom’s neighbouring library; the building’s north façade looks toward a planned high-rise residential district; Surrey City Hall caps the Precinct’s pedestrian spine. Opposite Oversized steps, a green wall, and an adjacent café invite pedestrians to linger near City Hall’s plaza entrance.

is even credited as a recruitment advantage for some departments, particularly since many staffers live in other parts of the region, including Vancouver. On the other hand, many long-serving staff were used to the ample surface parking in the suburban location, and didn’t live in areas near transit lines. Even more frustrating for them, free parking is now a thing of the past as the City incentivizes staff to take public transit. Some senior staff have even chosen early retirement, supposedly because of the change in location, but City leadership see that as part of a natural turnover that was already occurring. Whatever the effects, the shift to a transit-oriented civic location—and in time a walkable and bikeable one as the Precinct’s pedestrian corridor, sidewalks and cycle lanes take further shape—was deliberate and vision-driven, and the City is unapologetic. If a pedestrian corridor is the spine of the Precinct, then the new City Hall Plaza, constructed as part of Kasian and Moriyama & Teshima’s design, is intended to be the heart of its public realm. Mayor Watts championed a space that could host large civic gatherings. The ample plaza was inspired in size and scale, McDonald says, by Venice’s grand Piazza San Marco. Any plaza of this size is a challenge to animate on a daily basis, and this one is no exception. Although the library edge can be critiqued for its failure to provide an active, or even a landscaped threshold, with City

Hall, a concerted effort has been made to activate the plaza. A six-storey-high glazed wall connects its main atrium to the public square at grade, and broad oversized steps serve as prime seats overlooking the plaza. A living wall adjoins these steps, adding greenery and creating a pleasant microclimate for lingering. Tucked alongside, a café is designed to spill out into the public space. According to City planning manager Don Luymes, a future mixed-use tower will add shops and restaurant patios along the plaza’s eastern edge. Hidden underneath the plaza is further infrastructure that provides the potential for daily animation. Fountain jets are embedded in the ground throughout the square, and a portion of the plaza accommodates skating in the winter season. Data and electrical points allow for regular farmers’ markets and festival stages. The effectiveness of these moves remains to be seen, and only when the population of the area reaches its planned goals will it be possible to tell whether the plaza can retain its vibrancy on those days when it isn’t being used for big events. The new City Hall itself is both striking and civic-minded. Schematically, the building is divided into three parts. A legislative east wing includes the Council Chamber and a suite of meeting rooms. The graniteclad back wall of the Chamber includes a wall of glass doors, rendering the deliberations of local legislators literally transparent to the public. The larger west side of the building, which tapers into a triangle to align with adjacent streets, houses administrative functions including all

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Section

Level 3

Level 2

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Level 1 1 council chamber 2 councillors’ meeting room 3 daycare 4 SERVICE counter 5 café

6 atrium 7 infinity pool 8 open office 9 daycare playground 10 shared meeting rooms

20 M

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staff offices. On the ground floor, service counters allow for intuitive access to day-to-day city functions such as paying bills. Joining the two programmatic halves, a soaring atrium dubbed the “City Room” ascends the entire height of the building. Skylights add to the luxurious sense of volume. Floor-to-ceiling glazing on both ends transforms the atrium into an inviting passageway between 104th Avenue and the Civic Plaza. A metallic sculpture of a flock of birds by Studio Roso, suspended around the level of the fourth storey, adds to the sense of airiness. Initially, staff were unsure what was allowed or expected in the space, but Luymes says that now, the atrium has “started to be lived in.” Staff routinely set up displays for City projects, and community groups can request to use the space for civic initiatives. A monumental cantilevered roof frames and unifies the building’s three volumes. The roof ’s striking underside, made from Douglas fir, creates a sense of warmth, particularly in its deep projection over the adjacent plaza. Wood is also used on the ceiling and walls of the City Room. Further blending plaza and atrium, the striated pattern of the pavers covering the plaza extend through the atrium, which is laid with tiles in identical grey and charcoal tones. The pattern, says Diarmuid Nash, lead architect with Moriyama & Teshima, alludes to the log booms in the Fraser River that once fuelled the regional economy. Along the western edge of the building, the roof wraps down to form a concrete wall, with angled elements surrounding windows of different shapes and sizes. These look into meeting and gathering areas for staff. The material and sculptural qualities mark the building as a cousin to Bing Thom’s library, whose entrance faces the same street. “One of the unique elements that we found in Surrey was the use of concrete as a finished material in contemporary civic building,” says Nash. “We felt that the corner of 104th and University Drive required a strong response, which is where we developed a concrete sculptural wall influenced as much by the spirit of Marcel Breuer’s work as the need to respond to a west elevation and the Surrey City Library.” Surrey City Hall is targeting LEED Gold certification, and includes many sustainable features. A green roof tops the building, and while not accessible, contributes to the building’s energy performance. It is heated and cooled in part with geothermal energy, as the entire Precinct is intended to be. Translucent glass fins provide shade to protect the building from excessive solar gain. The atrium is naturally vented, allowing heat to dissipate in the summer while encouraging air circulation throughout the building. From the beginning, a primary goal of the building design was to create airy spaces that allow natural light to penetrate deeply. This helps

The Council Chamber’s head table folds away for easy conversion into a performance space when meetings are not being held. Above, clockA view of the podium-level play area for the building’s daycare facility; counters adjacent to the atrium allow for easy access to city services; the daycare’s main indoor areas are situated at ground level. Opposite

wise from left

reduce energy costs, but more importantly it contributes to the liveability and comfort for occupants of the building. One staffer told McDonald, “I didn’t realize how natural light could change my life. I now go home each day with lots of energy, and I think it’s because of all that light.” Office spaces also include operable windows, and outdoor decks on the upper floors give employees greater access to light and fresh air. In true civic spirit, many of the main spaces were designed to serve multiple—and often public—functions. The Council Chamber in the legislative east wing doubles as a community space and performance hall, and the atrium is also intended for events and public uses that might spill over into the outdoor plaza in a seamless way. This flow between interior and exterior, along with related wayfinding, works well because of clear sightlines established between the component pieces of the puzzle throughout the Civic Precinct. The City smartly insisted on a daycare facility as part of the design, and its placement on the ground floor makes it easily accessible. One of the daycare’s outdoor play areas, perched on a raised podium wellconnected to the main plaza, has particular potential to become a muchloved space—offering children and their caretakers views of the activity below, while the joyful sound of their play drifts into the public square. The best indication of any building’s success is perhaps how the users feel about it, and Luymes says that “staff love working in the building.” In particular, they appreciate what the location affords them—the ability to get a coffee without jumping into their car, and to walk to a myriad of lunch spots. Mayor Watts believes that as much as $3 billion in private-sector investment will result from the City’s investments in the Civic Precinct,

including City Hall. The results, McDonald feels, will be seen as successful if what is built “feels like Surrey.” What this means continues to be defined, but clearly this will be a much more urban and lively Surrey than ever seen before. Surrey City Centre is a remarkable opportunity to build something authentic to the city’s future while providing the rest of Canada with a new model for what a successful, mixed-use suburban downtown might look like when it’s scaled for people and guided by a strong civic vision. In the meantime, Surrey’s new City Hall can already be considered a success—not just as a piece of architecture, but as a catalyst for the kind of city Surrey wants to be. Brent Toderian is a city planner and urbanist with TODERIAN UrbanWORKS. He is the founding President of the Council for Canadian Urbanism, and Vancouver’s former Chief City Planner. He writes for numerous publications and is a regular columnist on city-making with CBC Radio. Follow him on twitter @BrentToderian.

Client Surrey City Development Corporation | Architect Team MICHAEL MCDONALD, DIARMUID NASH, CHEI-WEI TAI, KRISTALINA DINOVSKY-KUTEV, BRUCE O’REGAN, JASON MORIYAMA, CHRIS JETTE, FIONA RIMMER, DANA GRAF, LIANA SERBAN, ALAN NAKASKA, FRANCOIS RIVERIN, ROBERT PARTRIDGE, JUAN CACHO, DEB DAY, PAUL AQUILINA, JAY PATEL, JOHN BLAKEY, ROY GILL, STEVE CULVER, CHRISTIAN SIMIONESCU, BORIS PAVICEVIC, ALLAN YEE, CHRIS ERTSENIAN, WILL KLASSEN | Structural READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN | Mechanical/Electrical MCW CONSULTANTS LTD. | Landscape MORIYAMA & TESHIMA PLANNERS | Interiors KASIAN | Contractor PCL | LEED MORRISON HERSHFIELD | Structural Glazing READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN | Civil APLIN + MARTIN | Acoustics BROWN STRACHAN ASSOCIATES | Envelope MORRISON HERSHFIELD | ode GAGE-BABCOCK & ASSOCIATES LTD. | Audio-Visual ENGINEERING HARMONICS | Lighting EOS LIGHTMEDIA Co. | Area 17,550 m2 (excluding parking) | Budget $120 M | Completion April 2014

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Bob Gundu

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Nun’s Sense

An undulating building on the edge of Toronto’s Don Valley provides a stunning sustainable home for the aging Sisters of St. Joseph. Residence for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. Text Kenneth Frampton Photos James Dow, Bob Gundu and Positive Imaging Project

Architect

There is a crucial moment in the maturation of any practice when the size and the genre of the commissions suddenly shift. This usually constitutes an opportunity to amplify a particular approach at a larger scale. At the same time, this shift presents a syntactical and ideological challenge to the architect, since such a change usually involves a move from the domestic to the public scale. And it often entails passing from an asymmetrical to a symmetrical parti. For Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe, this change in scale was fa-

cilitated by a transitional work, namely, the Integral House of 2009; a commission which combined an amply proportioned private house with a diminutive public function, that is, a salon for the accommodation of chamber concerts (see CA, February 2010). Shim-Sutcliffe invariably based their earlier works on asymmetrical compositions often elaborated so as to permit their realization as an orthogonal syntax in brick and timber. This dialectic between asymmetrical organization and rectilinear detailing would be consistently maintained in their domestic work

The city-facing south elevation of the Sisters’ residence is defined by Corten steel sunshading fins, accented with green powder-coated aluminum elements. A sculpted Corten canopy provides a sheltered drop-off location at the front entrance. The ground-floor sitting areas are popular gathering spaces for the residents, who occupy private rooms on the three floors above.

ABOVE

up to the Integral House, where it would be decisively departed from, in part because of the size and complexity of the brief and in part because of the formal preferences of a mathematician client, who decided that his residence should, to some degree, incorporate the curves of differ ential calculus. The architects’ ultimate response was to opt for an amoeboid plan which, due to a steeply sloping site, steps down over five floors as the body of the house descends into a ravine. With their design for the Sisters of St. Joseph Residence in Toronto, completed mid-year 2013, the architects were confronted with a more overtly public platform. It was also a much larger structure—in fact, a nursing home for 58 elderly nuns. Even so, it had a number of things in common with the Integral House, above all, the plasticity of the overall form and the intimate relationship established with the self-same river

valley system—adjacent to one of those largely invisible ravines that run imperceptibly through the centre of Toronto. Like the Integral House, this “undulating” care facility has been discreetly influenced by the work of Alvar Aalto—primarily by his Baker Dormitory realized within the MIT campus along the Charles River in 1948. Like Baker Dorm, the Sisters of St. Joseph home has a serpentine plan and is treated in a different way on its two sides. It departs from the Aalto model in other respects, most notably perhaps in the continual curving of its footprint in plan and the shallowness of the slab, a condition largely imposed by the narrowness of the site. The ground floor accommodates the principal common spaces of the building, including the lobby, the elevator stack and a common lounge with direct access to the chapel. The circulation at this level culminates

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James Dow Bob Gundu

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ABOVE, top to bottom Opposite the main entrance, a reflecting pool surrounds the jewel-like chapel; a second pool adjoins the dining area to the south. Opposite The chapel draws from the tectonic language of Shim-Sutcliffeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Integral House, employing full-height vertical white oak louvres and suspended light fittings.

in the main dining room, the curved glazed front of which offers views over the Don Valley. The chapel is isolated from the main body of the building as a crystalline form standing free as a dematerialized doubleheight glass volume. The illusory weightlessness of this form is emphasized by its uncanny suspension above a reflecting pool. The upper floors are laid out as sequences of single suites, each one equipped with a full bath or walk-in shower. Conceived as an integral part of a comprehensive sustainable provision for the entire building, each unit also has its own heat pump and means of temperature control. In addition, the building is extensively equipped with solar panels, rain collection systems, geothermal heating and cooling, and is topped off by a green roof and a permeable finish to the parking lot. Each individual room has an operable window affording the possibility of direct contact with the outdoors, thereby overriding the systematic feedback system. The significant common amenity on the second floor is a sitting room, extending through the deeper part of the slab with a mezzanine link connection to the double-height volume of the chapel. Overall, the undulating plan of the slab effectively creates three segments, two of which are single-loaded corridors serving self-contained suites. These wings are separated by a deeper segment that is largely occupied by common space on the ground and second floors; on the top two floors, the central segment is taken up by a short sequence of single suites and amenity spaces lining both sides of a central corridor. This ingenious arrangement necessitated setting back the top two floors of the building, yielding a roof terrace adjacent to the chapel. As we have already remarked, the overall mass of the form is treated differently on its opposing flanks. The northern aspect of the undulating slab is handled as a three-storey continuity in brick, suspended above full-height glazing, and pierced at intervals by horizontally proportioned windows. The southern aspect, mostly lined with singleloaded corridors, is shielded from the sun by a vertical brise-soleil. In effect, the building appears on one side as a three-storey brick face, whereas on the other side the same three floors are unified by the brise-soleil, articulated into two tiers: a two-storey segment in rusted Corten steel sits on top of a single-storey segment in powder-coated green aluminum fins. In certain sequences, the green finish overlaps the Corten fins, creating a syncopated effect in relation to the curving form of the slab. The counterpoint between rusted steel and green pigment emphasizes the dynamic movement of the south faĂ§ade in a vibrantly tactile manner. This continuous relief is related at the material level to

James Dow

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Section A—chapel

Third Floor—Assisted living

Second Floor—long-term care

the thin, aerodynamically profiled Corten steel canopy cantilevering over the main entrance. The completely glazed chapel on the garden side of the building is airily framed out in steel with vertical steel tubes and a cantilevered wood-clad balcony projecting out into the main volume. This assembly is largely dematerialized, save for the reflectivity of the glass and the treatment of the interior with its full-height vertical white oak louvres, suspended light fittings, bespoke chairs designed by the architects, and various accoutrements of a discreetly liturgical character. One has to say that the overall effect is somehow surprisingly Swedish circa 1950. It is an ambience that could hardly be more removed from the traditional representation of the sacred in monasteries. Despite the honorific pendant light fittings and the indispensable sacred reliqua ries with which the chapel has been furnished, there is nonetheless a latent secular spirituality—perhaps expressed most succinctly by the reflecting pool upon which the chapel appears to float. There nonetheless remains, in contrast to the lucidity, something of a tectonic nonsequitur in the freestanding concrete columns that articulate the space of the ground floor: there appears to be neither a manifest columnar rhythm, nor sufficient articulation of the soffit of the slab which would be capable of resolving the ambiguity of the concrete superstructure. Shim-Sutcliffe’s passage from small to large commissions and from timber and brick to reinforced concrete seems to have entailed a move away from the articulate tectonic of their timber-framed architecture. It is most likely that in their future work, this passage from orthogonal to organic, from small to large, and from wood to concrete, will be carried off by the architects with more resolved plastic invention and with their consummate skill. Kenneth Frampton is the Ware Professor of Architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

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Ground Floor and Site Plan

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1 ravine landscape 2 meadow grass 3 main entrance 4 lobby 5 dining room 6 chapel 7 reflecting pool 8 Taylor House

Bob Gundu Positive Imaging

James Dow

Corridors in the residential wings include operable windows at regular intervals, allowing for cross-ventilation through each room; a view of a typical suite, all of which are designed with comfort, simplicity and accessibility in mind; the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sinuous form cradles the central chapel and hugs the edge of the Don Valley ravine, affording expansive views to the Sisters who live within it.

Clockwise from top left

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Review

Digital Provocations Text

David Newton CCA Montréal unless otherwise noted

Photos

in the second installment of a three-part exhibition series, The CCA explores architecture’s experimentations with digital tools during the 1990s.

In every discipline there are important turning points—moments where new ideas and practices emerge that shift a discipline from a familiar trajectory into new and unexplored orbits. The careful excavation and analysis of these moments has the potential to offer a view into the deep structures, facts and desires that animate a field. The history of architectural thought is no different in this respect. In the current exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), an examination of the digital turn in architecture is underway. The display offers keen insight into architecture’s current relationship with the digital and tantalizes visitors with its possible futures. Archaeology of the Digital: Media and Machines is the second of three exhibitions put on by the CCA that explore the evolution of architecture’s engagement with digital tools and digital media. Curated by architect Greg Lynn and developed under CCA Director Mirko Zardini, the exhibitions are part of a multi-year research initiative to create a premier archival collection of digital architecture and to explore methods of presenting it. In the end, the CCA plans to assemble and archive digital and analogue materials documenting 25 seminal projects that have engaged digital technologies in meaningful, transformative ways. These projects span from the mid-1980s to the 2000s—a period considered pivotal by Lynn. Key to the thrust of the series, including its latest installment, is the concept of ”archaeology.” By this, Lynn and the CCA imply an ap-

proach to presenting these 25 projects that follows the metaphorical mold of how an archaeological site might be investigated: its material artifacts carefully unearthed layer by layer and exposed to the curious eyes of observers for interpretation. The underlying assumption is that the history of the digital turn in architecture has not yet been written or thoroughly understood, but urgently needs to be—a point certain to inspire debate in light of much scholarship on the topic in the last decade. Under the design direction of London and Lausanne-based Jonathan Hares, each exhibit in the series presents its cohort of chosen projects in a manner somewhat befitting of an archaeological site, or a crime scene. Presentation methods mix different media, interactive objects and working prototypes, emphasizing process and not just the final results. Those who enjoy a more open-ended, interpretive and interactive approach to exhibits will no doubt be compelled by the invitation to piece together the narrative that underlies each project. In Media and Machines, varied types of display are used to high effect in exhibiting six projects that pushed the boundaries of the discipline in the 1990s. The featured architects include Asymptote (Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture), NOX (Lars Spuybroek), Metaxy (Karl Chu), Objectile SARL (Bernard Cache, Patrick Beaucé), dECOi Architects (Mark Goulthorpe), and ONL (Kas Oosterhuis, Ilona Lénárd). In each case, they designed objects that pushed the boundaries of the discipline and were sometimes completely new to architecture: from wearable elec-

ONL

Asymptote

NOX

Opposite Karl Chu’s Catastrophe Machine, an automated drafting table used to represent mathematical principles, was rebuilt specifically for the CCA’s current exhibition. Above, clockwise from top Lars Spuybroek’s H2Oexpo, a visitors’ pavilion in the Netherlands, used interactive sound, lighting and curved surfaces to immerse visitors in an abstract representation of flowing water; NSA Muscle is a prototypical pneumatic room able to change its shape, built for an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in 2003; Asymptote’s Virtual Trading Floor sought to transform the New York Stock Exchange trading floor into a real-time infographic tool.

tronics to generative algorithms. This eclectic mix of design investigations resonates with the exuberance and conceptual memes of their time. The CCA exhibition presents visitors with a snapshot of a discipline productively disoriented, delirious, and looking for new principles to steady itself upon, amidst the throes of globalization, ubiquitous computation and the early internet era. This animated and speculative spirit is immediately apparent when entering the exhibition. In the first gallery, visitors are immersed in the world of Asymptote’s late-’90s design for the New York Stock Exchange Virtual Trading Floor and Command Center—a project that saw architects Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture experimenting with virtual environments, websites and wearable electronics (in addition to physical environments) to visualize the real-time data streams of the stock mar-

ket. The project is presented as a collection of artifacts meant to be interpreted and in some cases interacted with—original computer models, digital animations played on ’90s-era technology, digital videos, working drawings and client correspondences are all on display. The virtual reality models of the Trading Floor visually echo the computer-generated special effects of ’90s Hollywood. The silicon graphics-based visual pyrotechnics of the 1991 film Terminator 2 (T2) come to mind—a touchstone for both Lynn and architects of the time for its pioneering use of computers to model curved forms. The second room features NOX’s interactive H2Oexpo pavilion—a space that leverages advances in digital technologies to create an interactive immersive environment around the theme of water. Here, the role of the architect shifts into the realm of experience design and user inter-

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Review

Mark Goulthorpe

Bernard Cache/Collection FRAC Centre

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Clockwise from above A decorative wood panel manufactured by CNC machines, designed by Bernard Cache in 1998 as part of a furniture series; HypoSurface is a tessellated wall that moves in a fluid, wave-like manner in response to computer input; members of the dECOi Architects team test HypoSurface in preparation for an installation.

action, with architecture itself recast as active rather than passive. The dynamic and curvilinear forms of the H2Oexpo pavilion again echo the special effects used in ’90s films. Images of T2’s menacing villain, the amorphous mercury-sheened T-1000, dance in one’s head and find resonance in the pavilion’s blobby form. The project prefigures in some ways the many blobs to come in ’90s digital architecture. This attitude of experimentation continues to build heading into the rest of the exhibit. The sights and sounds of a running robotic drawing machine are a powerful focal point in the room dedicated to Karl Chu’s algorithmically driven experiments. An adjacent space glows with animations of Bernard Cache’s computer-controlled milling machines fabricating terrain-like furniture. Both spaces, along with their host of artifacts, provoke one to reflect on the question of authorship in the digital age. Chu and Cache’s work seems to suggest a vision of the architect not as maker of objects per se, but as a maker of digital processes that create objects. The role and responsibilities of the architect in the digital era is a theme that resonates throughout Media and Machines. Through the overlay of projects, Lynn suggests that there may be multiple answers to the question of how digital tools impact architecture—each project offers its own model of what architects do, what they make, and how they might define a practice in this era of ubiquitous computation. The final two rooms offer a dramatic bookend: a vision of architecture as malleable, dynamically deforming, and interactive. An early prototype of dECOi’s 1997 HypoSurface steals the show. Its tessellated surface hypnotically flutters and pulses with algorithmically induced waves, filling the room with a swooshing sound like ocean waves breaking on a metallic beach. In an adjacent room, the rhythmic flexing of a

working set of artificial muscles from ONL’s NSA Muscle project adds to the drama. ONL’s vision of architecture is seemingly imbued with the qualities of a biological organism, complete with its own moods and the hints of a personality. This climatic moment underscores the sense of exuberance and radical experimentation present throughout the entire exhibition vis-à-vis the digital. In embarking on its digital initiative, the CCA claims its place as a forward-looking institution. Its archaeological style of presentation is both informative and engaging—at the best of times creating an interactive experience that both architects and non-architects will find accessible and worthwhile. On the other hand, the historical aspirations of the series, while laudable in principle, ultimately saddle the exhibitions with baggage at times difficult to carry. Whether or not a new definitive history is offered by these 25 projects is debatable. It is undeniable, though, that the exhibitions offer a window into a piece of that history that one cannot obtain solely by reading about these projects in historical texts. As a nod to the ’90s milieu that imbues the exhibit, we might sum up the experience through the narrative arc of our time-travelling T2 hero—we feel transported to another time, shown a moment with multiple paths forward, and are left pondering how things might be different if those paths had been followed. This reviewer found himself wanting more from current preoccupations in digitally driven archi tecture, dreaming about the possible futures Media and Machines points towards. David Newton is an assistant professor at McGill University’s School of Architecture. His research is focused on the intersection of computer science, robotics and architectural design.

Courtesy Ball Construction archive

Founded on Factories Text

E Jay Beck

A set of summer exhibitions highlights waterloo region’s architectural innovation, dating back to the 19th century.

Waterloo Region, the 10th-largest population centre in Canada, has more Governor General’s Award-winning buildings (seven) than any city aside from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. More than Winnipeg, more than Ottawa. The area includes significant exemplary works by the country’s top firms: from Patkau Architects and KPMB to Saucier + Perrotte and MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects. The premise of Building Waterloo Region—an ambitious multi-site series of exhibitions that opened this summer—is that this concentration of excellence is directly linked to the region’s architectural vernacular, which was born from the rapid spread of industry in the 19th century. The eight parts of Building Waterloo Region revolve around three principal exhibitions: Ex Industria at the Idea Exchange, the gallery within the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge; ReMade at the former post office on Gaukel Street in Kitchener; and No Small Plans at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo. Additionally, there are five ancillary exhibitions, as well as public forums, walking tours and a lecture series. The institutions involved range from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, where a number of faculty and students have been heavily invested in research and curating, to the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Grand River Transit and Waterloo Region Museum, among many others. This broad array of sites, partners and participants is significant because the exhibi tion aims to trigger a region-wide reawakening. The message is that

Above Designed by Albert Kahn in 1914, the Dominion Tire Plant in Kitchener used reinforced concrete to create open floor plans with ample natural light. The factory still operates as a rubber-manufacturing facility.

there is a unique concentration of architectural excellence in this region that, until now, has not been fully appreciated. Project co-curators Esther Shipman and Eric Haldenby trace the seeds of the endeavour to an exhibit called Images of Progress held 18 years ago, showcasing the area’s architecture from 1946 to 1996. The premise of that show was that the large-scale postwar redevelopment of Kitchener-Waterloo, along with a second wave of redevelopment in the 1980s, had causes beyond the baby boom and the expansion of transportation infrastructure. “Waterloo Region starts with the mills,” Haldenby says, discussing how the thesis of Images of Progress is reprised in Ex Industria. The convergence of two large rivers was an ideal site for grist mills, which gave way to saw mills, then textile mills, which earned the area the moniker “the Manchester of Canada.” The arrival of the railway in the later decades of the 19th century made it more expedient to import raw materials and export products, while corporate consolidation throughout the region led to the construction of enormous factories. Population and wealth grew, but the region remained dominated by industrial architecture. There was a social reason for this: the Mennonite owners of local businesses lived austerely and the towns they presided over produced little residential or cultural architecture of note. The factories, however, were a different story. The industrial buildings of the 19th and early 20th centuries were free-plan jewels of exposed timber

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RAW Design is master-planning the renovation of the 1896 Lang Tanning building into a mixed-use facility that includes offices for Google. Modernization took hold of the region in a dramatic manner when Highway 401 was constructed, as seen in this view from 1960; Eastwood Collegiate, designed by Barnett & Rieder, received international attention when it opened in 1956.

ABOVE

Bottom, left to right

Following the Second World War, International Style Modernism spread beyond North America’s leading metropolises and Waterloo Region was quick to embrace it. The ReMade exhibit, anchored by two illuminated and frenetically active 3D models pointing to the profusion of regional construction in this era, looks at how the industrial vernacular of the region meshed with Modernism in a series of key buildings. Almost all the selected examples are schools, almost all by the local firm Barnett and Rieder. One of these—Eastwood Collegiate, featuring glass and steel considered bold for the region—was published internationally.

University of Waterloo Library, Charles Belair Negative Collection

and steel structure in concrete frames, punctured by enormous multipane windows. The fact that many survive to this day, still prevailing over the urban landscapes of Waterloo Region, testifies to the resources put into their construction. Ex Industria makes the case, in simple and direct terms, that industrial architecture is the vernacular of Waterloo Region by using scaled-up maps and heroically sized photographs. These serve to remind local visitors of the predominance that their industrial past holds in the present. Forget civic centres and public squares—factories were the cornerstones of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge throughout this era.

University of Waterloo Library, Kitchener Waterloo Record Collection

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John Shnier, Courtesy University of California Santa Barbara

A cross-section of the 1982 Seagram Museum project, designed by Barton Myers Associates Architects. Bottom, left to right An early massing sketch for Kitchener City Hall, built in 1989; the University of Waterloo School of Architecture occupies the former Riverside Silk Mills in Cambridge— the conversion was completed by LGA Architectural Partners in 2004.

ABOVE

pares their hand-drawn warmth to the Frigidaire uniformity of today’s computer-generated images will think to herself: that was a better time. Building Waterloo Region approaches, but does not does quite breach the present moment, when the grist mills, saw mills and textile mills have given way to high-tech mills. The region is currently transforming itself from the Manchester of Canada to Silicon Valley North. In the wake of Mennonite leadership, the titans of Blackberry enjoyed a long reign over the region’s economy, and are now ceding their place to a new generation of tech entrepreneurs. Companies from all over the world are setting up shop in close proximity to the University of Waterloo and its supply of star graduates—most notably Google, which occupies the former Lang Tannery and will shortly be expanding to the Breithaupt Block, formerly a rubber-manufacturing facility. So far, these businesses have chosen to refurbish existing industrial buildings as their headquarters. Should their presence grow as expected, they will make their mark on the architectural culture of the region and join their predecessors in a long line of Waterloo Region’s builders. Building Waterloo Region runs through to September. For more information and a schedule of events, please visit www.buildingwaterlooregion.ca. E Jay Beck is an architectural journalist based in Toronto.

Ben Rahn/A-Frame

Bruce Kuwabara, Courtesy KPMB

The most enticing component of Building Waterloo Region is No Small Plans. Situated in Patkau Architects’ enduringly appealing Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, this exhibition attempts to bring the thesis to the 1980s. The centrepiece of the room is a large-scale genealogical chart of contemporary Waterloo Region architecture. It designates Barton Myers’ Seagram Museum—a 17,000-square-foot, 40-foot-high room that formerly housed the Seagram Distillery—as the granddaddy that spawned the 1989 Kitchener City Hall competition, which itself launched a generation of construction from currently prominent firms. KPMB won the City Hall competition, citing the influence of Waterloo Region’s industrial vernacular as determinative of their Postmodern design; Alar Kongats went on to design the Hespeler Library, Saucier + Perrotte the Perimeter Institute, Stephen Teeple the University of Waterloo’s Matthews Hall—all of them groundbreaking projects (although the influence of industrial vernacular can seem abstract). Small pavilions dot the space, focusing on individual buildings, displaying the expected drawings and models along with sharply produced video interviews that thoughtfully elucidate the ideas behind the designs and are a credit to the architects as well as the interviewers. The standout is the display focused on Kitchener City Hall, with its collection of original drawings and watercolours from the competition entries. The artistically rendered images are of their era, but any viewer who com-

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The Pre-Raphaelite Legacy: British Art and Design May 20-October 26, 2014

This exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York highlights the second wave of the Pre-Raphaelite movement from the 1860s through the 1890s, centering on key figures Edward Burne Jones, William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and featuring paintings, drawings, furniture, textiles, stained glass and illustrated books. www.metmuseum.org

All Beneath the Moon Decays July 24-September 6, 2014

The Daniel Faria Gallery in Toronto is hosting an exhibition featuring the work of Allyson Vieira and Paul Kajander, who refer to ancient architectural and monumental structures as devices that record the effects of time and its persistence above all else. www.danielfariagallery.com

Legacies Gained, Legacies Lost: Looking Back at 40 Years of Preserving Toronto’s Built Heritage August 6, 2014

This symposium in the atrium of the Toronto Reference Library begins at 7:00pm and surveys the successes, failures and challenges in the preservation of heritage sites over the past 40 years, and what can be learned from other cities. Participants include George Baird, Cathy Nasmith, Harold Madi and Mike Yorke. www.heritagetoronto.org/builtheritage

2014 World Conference on Timber Engineering

Professional Directory Victoria’s innovative banks, office buildings, motels and residences, as well as the Inner Harbour’s landmark Information Centre Tower. www.aibc.ca

Insulated Rammed Earth Course August 23-24, 2014

Saltspring Island hosts this introductory course on insulated rammed earth that will change perceptions about building green and will inspire new ways of thinking and constructing. www.sirewall.com/courses/courseinformation/

Grey to Green: The Economics of Green Infrastructure Designing for Health August 25-26, 2014

Taking place at the Eaton Chelsea in Toronto, Grey to Green is at the cutting edge of design and policy practice, and will showcase more than 75 leading thinkers and doers across a diverse range of fields which reveal the inter section of health and living green infrastructure. http://greytogreenconference.org

Building Science Workshop August 26, 2014

Focusing on the fundamental principles of building science, this course at Queen’s University in Kingston offers insight on the flow of heat, water and moisture in homes, as well as how to control these flows using modern envelope assemblies and mechanical systems. www.crewzone.ca/news_event. cfm?eventID=2714

August 10-14, 2014

This event at the Quebec City Convention Centre is the most prestigious international event in timber engineering, engineered wood products and design of timber structures, which attracts researchers, engineers and architects, code consultants and building officials, contractors and project managers, fabricators and suppliers from all continents. www.wcte2014.ca

Architectural Walking Tour of Vancouver’s Chinatown August 27, 2014

Beginning at 10:00am, this AIBC tour allows participants to learn about the history and distinctive architecture of this notable part of the local cityscape while acknowledging Chinatown’s integral role in the development and transformation of Vancouver into a multicultural and vibrant city. www.aibc.ca

Victoria Art Deco/Modern Architectural Walking Tour August 14, 2014

Beginning at 1:00pm, this AIBC tour includes a look at some of

For more information about these, and additional listings of Canadian and international events, please visit www.canadianarchitect.com

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Loraine Fowlow

A Calgary parkade goes beyond the norm with artistic façades, a soccer-pitch roof, and an atrium-like stairwell. The word “parkade” usually conjures images of plain concrete, low ceilings, and bleak but functional stairwells. Terms such as public art, civic gesture and architectural experience don’t usually come to mind. That’s been changing, particularly in Europe, but also in Canada— including Calgary. The reconceptualization of this utilitarian typology is eloquently demonstrated by a new parking structure on the campus of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). Designed by Bing Thom Architects (BTA) in collaboration with Marshall Tittemore Architects, the SAIT parkade began its evolution when BTA was asked to update the campus master plan. As principal Michael Heeney explains, “SAIT had building aspirations but limited land. Our team saw the campus’s sprawled surface parking and presented an updated campus master plan that consolidated the parking into a central location, freeing up valuable land for future expansion.” Siting of the new concrete parkade takes advantage of a steep slope to the south, with three parking levels built into the hill. The

Sited at the edge of the SAIT campus in downtown Calgary, a new parkade uses punched metal panels to create a shiny image of moving clouds on its façades.

Above

roof—transformed into a soccer pitch—maintains the ground plane of Cohos Commons, fronting the Institute’s historic Heritage Hall. The remaining visible ribbon of structure presented a challenge. The southeast corner of the parkade is visually prominent, particularly as seen from a nearby light-rail transit bridge. Both client and architect wished to transform the normally plain façades into an understated piece of art for the campus and community. The architects sought a system that would simultaneously mask the façades while allowing natural light and air to flow through the parkade, reducing the structure’s energy requirements. They found this dual solution in Vancouver artist Roderick Quin’s Ombrae, a pixellated image reproduction system previously used only in small-scale interior artworks. Each pixel on a series of metal panels is partially punched and angled to reflect a different gradient of light. The resulting photorealistic monochromatic image shifts in tone depending upon the light source and the position of the viewer. Applied to the parkade, the oversized Ombrae panels are patterned with an intrigu-

ing image of clouds. Circling around the structure, the clouds appear to move and float by the hillside. The jewel in the crown of this project is, unexpectedly, the main exit stairwell leading from the parkade to Cohos Commons above. Proportioned more like an atrium than a stair, it combines wood, concrete and light into a sublime experience. The addition of skylights to this slice of space introduces naturally lit wayfinding that lifts a normally mundane experience to one of surprising delight. There is growing recognition among clients and civic officials that parking structures have a larger role to play in the urban fabric, beyond merely warehousing vehicles. The SAIT parkade received the Mayor’s Urban Design Award, an unusual honour for a humble parking structure. It is hoped that parkade design continues to inspire innovative approaches that make tangible contributions to the public realm. Loraine Fowlow is an associate professor in the M.Arch program at the University of Calgary.

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