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AUGUST 2018 | 93 King Campus Expansion – Seneca College PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY SENECA COLLEGE King Campus Expansion – Seneca College by MARTHA UNIACKE BREEN A modern university building ide- ally addresses more than the direct academic needs of the students and faculty that will occupy it. The most pro- gressive designs go beyond the expected state-of-the-art learning spaces, labs, libraries and study areas, to encom- pass a more holistic view of student life – taking into account psychological, social, and recreational needs as well. In the case of Seneca College's new Magna Hall, scheduled to open to stu- dents in time for classes this fall, college leadership faced a unique opportunity; its location on the edge of the pristine Oak Ridges Moraine, a heritage area in York region north of Toronto, offered a chance to not only create a facility that met the needs of an additional 1,500 students, but to take advantage of a site located in one of Ontario's most beauti- ful natural settings. Expanding Seneca's King Campus had been a pressing need for some time. As Seneca's director of major cap- ital projects Angelo Miranda explains, "Over the next 40 years, York Region's population is projected to increase to 1.8 million. Accommodating the social infrastructure for a growing region and a growing province requires a strong pipeline of professional commu- nity builders. King Campus is home to post-secondary programs that address core societal needs like nursing, polic- ing, emergency response, therapeutic recreation, early childhood education, social services, and animal care. "Facilities at King Campus were stretched and over-capacity, so the decision was made to construct a new building. In partnership with the Ontario government, Seneca Student Federation and the Student Athletic Association, Seneca embarked on a proj- ect to expand infrastructure at King Campus to provide increased capacity to address the space issues on the campus with the construction of Magna Hall." Lead architect, Andrew Filarski of MJMA, which co-designed the project with Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc., explains that along with the usual strict and detailed specifications that most government projects set out in their briefs, two strong ideas emerged in the planning of Magna Hall: one, that it be geared to students' lives as well as their livelihoods; and that the build- ing should exist in harmony with the landscape, both from an environmen- tal standpoint and an esthetic one. "We made a point of breaking down the scale so it had a particular relation- ship with the view," explains Filarski. "Especially on the western [Moraine] side, this was significant." As Montgomery Sisam's Daniel Ling points out, "The campus is some distance away from the city, so they wanted a space where students could enjoy spending time after and between classes. So there are plenty of places to sit and enjoy views, or read, or just interact with other students. It also connects directly with the landscape in a variety of ways, including con- nections to local trail systems and the wider landscape of the area." MJMA's Marc Downing adds, "Every part of the interior interacts with the views of the landscape. This plays out not only on the micro scale, such as gardens or long views that are per- fectly framed by windows, but on a wider scale too – in the interior design of the space, with particular choices of colours or finishes." These include swaths of copper, wood, aluminum, and other materials that harmonize with the natural environment on the view outside Magna Hall's windows. The landscape architecture was also directly inspired by the beauty of the rolling hills of the Moraine, accord- ing to Leigh Lichtenberg of NAK Design Strategies. "Because of its location, we wanted to capture the natural stages of how nature establishes itself, from grasses, transitioning though shrubs to mature trees. It's a reflection of how we saw this region developing over time. "The plantings evolve from the south plaza area to the north end, in a natural progression. It starts with grasses and perennials at the south, then, as you move toward the centre of the build- ing it densifies, with birches, red-twig dogwood, and native shrubs. Then at the north side, it becomes forested with native drought-tolerant trees: oak, ser- viceberry, sugar, and red maples." Lichtenberg adds that in some areas the design serves the needs of users, while encouraging them to get outside: a good example is the open sodded area outside the athletic centre, with low stone walls and other furniture designed to allow students to work out (or simply sit and relax) in the fresh air. "We want it to be a relatable space for students; an opportunity to interact with the landscape, to get outside and experience a calming and cleansing effect," says Lichtenberg. One of the most significant features of the design actually arose during the pursuit stage: a manmade pond on the edge of the site that serves as a catch- ment for runoff water and a water source for the building's fire protection system as well as the fire depart- ment. According to Enrico Scirocco of EllisDon, the pond was a feasible solu- tion to the need for an onsite water system for firefighting use. The cam- pus is outside the local water system, so a standalone runoff system had to be installed. "Originally, the design called for a large above-ground water storage tank system, which was all wrong for this beautiful setting," Scirocco recalls. "So the design team came up with the idea of a pond instead." An inspired solution, for sure; but as he tells it, installing a permanent, stable pond bed proved to be easier said than done. "There were a lot of rainy days last summer when the proj- ect was under construction, and the water table there is quite high to begin with. The founding soils at the base of the pond ended up moving like a waterbed," Scirocco says. Hydrostatic pressure underneath the liner made it too unstable to support the equipment required to build it. "We ended up lay- ing down two successive layers of a mesh product called a Geogrid made by Terrafix, alternating with two eight- inch layers of aggregate and stone, which provided the stability required to complete the construction and ulti- mately solved the problem." Peter Lostracco, of Smith + Andersen, points out there were also technical challenges in the design of the building itself, largely centring on keeping the open interior comfort- able, and maximizing energy efficiency. "The HVAC design required careful attention to contain the temperature, humidity, and air pressurization in each room. This was important to prevent the migration of odours and maintain overall occupant comfort," he explains. "The project is currently attempting to achieve LEED Gold certification, which required an increased awareness of energy and water efficiency across the entire mechanical design. "There was a substantial amount of energy recovery introduced in the design, including the building's cooling and heating systems, as well as the majority of the ventilation air. This will lead to significant energy savings on the oper- ation of the building moving forward." Overall, the combination of fresh, bright indoor spaces, a total of 25 dif- ferent kinds of study facilities, and plenty of places for students to sim- ply enjoy being in the building, makes Magna Hall a new kind of campus expe- rience. "It's a building where you may go hours between classes, so it's a nice place to just spend time in," says Filarski. "There are spaces arranged all around the building where you can meet other people and interact, in this pleasant environment. So it's also about building a community." A LOCATION 13990 Dufferin St, King City, Ontario OWNER The Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology DEVELOPER EllisDon Corporation DESIGN-BUILDER EllisDon Design Build Inc. FINANCIAL ADVISOR EllisDon Capital Inc. ARCHITECTS (JV) MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA) / Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Entuitive Inc. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Smith + Andersen ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Mulvey & Banani CIVIL CONSULTANT Walter Fedy LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT NAK Design Strategies Inc. ACOUSTIC CONSULTANT Valcoustics Canada Ltd. TOTAL SIZE 200,000 square feet TOTAL COST $70.9 million 6:58 AM 10:45 AM

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