Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1174518
OCTOBER 2019 | 45 When the parking lot beside University Hall was chosen as the best site, the architects conducted a in- depth consultation process with the University and community stakehold- ers. It was a process familiar to both parties as the architects' teams had previously completed projects of a sim- ilar scale together. The Science Commons was designed to have a low horizontal form that would sit lightly on the landscape, a highly transparent counterpoint to the solid monumentality of Erickson's University Hall. Floor-to-ceiling win- dows and interior glass walls would maximize the amount of natural light in the facility, while generously scaled gathering spaces were created to overlook the Oldman River Valley, con- necting users to the prairie landscape. The program combined open research and teaching labs, com- mon collaboration spaces, and shared equipment to encourage synergies between the different disciplines. Finally, the team capitalized on pas- sive energy from Lethbridge's unique climate (it is one of the sunniest and driest places in Canada) to ensure that the project would outperform the 50 percent baseline typology of conven- tional lab buildings, with a projected 78 percent energy use reduction for the support spaces and 60 percent for labo- ratory spaces. With full funding announced in May of 2016, PCL Construction Management Inc. began excavating the parking lot beside University Hall, which it had con- structed back in the 1970s. "It was kind of cool to come back decades later to build another landmark building," says PCL project manager Aidan Felzien. Construction proceeded smoothly. "We had no surprises with soil or the water table, and there were plenty of staging and laydown spaces," says Felzien, adding that even though the two winters of construction were "fairly harsh, we got through them without incident." Over 500 people worked on site at peak. Science Commons – University of Lethbridge EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID TROYER + INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY LATITUDE PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY PCL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT INC. cetco.com cetco@mineralstech.com PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTED BY ENGINEERED SITE PRODUCTS HIGH PERFORMING WATERPROOFING AND WATERSTOP PRODUCTS BACKED BY THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESS IN THE INDUSTRY