Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/124234
raduate House is the ninth student residence building in a community that the University of Saskatchewan is developing in an area south of its main campus in Saskatoon. The area is planned to house up to 3,000 students, and provide retail, cultural and recreational amenities. In the past, the College Quarter area has been somewhat isolated from the main campus, but the university's master plan for the College Quarter aims to address that shortcoming, while also providing more on-campus student accommodation for the 21,000-student institution. The main organizing element of the College Quarter is the Greenway, a tree-lined, pedestrianfriendly corridor that will strengthen the link between the precinct and the main campus. renderings courtesy Stantec Architecture Ltd. G College Quarter – Graduate Residence University of Saskatchewan by Bill Armstrong 13-03-22 1:15 PM The five-storey Graduate House includes 100 doubleoccupancy and 62 single-occupancy suites, with a projected construction cost of $31.5 million. Besides leading the architectural design, Stantec was also responsible for the structural, mechanical, electrical, civil and landscape aspects of the project. "This is far from your typical student residence," explains design principal Stephen Phillips, who with project architect Dathe Wong, led the design. "The university was very progressive in wanting to keep their grad students engaged when they aren't working on their research or advising students. The university wanted to create a home for graduate students where communal spaces promote discussion, collaboration and discovery." Members of the design team interviewed graduate students to learn more about how they live and work. To their surprise, one thing they had to discard was their perception of the "typical" twenty-something grad student. "The 'typical' graduate student ranged in age from 21 to 52, came from anywhere in the world and was working on very advanced research projects," Phillips observes. This information combined with knowledge of how grad students live and work contributed to Stantec's approach to the building design. The building is conceived in an L-shaped form, designed to mitigate the scale of the facade along the Greenway in support of a vibrant university and residential neighbourhood. Key engaging features include a bright, open, two-storey lounge space adjacent to the main entrance and a café that together, connect with the Greenway. The building offers both conventional and loft-style suites to accommodate the range of student ages, family status and lifestyles of the graduate student population units. Some of the conventional double-occupancy suites are designed to accommodate students with disabilities, and if required, their assistants. Architect Tammi Denby, who was part of the design team, says two-storey meeting and lounge spaces are a design highlight that bring a sense of volume and a large amount of light into the interior environment. Graduate House p82-83 U of Sask.indd 83 "The lounges offer great views of the Greenway and the neighbourhood," Denby says. "The lounges on the Greenway side are designed to encourage more active collaboration among residents, while those on the Aird Street side are quieter study spaces." Incorporating the Greenway into the landscape design for the building allowed for a design rationale where the landscape became more than the sum of its parts. There were also some unique challenges: portions of the soft landscape are designed to function as temporary stormwater retention areas, as well as fulfilling their primary function as amenity space. Sustainability was another important consideration, since the site is intended to be dryland, with no permanent irrigation. Landscape species, from the canopy trees down to the turf mix, were selected based on a combination of native, naturalized, drought tolerant and low water use criteria. Phillips notes that the university was interested in creating a better, longer-lasting building than most residences. "The building envelope is higher quality and more energy efficient than a typical residence building, and the fibreglass framed windows are larger than average to bring more light into the building." As another example, he notes that residences usually come with wall-mounted fan/coil cooling units. These are not very energy efficient, and require a lot of maintenance, he notes. Instead, Graduate House uses a water-based system to cool and heat the building. The capital cost for this system is higher, but the payback is huge, Phillips says. "You may have to replace boilers every 20 years, but there will be little need to make repairs in individual suites, as is often the case with fan/coil units." Ron Cruikshank, director of projects and engineering for the university, notes that the building also features a Faculty in Residence suite on the main floor. This will allow a university faculty member to live in the residence and provide mentoring opportunities to the graduate students. There will also be a 40-seat classroom space where faculty and graduate students can collaborate. Graduate House will open officially in August, in time for the fall term. Construction is scheduled to be complete by the end of May. Cruikshank notes that since grad students typically are involved with the University yearround, if there is interest from students, there may be an opportunity to have residents move into the new building over the summer. n LOCATION 1593 Aird Street Saskatoon, Saskatchewan OWNER University of Saskatchewan GENERAL CONTRACTOR Graham Construction and Engineering ARCHITECT Stantec Inc. STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, CIVIL & LANDSCAPE CONSULTANTS Stantec Inc. TOTAL AREA 124,000 square feet TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST $31.5 Million april 2013 /83 13-04-05 2:23 PM