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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 | 75 Centre for Child & Adolescent Mental Health R EN D ER I N G CO U RT E S Y A L B ERTA H E A LT H S ERV I C E S – C A LGA RY ZO N E CENTRE FOR CHILD & ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH by ROBIN BRUNET T he development of the Centre for Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH) in Calgary is remarkable on several fronts. For starters, it's a rare example of a health- care facility funded entirely by donors – to the tune of $39 million – instead of by government. And from a design/ construction view, the three-storey 3,200-square-metre facility was built on a hill site originally thought of as too challenging a location. When completed towards the end of this year, the centre will provide young people with new and enhanced services, including a walk-in clinic with specialized triage and the oppor- tunity for immediate referrals to onsite programs. These community- based services will give youth and their families care designed to sta- bilize and manage escalating illness and, ideally, prevent hospitalization. In addition to the walk-in clinic, the centre will also offer an inten- sive treatment program and a day hospital. The facility's ser- vices will augment and integrate with existing services from AHS and community-based agencies. Beverly Wilson, senior project manager, Foothills Medical Centre and South Health Campus, says of the funding, "This project really came together as a partnership with the community through the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation. To be 100 percent donor funded was very exciting." The project, which has also inspired donations for program and research enhance- ments, is a partnership among the Foundation, Alberta Health Services, and the University of Calgary. The site consisted of a hill, a facil- ity that provides mental health day programming to help young people, and a decommissioned building that was a juvenile detention centre in the 1960s. "Initially we were unsure about locating the CCAMH here because it would require building into the hill," says Lee Miller, associate at Sahuri + Partners Inc. "However, when the design changed from a two-storey to a three-storey facility, it suddenly presented an opportunity to take full advantage of the steep site." Miller goes on to explain, "With three storeys, we could separate the three components of the centre accord- ingly: walk-in services at ground level, intensive community treatment services at level two, and then a day hos- pital for children that would actually be accessible at grade at the top of the hill." Wilson notes that her colleagues in health-care, youth, and family advi- sors drove the design process. "They provided Sahuri with invaluable feed- back as to what they wanted to see in such a facility, and Sahuri really drilled down to get specifics from them," she says. This went a long way in ensuring the facility would be an ideal example of its kind. Miller cites two examples of just how intensive these consultations became. "Feedback was vigorous, and participants told us in no uncertain terms that they didn't like terrazzo floor tiles or ceiling tiles because it made the interiors look too institu- tional," he says. "Ditto, we avoided primary colours because they were more suitable for kids, and this facil- ity would be serving young people into their late teens. Similarly, youth advisors expressed their desire for no gendered washrooms, so we designed them as individual rooms; and par- ents emphasized the importance of clear signage." Patterned rubber flooring became one solution, and a linear-patterned ceiling with LED lights was another, "and we created demountable walls for flexibility," Miller says. For the exterior, the massing was broken down by overhangs and screening, plus metal cladding. "It has a very sculpted appearance, again avoiding the traditional institution- alized look," Miller says, adding that the third level of the facility accom- modated heavy timber slabs exposed on the exterior as well as interior cre- ating an incredible sense of warmth. Passive systems, a high-performance building envelope, and efficient and integrated building systems all con - tributed to the centre being a model for sustainability. Stuart Olson was responsible for building the centre, but shortly after a building permit was issued for the project in January of 2020 they experienced issues with the shor- ing wall. The solution was to create caisson shoring walls, and subse- quently work proceeded according to pandemic safety regulations. The builders also demolished the old juvenile detention centre on site. For her part, Wilson keenly anticipates the project's construc- tion completion later this year. "I'm super excited," she says. "This is one of those projects that will make a difference in our commu- nity. I'm really proud of it." A LOCATION 1005 17 Street NW, Calgary, Alberta OWNER /DEVELOPER Alberta Health Services – Calgary Zone ARCHITECT SAHURI + Partners Architecture Inc. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Stuart Olson STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT TRL & Associates Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Reinbold Engineering Group ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT SMP Engineering SUSTAINABILIT Y CONSULTANT Integral Group CIVIL CONSULTANT McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd. GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT Parkland Geotechnical Consulting Inc. TOTAL SIZE 3,200 square metres TOTAL COST $39 million

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