Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/177525
CHARLES HOPE PHOTOGRAPHY / PHOTOS COURTESY GRAHAM GROUP LTD. Ralph Klein Legacy Park and Shepard Environmental Education Centre by Robin Brunet algary is renowned for its parks development and wastewater management. So it's not surprising that someone would eventually get around to creating a park that would be a recreation destination as well as highlight the city's water conservation measures. The Ralph Klein Legacy Park and Shepard Environmental Education Centre is a 28-hectare park located on the outskirts of the city and part of a 227-hectare stormwater management initiative to improve the quality of stormwater entering the Bow River. The $32-million site was intended by City of Calgary Parks and Simpson Roberts Architecture Interior Design Inc. to be an intelligent landscape that combines public art and educational programming to facilitate enquiry-based learning. The architectural highlight of the project – the two-storey, 1,932-square-metre education centre – appears to rest lightly on the site and extends over a portion of the wetland in a cantilevered style. City of Calgary Parks & Recreation program manager Doug Marter says Calgary of icials irst decided to develop the site back in 2003. "It began as just a park, but we got the idea to incorporate the stormwater educational component," he says. "From there we took our proposal to the public and engaged in extensive consultation on what the educational facility should contain. We also looked across North America to see what other cities were doing in this regard." Simpson Roberts Architecture was retained in 2006. "Any City of Calgary project has a minimum LEED Silver standard, so that's what we worked toward, and eventually we quali ied for LEED Gold," says principal Chris Roberts, to which Marter adds, "Chris and his colleagues determined that the facility would sit on piles and cantilever over the water, not only to provide a sense of lightness, but also to give visitors access to a catwalk directly below that takes then right to the water's edge." Roberts describes the education centre as a kind of "jungle gym" that can be explored from all angles, including the ability C Ralph Klein Legacy Park and Shepard Environmental Education Centre p.70-73RKleinLegacyPk.indd 71 to walk over the building as well as on the catwalks below. Additionally, the loose programming of the building (it supports space for corporate functions as well as educational programs) would allow it to evolve over time. The education centre features the latest in energy saving and recycling technology: composting and low- lush toilets, waterless urinals, solar-powered lighting, and areas of green roof. Simpson Roberts incorporated the use of NanaWalls on the south and west faces of the facility that could be opened during summer for natural ventilation and provide high insulation value during winter. Arti icial lighting was designed with a combination of low-voltage controls, motion sensors and day lighting sensors. Lighting on the outside of the building was connected to both the building management system and a photocell control system. All potable water for the education centre is supplied from a well on-site and stored in a 130,000-litre tank just west of the facility. Water supply for the drip irrigation system to all trees is taken from treated stormwater in the wetland. "The stormwater goes through a pump station, and to aerate the water Simpson Roberts designed a ive-metre-tall waterfall underneath the pump that also serves as a visual point of interest for visitors," says Marter. Other features of the education centre include zinc and composite cement board cladding and glulam for the main structural components. "There are many smaller touches," says Marter. "For example, the granite countertops in the interior aren't granite at all, but recycled glass." The building substructure and main loor deck are of concrete construction, above which the primary structure transitions into glulam post and beam. Gabion walls of local stone and aluminumframed curtain walls were the other main materials used. "The many sustainable components are appropriate considering this is an educational facility, but we like to point out that often the most important components are the passive ones, with orientation being very close if not at the top of the list," says Roberts. Marter cites landscape architect Carson McCulloch & Associates Ltd. for attention. "Their job started from being a straightforward landscape architect to providing all the plantings for the park that would blend with the wetland vegetation," he says. "Fortunately, they had undertaken this type of specialized work before." Using excavated soil taken to create the wetlands, a series of dramatic earth forms were created to structure the park. Water in the park was carefully choreographed as part of the educational program of the project, and SuSA Design studio Inc. provided FEBRUARY 2012 /71 1/23/12 10:43:02 AM