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Wayne & William White Engineering Design Centre – UBC DEREK LEPPER by Stacey McLachlan reative and collaborative education hasn't always been easy for the University of British Columbia's engineering department: inding room for group work and big projects was next to impossible for the faculty's students before this year. "There was no space at all," says Belinda Ko, project assistant for UBC Properties Trust. But the new Wayne & William White C LOCATION 2345 East Mall Vancouver, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER UBC Properties Trust ARCHITECT McFarland Marceau Architects Ltd. GENERAL CONTRACTOR VanMar Constructors Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Fast + Epp Structural Engineers MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Stantec Consulting Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Acumen Engineering LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT Perry + Associates TOTAL AREA 20,666 square feet TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST $6.2 million Engineering Design Centre has changed all that. The three-storey building provides students with 20,666 square feet for hands-on projects and experiments, and offers a whole new perspective on engineering education. "In traditional engineering programs, there's very little interaction among the various disciplines," explains Craig Duf ield, project architect with McFarland Marceau Architects Ltd. "Mechanical, electrical, civil are all divided into separate streams of study at an early stage. But in practice, the various disciplines are generally required to interact in teams – a role for which they may have had little academic preparation." The Engineering Design Centre's student commons, competition workshop, integrated design studio, electronics lab, and digital work rooms all provide ample space for interactive learning and team-building. "Our intent is to generate interaction, camaraderie and interest. It is a building that academically and physically creates links between the various engineering specialties," says Duf ield. The physical link is clear: in addition to mixing students internally, the EDC is tucked directly behind the Cheeze – the existing engineering student centre – surrounded by the rest of the engineering buildings, creating a common ground in every sense of the word. The EDC, says Duf ield, acts as a new gateway to the engineering precinct: "The project was contrived as an extension of the street, to be a 'mixing chamber' that promotes interaction and informal gathering of students." All the spaces in the building – from the academic rooms loating above the transparent, two-storey atrium, to the dramatic covered deck overlooking the courtyard – are visually connected by the thoughtfully juxtaposed materials throughout the building. Galvanized metal cladding, stainless steel wire trellis, steel stairs and details were selected for durability, while touches like the timber used in the atrium and wooden handrails and counters, add visual warmth throughout. The solid wood roof is supported by sturdy glulam beams and columns. Even if you're not working on a group project, a walk through the Engineering Design Centre is an educational experience, in and of itself. "One of the design directives was that the building was intended to be a lesson," explains mechanical engineer Kevin Anthony of Stantec Consulting. "A lot of the building structure is exposed so the students can see how it's all put together." But even with mechanical and structural elements exposed, the building looks anything but sloppy, thanks to keen attention to detail. "We invested a lot of time in coordinating architectural with mechanical elements to produce a cohesive look," says Anthony. The construction itself was an intricate lesson, too, as a student committee of engineering undergrads got involved in the process, offering plenty of feedback along the way, attending construction meetings and giving input on furniture and their visions for the space. "It's their project," says Ko. "It's great that they were involved from the beginning." Flexibility is an important part of the project's mandate, and students have been given plenty of control over the interconnected rooms. From the beginning, the builders had to prepare for any combination of possible uses. Electrical consultants Acumen Engineering, for example, prepped the competition space with a suspended linear electrical bus system, with interchangeable, plug-in modules to accommodate varying loads at any point along its length. "Centralized, user-friendly interfaces were used to provide maximum opportunity for adaptive use of spaces," explains Glenn Granstrom, Acumen's vice president. Students will ind the external features of the space as lexible as the interior. Though landscape architect Perry + Associates faced grading challenges trying to make the new building meet the adjacent structures, they used sandblast sawcut concrete, integrally tinted concrete panels, and galvinized steel around the site to create an open, multi-purpose hard surface. "We meant to complement the many uses of the students as they low out from the interior," says Perry + Associates' Michael Patterson. "By leaving the space so open, it gives students a chance to move their bigger projects – like electric cars, for example – more easily." Though there are few plants on the site, a screen of vines growing up the building adds a touch of colour while providing some solar shading. Exterior lighting is minimal, focusing on the pathways, entry points and transitions in elevation. "The design intent was to highlight the activity within the EDC," says Granstrom. The expansive anodized aluminum curtain wall provides transparency, exposing, as Duf ield says, the "typically hidden workings of engineering students" to passersby. The EDC incorporated eco-friendly elements wherever possible. Along with the east curtainwall's low-E plus fritted glazing, the building uses condensing boilers, and the variable volume hot water and ventilation system both save energy by delivering only what's needed. Hands-free washroom ixtures and low- low plumbing reduce water consumption, but also, as Anthony points out, help cut down on the building's sanitary load. All projects have challenges, and the Wayne & William White Engineering Design Centre was no exception. "It was dif icult to provide an ef icient and elegant structure within the tight budget," Stephan Pasche of Fast + Epp Structural Engineers explains. The atypical program, combined with the small building and complex urban-in ill site all demanded precious time and money. The end result, though, appears effortless. "The architects have done a fantastic job with a constrained budget to create a simple but engaging building with a strong esthetic," says Patterson. ■ #119 - 12414 - 82nd Avenue, Surrey, BC V3W 3E9 Semiahmoo Glass Ltd. is proud to be the glazing contractor on the Wayne & William White Engineering Design Centre - UBC project. 94/ FEBRUARY 2012 p.94-95 WWW UBC.indd 94 Wayne & William White Engineering Design Centre – UBC 1/23/12 11:00:12 AM