Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/178290
COURTESY BROCK UNIVERSITY Cairns Family Health and Biosciences Research Complex by Irwin Rapoport ocated on the southwest corner of the St. Catharines Campus of Brock University, the $111.45-million Cairns Family Health and Biosciences Research Complex was designed to be an iconic building to help attract top-notch faculty, researchers and students and serve as a striking landmark to people entering or driving past the campus. "Brock has doubled in size over the last number of years and there has been an increase in the research agenda," says Dr. Ian Brindle, former dean of Mathematics and Science and current executive advisor to the university president. "It's a very important step in the maturation of the university into a research institution. We need very different resources to enhance the high-level research we are engaging in." The LEED Silver, 176,530-square-foot complex – four above-ground storeys (levels 200 to 500) and a basement (level 100) – is built on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment. The basement contains laboratories, while the top two loors, ground loor and second loor house classrooms, of ices and open spaces for students and staff. Brindle, a major force behind the project, says the complex contains state-of-the-art facilities such a greenhouse to raise transgenic plants and a containment facility to work on diseases affecting the Niagara region like West Nile and Lyme disease. "The Faculty of Applied Health Sciences has research labs to study the development and lifespan of muscles and bones," he says. "This complex gives us opportunity to expand into those areas that would be dif icult to do in existing facilities." The ground loor has a business incubator to help students and researchers convert their discoveries into economic opportunities and enhance the local economy. The basement level contains a signi icant utility plant and labs that must be shielded from light, such as the vivarium, photophysical and NMR labs. The ground level and concourse (second) loor contain academic spaces, faculty of ices, social spaces and a small auditorium. The top loors have a variety of labs with faculty of ices. The university chose MHPM Project Managers Inc. in May 2008 to oversee the planning and construction. This was no easy task, especially as the structure borders the Niagara Escarpment and had to abide by height restrictions. This required serious planning to it in the programming and infrastructure. "We juggled priorities all the way along in terms of scope, cost, scheduling, and environmental and sustainability issues," says project manager David Nesbitt. "We had to maximize the return L 90/ APRIL 2012 p.90-93Cairns_Kingston.indd 90 for the university. It not only got a building that is cost effective, but durable for the long term." And there were deadlines to consider. The team strived to expend the $76 million in Knowledge Infrastructure Funding program (KIP) money granted to Brock by the June 2011 deadline. And it was important to complete the complex in time for the 200th anniversary of the death of General Isaac Brock, the hero of the Battle of Queenston Heights. "It's a major event and ceremony for the university," says Nesbitt, "and they are anxious to get into the research space. It also allows LOCATION 500 Glenridge Ave. St. Catharines, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER Brock University PROJECT MANAGER MHPM Project Managers Inc. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER EllisDon Corporation ARCHITECT architectsAlliance STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Halsall Associates MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Crossey Engineering Limited LABORATORY DESIGN Payette Associates CIVIL CONSULTANT AMEC LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PMA Landscape Architects INTERIOR DESIGN architectsAlliance and Payette Associates TOTAL AREA 176,530 square feet TOTAL COST $111.45 million for the consolidation of a lot of research space for Brock." architectsAlliance (aA) started work on the design in April 2009, along with Payette Associates, which concentrated on the laboratories. Mark Garber, project director with aA, notes, "The complex is a 'front door' for the campus and we didn't want it to become a barrier. A primary concept is that the lower two levels are designed in a very public way and the main concourse has a series of sloped walkways and stairs that connect you to adjacent the campus and adjacent buildings. Light penetration was a key factor." Due to height restrictions established by the Niagara Escarpment Commission, a mechanical penthouse could not be placed on the roof. "We concentrated the mechanical rooms on the west end of the building into what we call the 'tech tower,'" says Garber, "with each unit servicing the length of each loor. The lab loors are clad in fritted glass panels that create a veil of clear and patterned glass. Along the south side, we designed a screen of aluminum tubing that its like a scrim over the glass to further mitigate heat gain and ilter sunlight. Architecturally, the translucent facade expresses the concept that science should be a bit more transparent – the partial veiling encourages people to want to better understand what is going on inside." There is limited landscaping on three sides of the complex, with the north side having a quad space, a grove of trees and pathway that connect to other parts of the campus. "The groundcover doesn't require watering and requires very little energy to maintain," says Garber. The main entrance consists of clear glass and one enters into a two-storey space that runs the full length of the north side, along with connections to the south side. The interior inishes and materials are an extension of the exterior, along with simple inishes for the of ices and rooms; durable largeformat porcelain looring; and a sculpted drywall ceiling that is a "series of loating, folded planes with a rationale grid of openings that organize and reveal the lighting and mechanical systems above." "The lab program is complex," says Garber. "There is a phytotron green house, a synthetic chemistry lab, among other things. The LEED aspect was a challenge – laboratories need to move a lot of air for health and safety reasons, which makes it hard to be energy ef icient. There are also many support areas and the mechanical system has to be signi icant compared to the loor area." ■ Cairns Family Health and Biosciences Research Complex 3/26/12 3:07:15 PM