Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/331457
Westminster's story as Stump City – Royal City, and the Lacrosse Hall of Fame is aimed at bringing the game to life for aficionados and newbies alike." An atrium lobby can be seen from the street through a three-storey glass screen, creating a sense of connection and transparency with the street and views of the building and its activities at night. Ralph Herten, senior project manager for PCL Constructors Westcoast says the atrium consists of a 60-foot-high open space with an overhead skylight and curtain wall providing natural light. A large conference area on the main floor opens or divides from the atrium space by reconfiguring large operable walls, to allow for a variety of functions. "There are interior balconies and walkways at various elevations within the atrium which tie the spaces together and provide an airy feel to the space," says Herten. "We are installing high-end Bianco Carrara marble floors through- out the atrium, together with first rate wall and ceiling finishes." The performance theatre includes a unique end-grain Douglas fir f loor and segmented millwork wall panels, a unique curved retractable seating sys- tem and specialized theatre lighting and rigging systems. The theatre's acoustic treatment involves floor and ceiling slabs with two layers of concrete separated by a small two-inch air gap. This "sandwich slab" construction was achieved by placing a topping slab with a number of embed- ded acoustic jacks directly over the structural slab. After the topping slab cured, it was carefully raised up with the acoustic jacks to achieve the desired gap. The atrium of the Anvil Centre is sep- arated from Columbia Street by a mag- nificent glass screen that completely opens up at street level allowing the interior atrium space to be combined with the street for major public events. "We can have people f low in and out of the building, and that is what this project is about," says Spitale. "It is about people and energy, what they cre- ate and how they enliven the street. The building is really a place where people can be inside, and spill outside and come together." The project wasn't without its sur- mountable challenges – complex angles required a greater focus on survey and layout and some challenging formwork systems. "One of the interior walls in the main atrium is 60-feet tall and tilted at 11 degrees, with a number of round con- crete columns tilted at the same angle," says Herten. "This took some special engineering considerations to achieve and left some curious bystanders in the neighbourhood scratching their heads wondering what we were building." Most of the concrete slabs are post tensioned, allowing for longer spans and greater design flexibility than tradi- tionally reinforced concrete, but creat- ing issues for mechanical and electrical services because of extensive reinforc- ing steel and steel embedments. Kevin Pearson, lead electrical engi- neer with S+A Falcon, says that made it difficult to route services, as the slab became congested. "Continually work- ing with the contractor to assist with other installation conf licts helped to keep the project moving forward," he says. Building distribution comes from a dual wound 3750kVA transformer substation and power is distributed through the building to separate the office tower and the civic portion. As the building is targeting LEED Gold, its energy savings are approximately 40 to 50 per cent more efficient than a stan- dard building, says Pearson. The building also features full heat recovery, notably from the atrium, which creates a chimney effect that allows warm air to rise and be drawn off at the top. The building is also designed and built to be ready for hook-up to a future district energy system. n Location 777 Columbia Street, New Westminster, B.C. owner/DeveLoper City of New Westminster / CRS Group and Kingwood Capital project Manager Pivotal Projects Inc. architect Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership associate architect Hughes Condon Marler Architects generaL contractor PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. structuraL consuLtant Glotman • Simpson Consulting Engineers MechanicaL consuLtant AME Consulting Group eLectricaL consuLtant Smith + Andersen Falcon Engineering Ltd. interior Design MCM Interiors Ltd. LanDscape architect Eckford Tyacke + Associates transportation consuLtant Bunt & Associates Engineering totaL area Civic Centre: 84,000 square feet Office Tower: 137,000 square feet totaL cost Anvil Centre: $41.5 million Tower: $30 million Parkade: $12.5 million june 2014 /67 Anvil Centre & Office Tower p.64-67Anvil Centre.indd 67 14-06-03 9:55 AM