Award

renderings courtesy group2 Architecture interior design Ltd. T he ongoing construction of the University of Alberta's Physical Ac- tivity and Wellness (PAW) Centre (North Campus) is more than just a new building going up; it's a major architec- tural project that is establishing a new student gathering space via the Social Street and providing a revamped access point to the university's main campus. The $57-million project – a partner- ship of the Students' Union, Graduate Students' Association, Faculty of Physi- cal Education and Recreation ( FPER), UofA and the Government of Alberta – includes the multi-storey PAW Centre, but also the Social Street and the linking of four existing structures to help con- solidate the FPER. The PAW Centre, which is seeking a Green Globe rating of Four Globes, will be a new physical activity and well- ness facility with program components including a campus fitness centre, a world-class climbing centre – the climb- ing cone ( CC) – and a variety of student service spaces. In addition, The Stead- ward Centre space will be renovated and expanded, and there are future plans for the relocation of the Alberta Institute for Physical Activit y and Health ( AIPAH). "We're t ying together Universit y Hall, Van Vliet East and West and the Butterdome," says Gareth Leach, asso- ciate with Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd. "The fitness centre is being built on an old parking lot in the South Plaza area. The centre will have many different levels and floors, with several sections between five and seven sto- reys, and the CC probably six- or seven- storeys." "The new building is on the southeast corner between the Butterdome and Van Vliet East, and is seen as the gateway to the main campus on 114th Street," says Doug Ramsey, the firm's managing prin- cipal. "The CC creates an address for the campus and it's an opportunity for the FPER to have a very significant pres- ence on campus. In 2009 the new dean stressed that the new building should be as transparent as possible so that it could open up onto the campus instead of hav- ing a dark space, and that every space in the new area be barrier-free and acces- sible for those with mobility issues." The Social Street allows for the design to upgrade existing buildings to be more level with the street, includ- ing the Steadward Centre, a concrete building constructed in the 1960s, and improves pedestrian traffic overall. "It is a major pedestrian link for Lister Hall, a major residence complex south of the site and it connects the new Student Union building immediately north of the site," says Ramsey. "It will link the Student Union with the health science centres through a future closed and heated interior walkway." The project was first proposed in 2005 and Group 2's involvement began in 2008 via programming. "It's been a long time in coming," says Leach. "We wanted to keep materials neutral so that we were not competing with any building, but still tie them all together. "There is also precast concrete around the base where we had a hard surface," adds Leach. "There is a lot of glazing and curtain wall. The CC, because it is an entrance to the uni- versity and a feature corner along the university's processional way, is clad in an Acrylume silver metal shingle and because of the shape of the cone, it ends up with a spiraling effect and has a rep- tilian snakeskin effect to it." "The roofing materials, because we are tying together existing building, employ traditional SBS systems and standing seam metal roofing on some of the feature pieces include a clerestory swoop roof that we have over the Social Street," says Ramsey. "Considering the size of the project, it's a small palette of materials that we used, and everything blends in nicely." Sustainability is crucial to the design, as requested by the Student Union and the UofA, and because the PAW Centre faces south, the architects shaded the glazing using a photovoltaic screen. Several sustainability suggestions were accepted, including the PV array that stretches along the 87th Street corridor. "It also provides some screening to levels one and two of the fitness cen- tre and because of the south exposure, the array generates electricity and is integrated into the university's energy management program and provides screening for the some of the daylight- ing that goes into the upper level," says Ramsey. "On top of the penthouse there are 14 rows of Kingspan evacuated tube solar heat collectors that provide heat- ing through a glycol loop system that heats hot water. As well, all the curtain wall has triple glazing to help off-set some of the solar gains." A monitoring system that can be viewed by the public was created at the request of the Graduate Students' Asso- ciation, and the sustainability features will be studied by the university's engi- neering students. Leach stresses that the interior mate- rials were kept simple, with a focus on exposing the building systems – mechan- ical/electrical, HVAC and sprinkler pip- ing, and conduits. "We did not want to hide them," he says. "We have a lot of exposed mechanical/electrical flooring and exposed concrete with clear epoxy and grey epoxy coating. The walls are primarily painted gypsum board. The structures had to be exposed painted, including the undersides of ceilings. "We have some T-bar ceilings for acoustic and sound control. Wherever we have wind/fall protection, we have standard pipe railings with glass panel insets. There is a lot of exposed concrete areas at the stair and elevator cores, and within the fitness centre itself and CC. This allowed us to explore the artistic nature of the structural side and create an almost industrial feeling." The lighting presented a challenge, especially for the Social Street, but a solution was found via suspended LED fixtures that did not require dressing. The north and central concourses for the Social Street were completed for the start of the semester and the fitness The PAW Centre – University of Alberta by Irwin Rapoport The PAW Centre – University of Alberta 10:51 AM

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