Award

august 2015 | 77 spectrum square Office Building renderings courtesy sweeny & co. Architects inc. Spectrum Square Office Building by robin brunet L isa Lafave, senior portfolio manager for the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), calls HOOPP Realty Inc.'s 1.3-million-square-foot Spectrum Square office complex "our attempt to create an urban feel in a suburban site." Her description is based on the pre- sumption that people enjoy working in cities because of food options, transit access and after-hours social opportuni- ties – and the master planned Spectrum Square delivers exactly these amenities. Boasting a distinctive metal panel and stone curtain wall, Spectrum's 130,000-square-foot, six-storey office building is the first of what could ulti- mately be seven facilities built to LEED Gold specifications. It's nestled beside a six-building "restaurant campus" includ- ing a central square that will accommo- date community and music events. With above-grade parking con- centrated in the middle of the prop- erty and eye-catching walkways and bike paths, Spectrum's ambiance is casual European rather than corporate North American. Completing HOOPP's objectives for the project is the fact that it is located conveniently beside Mississauga's bus rapid transit corridor, which is scheduled to commence opera- tions sometime next year. Although only the first phase of Spectrum is complete, HOOPP has already turned the standard office park formula on its ear by making provisions to orient all of its buildings street-side – thus elimi- nating long and wasteful lawns – making it very pedestrian and street friendly. Spectrum was also designed with sus- tainability in mind, and in this regard it takes many cues from an earlier HOOPP project, Aerocentre V, an award-winning building also located in Mississauga. John Gillanders, principal of Sweeny & Co. Architects Inc., explains, "Many of the elements we developed for Aerocentre V were carried over to this project, all of them employee-friendly. Spectrum's amenities include 11-foot ceilings – no drop ceilings – floor-to-ceiling windows, collaborative workspaces and raised- floor HVAC for constant fresh air and indi- vidually controlled temperature vents." The restaurant campus was also inspired by Aerocentre V as Lafave explains: "We came up with the idea because a lot of the leasing resistance at Aerocentre V came from not having this particular amenity. It took con- siderable effort to persuade the City of Mississauga to buy into our stand-alone design for the site, rather than have it tucked away in the ground floor of the building. Standalone was imperative in order to make the campus a destination for after-hours social events." When asked what gave HOOPP the impetus to pursue such high standards of development, Lafave replies, "About five years ago we decided we would pur- sue LEED Gold for all the buildings we developed: it falls in line with our cul- ture as a leading pension plan provider. "Additionally, LEED Gold means buildings last longer and depreciate less. And achieving the designation isn't the nightmare some people make it out to be. The key is working with the right team." HOOPP and the architects began work on Spectrum in 2011 by deter- mining ways to minimize parking without inconveniencing employees. As for the office building itself, the deci- sion to eschew dropped ceilings not only imparted a feeling of grandeur, it allowed for indirect lighting that is esthetically pleasing and more energy efficient than conventional options. The floor-to-ceiling glazing was out- fitted with automated blinds, automated light shelves (which pivot to either bring Location 5015 Spectrum Way, Mississauga, Ontario owner/DeveLoper Skymark Square Lands Inc. / HOOPP Realty Inc. project Manager BPI Consultants Corp. architect Sweeny & Co. Architects Inc. construction Manager Eastern Construction Company Limited structuraL consuLtant Stephenson Engineering Ltd. MechanicaL consuLtant The Mitchell Partnership Inc. eLectricaL/security consuLtant Mulvey & Banani International Inc. LanDscape architect NAK Design Strategies LeeD consuLtant Green Reason acoustic consuLtant HGC Engineering totaL size 1.3-million square feet totaL cost Undisclosed

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