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84 | august 2015 tRIuMF aRIEL – uBC (advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory) photography by tamara roberts at studio two photography/courtesy chernoff thompson architects TRIUMF ARIEL – UBC (Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory) by Jessica krippendorf T he ARIEL project at the University of British Columbia (UBC) represents innovation and progress that is two- fold – in its construction and in the life- saving research it is designed to achieve. Canada's national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics, the TRI-University Meson Facility (TRIUMF), was founded in 1968 by the University of Victoria (UVic), Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia (UBC). Ron Proulx, representative with UVic says ARIEL is anything but typical. "You will find that this project was much more that the construction of a build- ing," he says. "The end product is more like a working and producing scientific piece of equipment." Remy Dawson, TRIUMF's head of engi- neering, says the overall vision for the project – besides encompassing the pro- gram's scientific needs – included becom- ing a gateway and visual link between existing buildings on the campus. The four-storey building is located on the UBC campus, marking the world's second installation of this type of struc- ture. Three major components along the building's length include the rare isotope beam annex in the north end, the Target Hall – a single-volume, four-storey con- crete shell – in the middle portion; and laboratories and control areas in the south end. The accelerators and target stations will be connected by new beam lines in a common tunnel. The tunnel, which is four metres in diameter, connects the ARIEL building to the adjacent existing cyclotron and electron hall building. Above and below grade portions were planned to accommodate variations in how many people will access each space. Lower grade spaces contain few archi- tectural finishes, while the upper levels are illuminated with generous glazing. Extra large, 8,000-pound capacity elevators provide access to all f loors from the south elevator and from grade to Level B2 from the north elevator. The internal placement and planning of the spaces is dictated by function, says Naomi Gross, architect with Chernoff Thompson Architects. "Specific spaces such as the Target Hall, Laser Ion Source Room and Hot Cell area are strategically placed with respect to the beam line and tunnel," she says. "Support spaces on the south of ARIEL provide labs which are used in the process of making targets ready for use in the Target Hall." The building's exterior achieves the gateway vision with a material pal- ette that relates to adjacent buildings while expressing its unique esthetic. "The translucent facade scattered with vision glass, together with the super- graphics stair tower on the north side creates a prominent but welcoming appearance as people approach from the parking lot along the landscaped walkway," says Gross. "The vertical expression of the north facade also con- trasts with the horizontal low profile of the adjacent buildings." Metal cladding on the south and west elevations establishes a visual rela- tionship with the rest of the campus. Galvalume provides a neutral colour tone to tie in with cladding on the adja- cent buildings, while copper-coloured accent panels highlight ARIEL's facade. General contractor EllisDon employed cutting-edge construction techniques to complete the complicated build on time and on budget. Space constraints were one of the con- struction team's largest hurdles, requir- ing an "as-needed" materials delivery schedule. When the site's location close to the ocean required a dewatering solution, EllisDon devised a method where holes were bored and then filled with rocks, and water that rose to the top was then pumped into the dewatering system. This successfully contained the water out- side of the 50-foot excavation so it didn't impact the shotcrete or concrete. A major constraint was construct- ing the ARIEL building and the tunnel that connects the existing cyclotron and electron hall building to the new ARIEL building. To the north, the ISAC1 building contains highly sensitive mag- netic tubes that essentially racetrack the particles from the cyclotron to their impact location. "This equipment was so sensitive, they could not move more than plus or minus one millimetre during construc- tion," says John Mackenzie, project manager for EllisDon. The company successfully completed excavation and shoring operations directly adjacent to this building by completing a 20-metre- long and 20-metre-deep section each day rather than digging a 200-metre trench all at once. Part of the contractor's work also included Canada's first use of cable floss technology in which diamond-encrusted steel cables are used to cut through con- crete – in this case, seven-foot-thick walls. ARIEL's walls provide protec- tion against the radiation released by the cyclotron. Andy Metten with Bush, Bohlman & Partners LLP, says the company took the structural design from conceptual design through working drawings and field services on the parts. He describes the main ARIEL facility as a large and intricate concrete bunker with massive concrete walls and slabs that shield the outside from any radiation. Ancillary buildings include a stores building that contains offices on the second f loor and stores receiving on the main floor, a mechanical building with gas compression, a bicycle and change facility and a facility for screen- ing those entering and leaving the site. Renovations to the existing electron hall to provide a tunnel for the beam line were also part of the work. Challenges with the project were partly due to phasing: "The desire to construct the stores building and have it up and running before we could start the excavation for ARIEL was an early challenge," says Metten. "To get around this issue we designed a steel build- ing that could be built quickly – even quicker than a pre-engineered building – as an early tender package that saved having a temporary building to house the people who would be displaced by the ARIEL construction." The next challenge was due to the thick concrete elements – mixes needed to be designed to provide the correct shielding while not having too high a heat of hydration that would crack the walls. Another main challenge was the fact that the building had to be designed to accommodate service intensive scien- tific facilities that will be designed and installed after completion of the build- ing. "These challenges were overcome through a lot of discussion between the design consultants and the client's team. Both sides brought experience and ideas to the table that focused on solutions," says Dawson. A Location 4004 Westbrook Mall (UBC), Vancouver, B.C. owner TRI-University Meson Facility (TRIUMF) architect Chernoff Thompson Architects GeneraL contractor EllisDon Corporation StructuraL conSuLtant Bush, Bohlman & Partners MechanicaL conSuLtant Stantec eLectricaL conSuLtant LEX Engineering LandScape architect Durante Kreuk Ltd. totaL Size 31,645 square feet totaL coSt $24 million

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