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OCTOBER 2015 | 93 St. Joseph's College Women's Residence – University of Alberta RENDERINGS COURTSEY STANTEC St. Joseph's College Women's Residence – University of Alberta by LAURIE JONES F or female students who are attend- ing Alberta's St. Joseph's College for the 2015 fall term, there is a reason to celebrate with the official opening of the Women's Residence. The Residence – uniquely situated on a site on the inner grounds of the University of Alberta in Edmonton – is a short walk to the adjacent college. "We had our ground-breaking ceremony in January 2014 and the estimated build time was 18 months," says Marc Neal, chief administrative officer for St. Joseph's College. "We met that timeline and the residence is ready for students to move in. The big standout of this job is we are one of the many projects on the University of Alberta campus that was completed on time and on budget." Designed as a tiered, seven-storey building, the sixth and seventh floors have spectacular views of the city of Edmonton. "A lot of people are very excited about the building, not the least of whom are the students," Neal says. "The design is set up to have one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments with a total of 115 suites. The lounges on the northeast corner have floor-to-ceiling glazing, as does the west corner of the building. The main lobby has a gathering lounge and a multipurpose room with a servery kitchen, which will be beneficial for students in their fundraising efforts." Also on the main floor is a 40-seat chapel dedicated to St. Kateri, who was a member of the Mohawk Nation. "There are a lot of circular shapes in the design and the furniture is made of all-natural materials. The terrazzo flooring is laid in a matching circular pattern," says Neal. "The seats are unique in that they are wooden stools made out of solid blocks of timber. The top is curved for comfortable seating and the bottom of the block is also carved so it sits nicely on the floor. Some of the stools were made from reclaimed wood that was harvested on site. The wooden cross in the chapel is made out of reclaimed barn timbers so it looks authentic." Enzo Vicenzino, senior principal and design lead at Stantec, took a special interest in designing the chapel. "This part of the project was interesting for me because it reminded me of when I was a young child going to church and enter- ing a poorly lit, dark church with very tall cathedral ceilings, punctuated with small clerestory windows that would let in shafts of daylight – very inspirational and scary at the same time," he says. "I wanted to somehow replicate that and make the chapel special. Father Terry runs St. Joseph's College and as I was explaining my vision, he said he could also relate to that childhood memory. We wanted to incorporate that to a cer- tain extent so on the outside of the cha- pel we have square windows that create shafts of light coming inside. The college went all out in creating the chapel and they drove that part of the design." The architecture team took their cue from the RFP that specified having a step-down look, and an acknowledge- ment to the existing St. Joseph's College nearby. "One of the big concerns from the College and the University was to ensure the residence complemented, not mimicked, the existing College in terms of materials, which include brick and limestone," says Vicenzino. "We also designed a landscaped walkway and gathering space between the existing buildings and the new residence. This will facilitate the circulation of students coming from the northeast and going to the Edmonton clinic or other buildings across 114th Street." Another consideration when fitting the residence in with the University was an existing four-storey parkade on the south side and a tall, academic build- ing on the east side. "We designed the main entry so that it would be promi- nent from 89th Avenue," he says. "We created the tallest portion of the step- down tiering to relate to the academic building. There's plenty of glazing fac- ing to the north and 89th Street, which was critical in terms of identifying the main entry to the building. As we move towards the west, we stepped the build- ing down to start relating more to the existing St. Joseph's College." Vicenzino says there is no mistake that this building is a student residence. "We didn't want to make it look like another academic building. I think it's going to be a very striking component for St. Joseph's College and the University of Alberta." To acknowledge the age of the exist- ing college building, which was built in the 1920s, the team included limestone mullions that project beyond the north facing. "The column forms part of one of the mullions clad in limestone and makes it look like it's holding up the entire corner of the facility. It's a nice feature and brings more prominence to the main entrance," says Vicenzino. The St. Joseph's Women's Residence includes 24-hour securit y and can accommodate 282 female students. "All of the suites are furnished with chairs, a common area table and kitchenettes that are equipped with a fridge, stove and microwave," says Ryan Christensen, proj- ect manager with Stuart Olson. "Laundry facilities are located on every second floor. There are no balconies but there are outdoor spaces allocated within the design." He notes Stuart Olson's contract was with the University who procured the project on behalf of St. Joseph's in a partnership build. "In terms of delivery model, it was a design-build between ourselves and Stantec. It's a very collab- orative and integrated process." Christensen says a lot of elements of the IPD collaboration delivery model have been incorporated into this proj- ect. "There were very few issues to deal with throughout the construction," he says. "The ownership group – a partner- ship between the University of Alberta and St. Joseph's College – was really good to deal with on the project management side of things." A LOCATION University of Alberta, North Campus, Edmonton, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER St. Joseph's College / University of Alberta ARCHITECT/STRUCTURAL/ MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL/ LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT Stantec DESIGN-BUILD CONTRACTOR Stuart Olson TOTAL SIZE 107,000 square feet HARD CONSTRUCTION COST $30.5 million

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