Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/687429
J UNE 2016 | 67 BC Nurses' Union Education Centre PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUNNY JHOOTY/COURTESY BC NURSES' UNION & KMBR ARCHITECTS PLANNERS INC. BC Nurses' Union Education Centre by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI T he new BC Nurses' Union Education Centre in Burnaby is the kind of building that unconsciously draws you in; its combination of angular and soft lines and expansive use of glazing make you want to find out more. It could be said that the building mimics the activities within. This five-storey LEED-shadowed structure, which is as an extension to the existing building, is the new education centre for the 43,000 BC Nurses' Union (BCNU) members. "The building we currently have at the site had reached capacity," says BC Nurses' Union president Gayle Duteil. "We conduct a large amount of training for members and found we often had to rely on the availability of hotel seminar rooms, which proved to be costly. As we already owned the current property it made financial sense to create the workspace we needed at the current location." In order to ensure the new addition would complement the existing two-storey structure, BCNU hired KMBR Architects Planners Inc. (who designed the original building back in 1999) to design the existing building and new Centre. BCNU hired project manager Andreas Aalhus from Ritter Aalhus Construction Management Inc., who, along with KMBR and Smith Bros. & Wilson (BC) Ltd. (general contractor), were able to work very closely with the owner to meet the needs of BCNU members. Renovations to the existing two- storey building began in 2013. "We took advantage of having the workers on site to upgrade the original part. We repurposed some of the rooms and transformed the boardroom into a mail and photocopy room to streamline the building and enhance departmental workflow to service our members better," says Melody McGowan, manager, library, records and building services for BCNU. Before construction of the new addition could begin, the team came across something rather unexpected. "During excavation we ran into a significant amount of ground water coming from the west side that resulted in failure of the shoring wall," explains Aalhus. Because the foundation walls had zero clearance being right up against the shoring, the team had to act quickly. "There was a lot of emergency protocol we had to take to keep the shoring in place. We switched the way we did the foundation walls. Instead of pouring, we sprayed all the foundation walls onto the shotcrete, which gave the same structural integrity. We also used an extensive amount of anchors to keep the soil at bay," explains Gary Cheema at Smith Bros. & Wilson Ltd. Once secured, construction of the 72,340-square-foot addition began. For the design, KMBR took into consideration the varied ways that BCNU supports its members and provided a spectrum of spaces that enable small and large group collaboration, education and knowledge exchange, social gathering and administration. To give the building a sense of identity, Swisspearl cement panels, corrugated metal cladding and aluminum composite panel were chosen for the exterior, as well as an extensive amount of glazing. "The glazing is used to highlight the elliptical shape of the upper floors as they move down the building and intersect with the cement composite panel clad rectilinear form of the lower floors," explains Gregg Brown, principal at KMBR. "To the south this effect is terminated at the upper most levels, except for one continuous ribbon that bisects the facade while the north facade highlights the curve by projecting beyond the outline of the floors below, forming a covered area above the main entry. The lower two floors also have a projection into the rear yard that is clad in corrugated metal and relates to the two-storey scale of the original building and the materials used to clad it." To ensure adequate parking, the addition was designed with a two-level parkade that provides an additional 79 parking stalls, 10 of which are outfitted with electric car charging stations. "For us, connecting the upper level of the parkade to the existing underground parkade while aligning the ground level of the new and existing buildings proved to be a challenge," says Mark Anderson at Bush, Bohlman & Partners LLP. "With the unique shape of the new building above grade, the structural columns did not generally align with the parkade columns and transfer beams were required within the ground level over the parkade. Early in the design process concrete and steel structure framing schemes were reviewed and structural steel was chosen primarily due to the reduced weight of the structure, which would minimize the depth of these transfer beams and maintain the minimum clear height requirements within the parkade." "The ground floor reception area, much like the original, is a multi- storey space with full glazing to the north and south and is enhanced with BCNU's reception mural and artwork," explains Brown. On level one, the educational spaces have been designed around an open servery that overlooks the beautifully landscaped rear yard. Up on level two, educational spaces open into a breakout area that spills from the learning commons. Levels three and four have similar layouts where storage rooms and small breakout rooms are contained in the centre of the floor plan, while offices and clerical areas are moved to the perimeter. Level five features a new state- of-the-art boardroom, which all team members agree is incredibly impressive. The boardroom has a capacity for 58 people (seated) and features floor-to-ceiling glazing on both the north and south facades to create a very open and light space with almost 360-degree views. All the wires, cables and ducts have been cleverly hidden in the new semi-circular conference tables that run around the room and the use of Fellert acoustical plaster in the ceiling creates a seamless solution. Rocky Point Engineering, the mechanical consultant, and Acumen Engineers, the electrical consultant, worked closely with the team to ensure the building followed LEED. From the VFD mechanical system and the heat recovery systems, to motion detectors in the washrooms; energy efficiency was front of mind. The building even has a fully automated system, which allows qualified individuals to control the buildings electrical/mechanical systems via their phone and be alerted in the event of an emergency. This focus on energy efficiency can be further witnessed on the level three green roof. "It was conceived as an alpine meadow, using drought tolerant plant materials and is intended to provide seasonal interest to members using the adjacent patio space as well as those viewing the garden from the upper floors. The green roof system also provides increased stormwater benefit by reducing runoff from the roof area," explains Cameron Woodruff from PMG Landscape Architects. On the ground level organic forms combined with water, granite slabs, boulders and river rock were used in concert with native plant materials that Woodruff says create a sustainable design that references the spectacular indigenous landscapes which define B.C. No matter who you speak to, there is tremendous pride when it comes to this project and the close collaboration and open communication that occurred. "From start to finish we had a committed and collaborative group of people contributing to make this the best project it could be," says Brown. A LOCATION 4060 Regent Street, Burnaby, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER BC Nurses' Union PROJECT MANAGER Ritter Aalhus Construction Management Inc. ARCHITECT/ INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTANT KMBR Architects Planners Inc. GENERAL CONTRACTOR Smith Bros. & Wilson (BC) Ltd. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Bush, Bohlman & Partners LLP MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Rocky Point Engineering Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Acumen Engineering LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PMG Landscape Architects Ltd. TOTAL SIZE 72,340 square feet (addition) TOTAL COST Undisclosed