Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/755184
DECEMBER 2016 | 71 Okanagan Centre for Innovation RENDERINGS COURTESY MEIKLEJOHN ARCHITECTS INC. Okanagan Centre for Innovation by ROBIN BRUNET V isually as well as programmatically, nothing quite like the Okanagan Centre for Innovation (OCI) has ever been seen in downtown Kelowna: the massive, 104,715-square-foot rectangular edifice with its defining seven-storey atrium appears almost weightless, thanks to its extensive glazing and bold horizontal lines. Conceived by a group of entrepreneurial, community, civic and academic leaders, the OCI was inspired by the design concepts of high-tech campuses – entirely appropriate, since the centre's function is to provide space and services to everything from two-person start-ups to large technology and innovation firms. Meiklejohn Architects Inc. principal Jim Meiklejohn says, "Initially an idea was to build an office tower and podium-style building, but that would have been totally inappropriate for the clientele we wanted to attract." Meiklejohn's colleague, project architect Stoke Tonne, describes the OCI as, "Very much the outcome of a few key architectural stakeholders, whom the owner group committed to, and who worked with us to make sure they stayed intact throughout the design process." Jeff Keen, director of the OCI, explains the genesis of the project and what lead to its eventual development. "We started with 25 people around a boardroom table in January 2013, to brainstorm about the future of technology and innovation in our community and what good would look like five, 10, and 20 years out. What are the key ingredients to a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem? What was missing and what we should attract? "Tech, innovative business and entrepreneurs were what we wanted. The tech industry has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years and we believed that an innovation centre located in the heart of Kelowna's cultural district would be a major catalyst for continued forward momentum," says Keen. Inspired by the high-tech campuses of Apple, Pixar and Google, Meiklejohn set out to design a building with abundant glazing to diminish the barrier between exterior and interior (the inner workings would be easily viewed by pedestrians). A spectacular seven- storey atrium (complete with a winding, seven-storey staircase) and skylight would be the building's dynamic core; a hub for congregation that would spill natural light throughout the complex. It was also decided to connect the OCI with the Okanagan Regional Library using a series of attached walkways. "While that concept of connection may be commonplace in big cities, it has never been done in Kelowna before," says Tonne. Instead of resorting to mimicry, the architects echoed some of the library's visual elements via soffits and colour palette. More important was the north/south flow from the library connecting to the east/west atrium. Keen explains, "we wanted the OCI to be full of 'collision' points; where people interact and exchange ideas, in the best tradition of tech campuses, and the library/atrium flows accomplish this." Making the OCI a true people space encompassed subtle but important details. "No office is typically more than 30 feet from a window, and all windows are operable," says Meiklejohn. Another people-centric feature would be a 15,000-square-foot roof deck, designed as a showpiece with seating areas, plantings, swatches of green, outdoor firespaces and incredible views of the mountains and Okanagan Lake. "The roof deck would be framed with nine trees in boxes from landscape architect Urban Systems, which we retained in the early stages of the project," says Tonne. Elizabeth Balderston, Urban Systems' senior landscape architect, adds, "To enhance the vision of the OCI being a community hub, we installed planters and benches on the street and even a gathering space for teenagers, since a high school is nearby. This all worked wonderfully, as the sidewalks were designed to be very wide and the parking lot would be built so it could also host public events." Balderston goes on to note that, "the OCI adhered as much as possible to LEED principles, and environmental features include three scuppers taking stormwater from the roof, both to irrigate green space and to act in one area as a water feature." Construction began in October 2014, by which point Sawchuk Developments Co. Ltd. had spent a year providing value engineering and number crunching as construction managers. "We then broke ground as the general contractors, with the first order of business being extensive vibra-densification work, since we only had six feet above the water table," says project manager Gord Sandrin. Sandrin, who has worked with Meiklejohn on many regional projects, says site constraint was one of the biggest challenges: "We had about 10 feet on each side of the site for shipment and laydown of materials. However, construction of the first two levels of suspended slab concrete and structural steel for the upper floors has been relatively uneventful, with about 110 people working at peak." Not surprisingly, the electrical component of the project is complex. "It ranges from basic lighting to high capacity bandwidth, with the provision of flexibility for future tech tenants," says Loic Letailleur, project manager, electrical for Smith + Andersen. "We also worked closely with Telus and the City of Kelowna to tap into the city's closed loop dark fibre network." Smith + Andersen also helped create a special feature for the atrium which, although as of this writing remains confidential, Letailleur promises "will be a unique and outstanding feature of the OCI overall." By October of 2016, all parties were focused on a big push in finalizing construction for a late November opening, and as the OCI neared completion, the Kelowna Sustainable Innovation Group was reassured that its goal of providing a business game-changer to Kelowna had been achieved. "This is exciting," says Keen. "The OCI will attract talent from all points of the compass to our community and encourage the next generation of thought leaders to take risks and think bigger." A LOCATION 460 Doyle Avenue, Kelowna, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER Kelowna Sustainable Innovation Group ARCHITECT Meiklejohn Architects Inc. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Sawchuk Developments Co. Ltd. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT CWMM Consulting Engineers Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Rocky Point Engineering Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Smith + Andersen LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Urban Systems INTERIOR DESIGN Sticks + Stones Design Group Inc. TOTAL SIZE 104,715 square feet TOTAL COST $35 million