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AUGUST 2017 | 89 Chan Gunn Pavilion – UBC RENDERINGS COURTESY HCMA ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN Chan Gunn Pavilion – UBC by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI T he University of British Columbia (UBC) has earned itself an international reputation for leading groundbreaking research, and the new Chan Gunn Pavilion – the first academic sports medicine unit in the world and Canada's second FIFA-accredited medical centre of excellence – is further evidence of the University's commitment to being a centre for research excellence. Named after the president of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Pain who has pioneered a non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical technique called intramuscular stimulation (IMS) that alleviates pain resulting from nerve damage (and one of the key donors for the $11.425-million project), the centre addresses sports injury and fitness- related health care needs of the province. The new two-storey sports centre represents a substantial increase in space and improvement in facility quality over the existing John Owen Pavilion that it replaces (and which was demolished to make way for the National Soccer Development Centre). Originally the project was to be located on a different site, but after close consultation with UBC Properties Trust and Campus and Community Planning it was decided that the Chan Gunn Pavilion should be built in close proximity to the hub of athletic activity, east of the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at Thunderbird Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall. "The Pavilion was also planned to be developed in two phases, but we were fortunate in being able to pull together sufficient funding to do both phases at one time," says John Metras, managing director of infrastructure development at UBC. "As the building is fairly small [21,172 square feet], building it in two phases just wasn't economical, Also, doctors didn't want to move into a world-class building and treat clients with construction taking place on their new building," explains Dan Giordano, formerly of UBC Properties Trust. During construction the team at Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. (RJC) discovered that the soils, on which the building footings were supposed to be supported, ended up being much deeper than anticipated. "Such an issue would typically result in over-excavation, deeper foundations and delays in getting the project out of the ground," says John-Edward Franquet at RJC. "So we worked closely and efficiently with the geotechnical engineer and Ledcor to identify the problem areas and devise ways to bring the amount of additional excavation down to a minimum, thus saving the owner both time and money." The building features a number of structural materials including masonry, concrete and steel, which were applied in a way to maximize their use. "Masonry was chosen for the walls located tight to the Thunderbird Arena as it could easily be installed from one side and inherently provided the fire separation required between the two buildings," says Franquet, who adds that the structural system of note is the level two framing which is comprised of ComSlab – an innovative solution for floors that features an eight-inch deep composite deck with concrete topping. "This system provides a light solution for long spans, while maintaining good resistance to fire. Such a solution allowed us to span across several of the rooms in order to maximize the clear heights in the different spaces. ComSlab was also used on the level two roof to allow for a future exterior amenity space," says Franquet. Indeed, maximizing light into the facility was key, while still maintaining a high level of privacy. In order to achieve this, HCMA Architecture + Design used the moiré effect, which creates privacy where there is glazing at ground level for people inside and a visually striking effect for people walking by on the outside. "We placed repositionable screens containing graphics using the moiré principle against a piece of glass with white and clear vertical stripes. When viewed from the outside the combination of the exterior printed LOCATION Thunderbird Blvd and Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER UBC Properties Trust ARCHITECT HCMA Architecture + Design CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Ledcor Construction Limited STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT AME Group ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT AES Engineering Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT P+A TOTAL SIZE 21,172 square feet TOTAL COST $11.425 million glass and the interior printed graphics on the screens produces this dynamic effect," says Stuart Rothnie, principal at HCMA Architecture + Design. Head on inside the building and the main level of the Pavilion houses clinical spaces, while the upper level serves as a space for research and teaching. "The inside is extremely efficient but is done in such a way that it doesn't sacrifice design, so it still has an architecturally pleasing look," explains Giordano. Due to the unique nature of the building (being a combined healthcare and educational centre), special care and attention was paid to the lighting design and is control specific to each area. "The video-conference room is designed with multiple lighting scenes, each controlled separately, which are integrated with the architectural design and media system to ensure optimal quality," says Sonia Mollaei, LEED Green associate and electrical designer at AES Engineering. Mollaei adds that for emergency power supply, AES Engineering designed the system around a central battery system in lieu of battery packs to better integrate lighting with the architectural design. The main open staircase features unique luminaires that draw the attention with strong lines that contrast with the dark colour ceiling. "The intent was to make the staircase visually visible by providing a lighting level that is higher than corridors. This will encourage the occupants to use the stairs. This approach also allowed us to achieve LEED credit for Design for Active Occupants," says Mollaei. The first floor exercise room and labs are introduced with generous glazing that allowed AES Engineering to incorporate daylight sensors to reduce energy consumption. Giordano adds that as part of the design brief, waste heat from the arena was utilized and there was a focus on natural ventilation to cool the building, which resulted in substantial energy savings. "In addition, to save on heat and materials, we used lots of point-of-use domestic water heating," says Marie- France Venneri, project manager at AME Group. "The HVAC is also quite a different system as we have in slab radiant heating and cooling, and naturally ventilated spaces." In the middle of the building is an atrium that features motorized dampers at the top. "This is where the temperature and CO2 is monitored, and the motorized dampers open accordingly. We have additional fans that are added at the top of the atrium to add to the airflow in peak summer and the windows can be either automatically controlled or manually operated," adds Venneri. For any high-dense spaces, fancoils were also added to reduce the amount of electrical space needed and increase the amount of fresh air. Head on back outside and the landscape design by P+A has been created to unify and connect the existing Thunderbird Arena building and the new Chan Gunn Pavilion. "Our goal was to maintain a large public open space between the buildings and enhance the surrounding spaces with seating and planting," says Jason McDougall. "This was achieved through the reuse of existing pavers combined with new cast-in-place concrete paving, buffer planting and custom designed benches." P+A used native and adapted species that have a low-water requirement and are drought tolerant. Care was also taken to retain a large existing grove of trees on the North East corner of the site. It is fair to say that successful collaboration resulted in a project that UBC can be proud of. "The entire team including the client, consultants and contractors brought a solutions- based approach to the table and worked together throughout the design process and construction to make the project a success," says Franquet. A

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