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AUGUST 2017 | 73 Peter Lougheed Hall – University of Alberta PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOUBLESPACE PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY GEC ARCHITECTURE Peter Lougheed Hall – University of Alberta by MARTHA UNIACKE BREEN U niversity buildings frequently have more complex programmatic requirements than other large public buildings. In the case of the University of Alberta's remarkable new Peter Lougheed Hall, the design was driven not just by the need for a new residence that could house up to 143 live-in students in one- and two- bedroom units, but would provide a wide range of support services and amenities to other members of the campus population, and specifically support the University's new Leadership program. A sense of past, present and future are implicit in the design. Its relationship with the surrounding landscape and its views of the legislature buildings speak to the heritage aspect, explains Peter Osborne of GEC Architecture. The design shows a strong emphasis on creating a sense of community, drawing students out of their rooms and into social and academic gathering places both within and surrounding the building. And the idea that the leaders of tomorrow are being nurtured here is implicit in the Hall's open, bright and welcoming design. The Hall consists of three key components, Osborne explains, made up of several conjoined centres linked by breezeways that embrace a landscaped inner courtyard – a nod to traditional academic architecture surrounding a quadrangle. The main floor is a community area, with shared amenities, offices and fitness facilities, and, on the east side facing Adair Park, the Dining Hall, one of the jewels of the building's architecture. The next three floors are devoted to residences, organized into 13 "forum blocks" that divide students into groups of 11 – corresponding to the organization of the program itself. Then the top floor, known as the City Room, features floor-to-ceiling glass and views over Saskatchewan Drive, the East Campus village and the city to the north. The Main Floor features spaces for lectures, group or individual study, and lounge areas where you can enjoy the views and simply decompress, either in a patch of sunlight or outdoors on a rooftop patio. There are common rooms for each of the 13 student blocks, that together with the corridors, offer views over other students walking by or gathering in the courtyard below. Being able to see people interacting all around you, along with the inclusion of a variety of other spaces that encourage students to get out of their rooms and meet friends or just walk around, helps banish the loneliness that campus life can bring. In all but the snowiest Edmonton winter days, the outdoor areas of the Hall are among the most inviting aspects of the design. The inner elevations of the building feature a series of rounded and sinuous curves, which harmonize with Janet Rosenberg & Studio's impressionistic landscape design for the courtyard. "The landscape concept derived from the physical ecology and morphology of the Saskatchewan River," Rosenberg explains. "It encompasses the spirit of the land by weaving the landscape through the building and providing strong inside-outside connections. The landscape is a reinterpretation of nature inspired by the river itself, with its sinuous geometry and undulating top of the riverbed. It talks to views, porosity, microclimate and seasonality. "We also took advantage of the existing adjacent park to extend the boundaries of the site. The central courtyard has a wonderful sculptured water feature as a focal point [which is being finalized through a design competition]," Rosenberg adds. "Ecological rain gardens will collect site water and meander through infiltration, enhancing the sustainability of the site. The trees in the courtyard are all inspired by trees naturally found with the river system, once again expanding the edges and weaving the river ecology onto the site, enforcing broader connections throughout the campus." At the east side overlooking Adair Park is the Dining Hall; a one-storey pavilion whose ceiling panels and exposed timber beams contrast with the sleek steel-and-glass composition of the rest of the building. As Nick De Ridder of Fast + Epp points out: "In the Dining Hall, we wanted something unique, a 'statement piece' of sorts. So we went with wood. It has a western timberframe feeling to it that contrasts nicely with the cooler elements of the modern steel-and-concrete construction of the overall structure." The construction of the Dining Hall is as unique as its esthetic. Anchored by a central spine that defines the east-west axis of the room, the ceiling consists of a series of glulam prefabricated panels made by Edmonton fabricator Western Archrib. Each of the panels was separately constructed and finished offsite, leaving space for elements such as sprinklers and lowered into place by a crane. The process not only allows for a high degree of efficiency in construction, but makes for a very tight building envelope. Underneath this attractive ceiling, three of the four walls feature glazing framed in wood, a design element that required a bit of engineering. "Because it's at the top of the river valley it gets very windy; to protect against wind loads, the building utilizes diagonal stainless steel rods. They're incorporated into the design in a really attractive way, and make a beautiful contrast to the sturdiness of the wood posts and overall structure," says De Ridder. For Sunil Nakai of SMP Engineering, one of the most striking things about Peter Lougheed Hall is the way the design floods the interior with natural light. This not only has a favourable influence on energy use, it also makes for a beautiful space to be in. The building is rated at four Green Globes and as Nakai explains, the electrical design is one of the key elements to achieving this rating. "Almost the entire lighting package is LED, so that all of the lighting draws a significantly lower wattage than what is typical. The lighting controls are also configured so that various general spaces in a building that would normally be at 100 percent brightness and simply left on all the time, can instead be programmed together with the rest of the building's systems to operate in a very specific way," says Nakai. "Lastly, this project will have a high level of energy monitoring/reporting/ metering, allowing the University to get an accurate handle on energy use. This metering information will also be displayed for users within the building, providing a real-time update about how much energy the building is using, which is not only interesting information, but a source of educational material for students and staff alike," adds Nakai. As Peter Osborne says, Peter Lougheed Hall acknowledges that campus life, and indeed the seeds of leadership, go beyond lecture halls and studying to include all aspects of campus life. A LOCATION East Campus Village, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER University of Alberta ARCHITECT GEC Architecture GENERAL CONTRACTOR Graham Construction STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Fast + Epp MECHANICAL CONSULTANT KFR Engineering ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT SMP Engineering LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Janet Rosenberg & Studio Inc. TOTAL COST Undisclosed 1:00 PM 8:39 AM

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