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OCTOBER 2017 | 79 The Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) by JESSICA KIRBY The Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) T he Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) campus is in its final year of construction and has become so much more than a headquarters for Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR) and a hub for innovation in research and design – it is a success story of integration and homage to a vibrant culture in Northern Canada. The four-building campus comprises the main research building (MRB), field and maintenance building (FMB) and two tri-plexes – dorms for visiting scientists. Its purpose is to provide a year-round presence and complement the network of research facilities across Canada's North with key facilities such as research labs, centres for technology development and knowledge sharing, and facilities for teaching training and community engagement. Alain Fournier, architect with FGMDA/NFOE Architects (now EVOQ Architecture), says the client's vision was to design a world-class Arctic science and technology research station, with emphasis on integrating it, in every possible way, to the Inuit community of Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay). "Canadian Arctic research stations are usually far removed from Inuit communities," says Fournier. "The community asked us to integrate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) concepts in the design of the station. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit literally translates to, 'what should be known by Inuit.' This holistic set of concepts was articulated by the Nunavummiut to assist them in creating their territory Nunavut, and shaping all aspects of its development." He says successful integration was achieved through a thoughtful, ongoing consultation process with various community groups. "Our design was inspired by the host community's culture [the Copper Inuit], the Inuit Nunangat culture in general, the exacting science and research program requirements, and site specific constraints and opportunities," says Fournier. Most notable about CHARS is its unusual openness to the community. The structure in the public spaces is made up of heavy timber posts and beams to convey the presence of traditional Inuit technology (stick built, expertly assembled materials) and helps to emphasize warmth and friendliness. The exterior is clad in copper- coloured, small-sized steel panels – a nod to the Copper Inuit – which spiral around the walls much like the ingenious self-supporting spiral structure of Inuit igloos. For the more private spaces of the station, more conventional, linear, axial, Western planning principles were used along with a standard steel structure. The roof of this section is a flat barrel vault to integrate it with the curved public spaces. The campus and the individual buildings were laid out in response to a number of environmental constraints, says Fournier. The campus needed either to avoid treading on the tundra or to tread softly as Arctic flora is notoriously fragile. "A detailed mapping of the site and surrounding ecosystem was done to determine the footprint of the facilities," he says. "Build and no build zones were thus identified." Detailed wind and snow drifting studies and modelling were undertaken to assist in positioning the buildings and their accesses. Fournier adds that lab exhaust chimneys were positioned to ensure safe and optimal evacuation. Louis-Philippe Poirier, head of structural engineering services for SNC-Lavalin, says the MRB, which has one level and a partial second floor, is a hybrid steel and exposed wood building erected on a concrete foundation supported by piles anchored to bedrock. The piles on both buildings are hollow tubular steel pipes filled with concrete and bored through the permafrost into the bedrock located within six metres from the ground level. The laboratory section of the building is a conventional steel structure, with beams, joists and columns supporting slab on deck floors. The office and public spaces are a post and beam glulam exposed wood structure sourced from forests located in Northern Quebec. One of the building's unique challenges was its construction to include a basement, which is unconventional in the Arctic because raised buildings avoid snow drifts and melting the permafrost with heat from the building. "One of the key site conditions that allowed us to incorporate a basement was the fact that the bedrock was close to the surface," says Poirier. "This allowed us to erect the building on piles anchored to bedrock and not uniquely into permafrost, which is often the case when the bedrock is too deep." To avoid a large quantity of water around the basement, heat transfer models using finite elements were used to determine the right amount of insulation for the basement walls and floor to minimize effects on the permafrost. "As a safety measure, weeping tiles were installed on the perimeter of the basement foundation as well as under the crawlspace," says Poirier. "This is very uncommon in Arctic construction. These weeping tiles catch any water coming from the thaw of the permafrost and from surface runoff in June during snow thaw. After one year of operation, these weeping tiles have operated very efficiently." The MRB has a glycol heating distribution system supplied by the FMB with a heat recovery run- around loop. The CHARS is designed as a high-performance building with the objective of achieving LEED Gold certification. Several energy and water conservation measures were implemented to help achieve the environmental rating, including dual core high-efficiency energy recovery on outdoor air and a low-temperature passive energy recovery loop. The laboratories receive passive and free cooling 90 percent of the time, and make up air transfer is provided for the laboratories and kitchen exhaust systems. The building also utilizes high-efficiency LED lighting, full spectrum lights, photovoltaic panels and composting toilets in areas of higher traffic. "In a Northern community that lives either in total darkness or in total sunlight part of the year, human circadian rhythm is perturbed. For the darkest month, full spectrum lighting is used in part of the building, to reduce seasonal syndrome of light depravation. In other sectors of the building light sensors are used to PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGULALIK PEDERSEN/COURTESY EVOQ ARCHITECTURE

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