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56 | FEBRUA RY 2018 MEC North York PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP by NATALIE BRUCKNER-MENCHELLI MEC North York M ountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) places a high premium on the in-store experience and that's certainly evident at the new North York store in Toronto. Located on Sheppard Avenue East in the Bayview Village neighbourhood, the new 42,000-square-foot MEC is helping to strengthen its support for active lifestyles in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and act as a community hub. "We had been looking for a location within the GTA that was far enough out of downtown but that had good mul- timodal accessibility. Those sites are hard to find," says Tim Southam, public affairs manager at MEC. "We eventually came across this site, which used to be a nursery. It is in close proximity to the Don Valley Parkway, easily accessible by bike, and has a transit station right outside the door. However, it was a large lot that was just too big for a store," explains Southam. Initially, MEC had planned to pro- vide surface parking behind the store, however the City of Toronto rejected the original proposal as they were looking to increase density along the Sheppard Avenue corridor. "That caused us to rethink the project and we decided to partner with Broccolini Construction in a limited joint partnership to develop the back half of the site as a townhouse complex," says Southam. And so, after a number of design and approval phases that required the onerous task of rezoning, the project could finally go ahead. "We were exca- vating from lot line to lot line, which required well-thought-out logistics," says Sandy Treagus, CFO at MEC. "This was an extremely chal- lenging site," adds Chuck Katzman, senior project manager at Broccolini Construction. "There was no laydown area to mobilize equipment and mate- rials, and access to the site was limited off of Sheppard Avenue. Everything had to be carefully prearranged." "There were also water issues due to the groundwater table, so a raft slab was encapsulated with waterproof- ing and sealed tight, but we knew this going in, and there was a lot of pre- planning and co-ordination with the mechanical, civil, and structural engi- neers," says Mike Cleland from Cleland Jardine Engineering. Having carefully worked out the logistics for both the new store and the townhouses, the construction of the new MEC store could finally get underway. As we have come to expect, the design of the North York store features key elements of MEC's architectural brand. The two-storey building (with two storeys of underground parking) is an amalgamation of features and pro- cesses that have proven worthy in MEC's other stores. "Taking advantage of the site is very important to MEC and so the context, size and shape of the lot, which in this case is trapezoidal, informs the design," says Dan Cowling at SMV architects. The concrete and steel structure fea- tures a distinctive sawtooth roof with clerestory windows that help flood the building with natural light, while mass wood and natural stone showcase the company's commitment to sustainabil- ity and the surrounding environment. "There is a natural stone feature wall next to the entrance that acts as a LOCATION 784 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER Mountain Equipment Co-op ARCHITECT SMV architects CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Broccolini Construction Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Cleland Jardine Engineering Ltd. MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Pageau Morel et associés inc. INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTANT Ædifica TOTAL SIZE 42,000 square feet TOTAL COST Undisclosed signature piece, while the base of the building is clad in architectural block that is 12-feet high by eight-feet wide. Having this at the base gives good durability and provides a neutral back- drop," says Cowling. "Above that we used structurally insulated panels as the core of the exterior walls. Fibre cement board has also been used to help break up the mass." "We used a cool material from Europe called Swiss Pearl, which is all around the exterior," adds Dave Lauzon from Broccolini Construction. Glazing can be found on the Sheppard frontage along the base and adjacent to where the main staircase is located. "While the majority of the daylighting comes from the sawtooth roof where we have large clerestory windows that face north and enjoy indirect daylighting, the glazing on the Sheppard frontage along the base and adjacent to where the main staircase is located allows light to stream into the building," says Cowling. Another signature element of MEC stores is the distinctive floating canopy that marks the store's entrance and fea- tures exposed timbers and a green roof that helps with stormwater management. This wooden element carries on inside the building with the use of CLT panels as a core component of the retail experience. "While CLT panels are typi- cally used as a structural component of a building, here we repurposed the material in a unique way, creating free- standing display walls that define the retail departments," says Stephane Bernier, director, design studio at Ædifica. "Rather than being stranded in a sea of racks with merchandise, the CLT displays add structure and rhythm as you navigate the store, and provide a strong and visually compelling back- drop to each different department." The store has been designed to have all the technical gear/hard goods on the main floor and clothing and apparel on the second floor. Polished concrete floors and a more exposed finish add to the sense of bring- ing the outside in. Walk towards the feature stair that connects at the south east of the building and the two-storey glazing draws you up to the second floor. "The three large clerestory win- dows create an illusion that you are looking up to the sky," says Cowling. As part of MEC's Green Building Systems program, which helps cre- ate structures that are healthy and inviting for visitors and staff, a tremen- dous amount of thought was placed on the mechanical and electrical sys- tems. In fact, MEC North York has been designed to be almost 50 percent more energy efficient than a compa- rable commercial building, based on the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB) 1997. "The HVAC system features a heat recovery ventilator with underfloor air distribution, and variable refrig- erant flow heat pumps that provide hot and chilled water, as well as heat- ing and cooling to the offices through the refrigerant fan coils in the offices," explains Daniel Picard at Pageau Morel. "There is thermal storage for cool- ing and for that we used an undersized heat pump system. This means that during the night we create cold water that we then send under the P2 park- ing level where there is a glycol system. Then, during the day, this water assists the heat pump to cool down the build- ing. The storage bank required very specific calculation and co-ordination to be designed correctly," says Picard. In addition, daylight sensors have been installed so that when sunlight enters the building, the artificial light naturally dims. While the project did indeed get off to a slow start, the final product speaks for itself. "Everyone at MEC and the trades were an absolute plea- sure to work with. Communication and transparency were key and in the end resulted in a very successful project," says Lauzon. "At MEC we want to continue to demonstrate leadership in building in the most sustainable way we can, and North York is a great example of this," says Treagus. A

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