December 22, 2008

BUNTING COADY ARCHITECTS

The passive design of the Cloverdale facility ensures effective use of the campus microclimate and optimized building orientation.

New Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus earns LEED Gold

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Cloverdale campus, Canada’s newest high-tech facility for trades, technology and applied training programs, has achieved LEED Gold certification.

Designed by Vancouver’s Bunting Coady Architects, the 185,139 square-foot campus includes 21 shops and 27 classrooms which can accommodate up to 900 full-time students. Constructed by Ledcor, the $42.3 million high-tech campus is believed to be the largest LEED Gold trade school in North America.

“The team that worked together on this project did an excellent job at creating a great place to learn and work while minimizing the building’s impact on the environment,” said Karen Hearn, the university’s director of facilities.

The building, which officially opened in April 2007, was intentionally designed to look more like a university than an industrial facility.

BUNTING COADY ARCHITECTS

Multi-coloured glazing and Y-shaped interior glulam beams in the atrium add to the vibrant design of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Cloverdale campus.

The large number of windows provide views to the outdoors, Bunting Coady said.

An indoor covered street provides visual and physical access to every floor and ensures optimum natural light and ventilation. Roofs have skylights, allowing natural daylight to illuminate the space.

Multi-coloured glazing and Y-shaped interior glulam beams in the atrium also add to the vibrancy of the design.

Dramatic wood “trees” that line the concourse were sourced within a 500-mile radius of the campus.

Bunting Coady said the key focus of the project team was creation of a “passive” design to ensure effective use of the campus microclimate and optimize building orientation.

BUNTING COADY ARCHITECTS

Dramatic wood “trees” line the concourse of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Cloverdale campus.

The north and south building façades are substantially larger than the east and west faces, thereby maximizing control of sunlight glare and heat gain/loss.

Initiatives such as this reduce the need for mechanical systems within the facility and significantly reduce energy consumption.

Green power purchases for the project supply enough renewable energy to replace 100 per cent of the facility’s regulated base building electrical usage, contributing to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Additional features that contributed to Kwantlen’s LEED Gold certification in the new construction category from the U.S. Green Building Council include:

• An erosion and sedimentation control plan, implemented prior to the start of construction. More than 87 per cent of construction waste was diverted from landfill.

• A water use reduction of 45 per cent over “baseline” conditions. Water conservation strategies include low-flow toilets, waterless urinals and sensor-controlled faucets. In addition, low-flow drains are installed on the roof and the landscaping requires no ongoing irrigation.

• A large south-facing photovoltaic array generates 5 kilowatts of renewable energy.

• Innovative use of coloured concrete in the tilt-ups makes the building envelope virtually maintenance free. The colour of the pigmented walls deepens when wet and changes with the light.

• The welding area exhaust system is adjusted automatically based on the number of booths in use.

Individual lighting controls in each of the 42 welding booths are linked to a centralized control system, adjusting the variable speed drive fan, which then controls the rate of exhaust.

The facility also benefits from the use of locally produced materials and from non- or low-VOC (volatile organic compound) emitting products.

The site is served by three public transit links and is well equipped for wheelchair access.

The project team included: structural engineers Bush Bohlman & Partners; building envelope consultants Trow Associates Inc.; civil/mechanical/electrical engineering consultants Earth Tech Canada Inc.; and landscape architects PWL Partnership Landscape Architects Inc.

From the outset, the design team incorporated sustainable design principles and identified the potential of LEED Gold certification without incurring additional costs.

Bunting Coady was the LEED consultant.

The design team utilized an integrated design process to incorporate the mechanical, electrical, civil and architectural requirements for the project.

This process also enabled the team to overlap the programming phase of the project with the conceptual/schematic design phase, saving valuable time and money during a period of escalating costs.

Bunting Coady CEO Teresa Coady, principal in charge of design, said she believes that the building exceeds everyone’s expectations.

“The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Cloverdale Campus is probably the most beautiful facility of its kind in North America,” she said.

“Its LEED Gold certification is a triumph for the entire design team.”

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