Wood Design & Building Magazine, vol 23, issue 94
Vandusen Gardens
The VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, was founded in 1971; doors opened to the public in 1975. By the year 2000, two existing buildings, the Floral Hall and the Garden Pavilion, were seeing much wear and the Garden’s entrance needed higher visibility. There was also a desire to attract more visitors and reach out to a younger demographic. Changes were needed. In keeping with existing buildings on the site which were built of heavy timber construction, any new building would also use a wood-based construction system. It seemed the most appropriate choice for a natural garden setting.
North Bay Regional Health Centre
Located at the eastern end of Lake Nipissing on the voyageur route linking Lake Superior to salt water, North Bay, in modern times, has a diversified economy and also serves as a transportation and service hub for resource-rich northern Ontario. With a local population of 56,000 and a much larger regional population, investigations began in the late 1990s to review the adequacy of three aging hospitals and options for refurbishment or replacement. Detailed analysis of the existing facilities and the region’s health care needs resulted in the decision to build a new facility. The North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) is comprised of the District Hospital (acute care) and the Regional Mental Health Centre (specialized and forensic mental health services). The North Bay Regional Health Centre is a new model for health care in Canada. In addition to the generous use of structural and decorative wood elements to help create a healing environment, it includes many firsts for Canadian health care.
Outstanding Wood Buildings (Bâtiments En Bois Exceptionnels)
Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship and Education Centre
The Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship and Education Centre (Education Centre) was planned and built to educate residents of the Regional Municipality of York about the importance of natural resources and forest ecosystems. The Regional Municipality of York, located on the Oak Ridges Moraine between Toronto and Lake Simcoe, includes the York Regional Forest, which is internationally recognized as a leader in site restoration and forest management, and is the first public forest in Canada to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Constructed of wood and accented with stone, the Education Centre reflects the materials of the surrounding forest. The use of wood in the design was integral to the building’s performance and appropriate to its function as a forest education centre.
Angus Glen Community Centre and Library
Situated adjacent to Toronto, Markham, Ontario is a fast-growing community with a burgeoning need for recreational facilities. To help meet this demand, the Angus Glen Community Centre and Library was designed to provide a first-class recreational experience for one area of Markham. The centre is situated on a 6.5 hectare (16 acre) site (Figure 1) and includes two skating rinks, a gymnasium, an Aquatics Centre, change rooms, multi-purpose rooms, and a district Library. The building has been enthusiastically endorsed by the public, with huge demand for the various swimming programs, hockey leagues and community clubs. In its first year, the building attracted 1.2 million visitors with demand for all activities far exceeding initial projections. The Library is but one example of this success, breaking all records for Library visits in Markham with an average 11,000 users per week. Much of the architectural appeal of the centre can be attributed to the use of wood as the key structural material in the Aquatics Centre, Library, the main entrances and ‘main street’ corridors, and decoratively in several other locations. The glued-laminated (glulam) roof structure, especially the one in the Aquatics Centre, has resulted in numerous inquiries from passers-by and visiting municipal officials interested in replicating the success of the Angus Glen Community Centre and Library in their own municipalities.
Armstrong-Spallumcheen Arena
The City of Armstrong, British Columbia and its neighbouring Township of Spallumcheen are situated between the sunny, rolling Okanagan Valley and the cooler, forested Shuswap Valley. (The name Spallumcheen is derived from the First Nations term meaning “beautiful valley.”) Until recently, indoor skating activities for the 10,000 city and township residents took place at a 55 year-old facility. In the spring of 2004, a design team was retained to undertake a feasibility analysis and develop preliminary designs for a new multiuse facility, anchored by an NHL-sized ice surface, to be situated on the Armstrong Fairgrounds (Figure 1). The facility’s proximity to the existing swimming pool, skateboard park and baseball diamonds create a recreational area that will serve the needs of the community for many years to come. Sixty-two parking stalls are located beside the facility and additional parking is available at the adjacent Fairgrounds for special events.
Banff Recreation Centre
The Town of Banff is located in Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to over 8,700 residents and greets more than three million visitors from around the world each year. Constructed in 1958, the town’s recreation centre was in dire need of improvement—the roof of the curling rink was considered to be deficient, the hockey rink locker rooms were no longer adequate, the ice refrigeration piping system needed replacement, and additional skating space was needed. The solution was a combination of demolition and reconstruction, refurbishment, and new construction. Completed in 2011 to the LEED® Silver standard, the redeveloped Banff Recreation Centre has a new curling rink, a refurbished hockey arena, a new NHL-sized hockey arena, and new meeting rooms, lounges and a concourse. The new construction uses wood and glass to provide views of the mountains, while providing superior thermal performance.
B.C. Restaurants (The Old Vines & The Hooded Merganser)
CentrePlace Manitoba
CentrePlace Manitoba was commissioned by the Province of Manitoba, with a goal of creating a temporary Olympic pavilion that represented the energy of the province and its people while reinforcing its commitment to sustainability. Designed as a dynamic, uniquely Manitoban architectural statement that transcends the “white fabric tent”, the 232 m² (2500 square foot) pavilion was initially showcased at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games as both an interactive exhibit space and as a venue for business and cultural receptions. The design concept was initiated through a visioning session in June 2009 where Manitobans from diverse backgrounds came together to discuss what best represented the province they called home. The recurring themes drawn from this session gave the design team their starting point of creating an inviting space that drew upon the spirit and nature of the people of Manitoba. The simple contrast of wood and light became the basis for the creation of a pavilion that would become a beacon, welcoming visitors through a generous front porch and an oversized pivoting door. The design team met client design objectives by making a number of strategic decisions to ensure that the project would showcase the province’s commitment to sustainability and provide a legacy building that would serve beyond the pavilion’s initial five-week purpose. One of the key objectives was to ensure Universal Design and Access. To achieve all these design requirements, CentrePlace Manitoba had to: utilize Manitoba labour and regional materials offer an interactive exhibit space showcasing Manitoba’s unique culture be efficient in material use and energy consumption be compact, transportable, and 100% reusable at a future site favour passive systems over dedicated ones
Innovative Applications of Engineered Wood
Art Gallery of Ontario (Renovation and Addition)
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) was founded in 1900 as the Art Museum of Toronto. In 1919 it became the Art Gallery of Toronto and in 1966, took on its present name. The original gallery was a home (The Grange) built around 1817, located on the south side of the AGO facing Grange Park (Figure 1). In fall 2008, the Art Gallery of Ontario received wide acclaim when its recent renovation and addition, designed by Frank Gehry, was opened to the public. The work involved the renovation of existing spaces and the addition of 9,016 m2 (92,000 ft.2) of new floor space. The renovation and addition to the AGO is notable for several reasons. First, the design needed to unify and enhance previous constructions done in 1918, 1929, the 1970s and the 1980s. The design team made extraordinary use of structural and decorative wood elements to achieve this goal, as well as to lure, calm, entice and amaze visitors. In addition, the AGO needed to remain functional for prolonged periods during the construction process. Finally, the wood design, fabrication and erection was very complex. In the words of Bill Downing of Structurlam Products Ltd., the glulam supplier, in reference to the Galleria Italia portion of the AGO, “This is the most complex wood structure in North America.”
