Innovative glazing system shines light on hospital research
Transcription
Innovative glazing system shines light on hospital research
Daily Commercial News October 15, 2010 Page 13 Focus on Building Envelope Chinese curtainwall Innovative glazing system shines light on hospital research manufacturers are stiff competition DAN O’REILLY correspondent N ot only will it be a distinctive landmark on the Toronto skyline when it opens in three years, the new $419 million Sick Children’s Hospital Research Tower will be a showcase example of how building envelope design is meeting the demands of modern research methods. Designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects in joint venture with HDR and now being built by general contractor EllisDon, the 708,000-square-foot, 22-storey building will allow the hospital to consolidate and enlarge its clinical and research capabilities. Approximately 2,200 researchers will work in the facility, which will include 17 floors of open lab space, a 250-seat tele-education auditorium, plus meeting and conference rooms. Designed to achieve a 33 per cent energy improvement over the Model Energy Code, the building has been targeted to obtain LEED Gold certification. The researchers will be conducting their work in an environment filled with natural light and offering full views of the surrounding area, says Diamond + Schmitt partner Donald Schmitt. “Most days they won’t have to turn on the lights.” That environment will be facilitated through a floor-to-ceiling high-performance curtain cladding wall with more than 20 per cent more vision glass than a comparable office building. “It will provide maximum access to daylight, while still providing excellent thermal performance.” The curtainwall will be a unitized system to speed construction and minimize traffic disruption near the buildings site at the corner of Bay and Elm streets in Toronto’s downtown, says Schmitt. The curtainwall “will be erected straight from delivery trucks.” At one time medical, scientific and other research work was carried out in often dark gloomy and windowless offices, he says. “It was similar to the theory that children would study harder if there were no windows in the classrooms.” But that’s no longer the case, says Schmitt, whose firm designed the University of Toronto’s Earth Sciences Centre in the late 1980s. “The centre pulled labs out of dark, dingy basements,” he says. The Hospital for Sick Children research tower is a continuation of that DON PROCTER correspondent C DIAMOND + SCHMITT The Sick Kids Research Tower uses a ceramic frit pattern on the glass to maximize daylight and views. The curtainwall is a combination of solid glass and vision glass. trend and the decision that it be built with a curtain wall was made early in the design process. But that was only the first half of a two-stage design challenge, says Joseph Troppmann, the firm’s building envelope specialist. “The main challenge of the curtainwall design was to find the right balance between maximizing views and daylight penetration, and providing appropriate thermal and shading requirements to minimize energy consumption and maintain occupant comfort.” To achieve that goal, the design team developed a graduated ceramic frit pattern on the curtainwall, which consists of 60 per cent vision glass and 40 per cent solid glass. Applied during the glass manufacturing process, the subtle frit patterns will create an effect that might be roughly compared to a window blind, says Troppmann. “This design solution permits a tall expanse of vision glazing which allows daylight to permeate the inner core of the labs.” Another important use of the frit patterns is their utility as an identification system. As the laboratories in towers will be clustered in related research themes or “neighbourhoods,” different colours will be used to identify the floors where that research will be carried out, he says. anadian curtainwall fabricators should prepare for increased competition from the Chinese on large-scale projects. There are more than 1,000 curtainwall manufacturers in China, some of which are among the largest in the world, says Arthur Chan of Advanced Glazing Systems Ltd. (AGS). Don’t expect them to ignore the Canadian marketplace. By comparison, there are only a handful of major curtainwall manufacturers remaining in Canada, he says. Curtainwall is typically specified for commercial buildings. Office towers are a good example. Windowwall is less expensive and more commonly used on residential towers. Chan says big Chinese manufacturers have been plying their trade in North America for two or three years, mainly in the U.S. “Canada is a very small market for them because we don’t have a lot of tall buildings.” Still, he believes Canadian companies such as AGS can expect stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers, some of which produce high-quality curtainwall inexpensively, largely because of cheap labour costs. Even after the price of shipping, Chinese curtainwall often costs less than its Canadian counterpart. “We have to change our way of thinking because they are coming for some of the larger projects (about 300,000 square feet or more),” says Chan. “They can manufacture in a hurry and do good-quality work.” The Chinese, he adds, don’t scrimp on materials either. The use of high-quality extruded aluminum for curtainwall framing is common. “They don’t go to some back shop to get their aluminum; they use manufacturers with ISO 9000 certifications.” One of the first Chinese fabricators to work on Canadian soil is Far East Aluminium Works Canada Corp., a subsidiary of the Far East Group based in Hong Kong. Far East has supplied curtainwall to Canadian buildings over the past few years and is currently retained to supply the curtainwall systems for two of Toronto’s largest projects — The Trump International Hotel and and the Shangri-La Toronto hotelcondo. “I think the Canadian market (for Chinese fabricators) will continue to grow,” says Francis Ko, branch manager of Far East’s Canadian operations. “A lot of new highrise buildings will go to curtainwall (systems).” Many highrise condominium towers in Toronto and Vancouver are specified with windowwalls but increasingly, he says, curtainwall systems will gain ground in that segment of the market. Far East has four factories in Asia producing a total of 360 unitized curtainwall panels per day. Typical panels are about five feet by 10 ft., says Ko. Ko says Canadian buildings represent about 10 per cent of the company’s business portfolio, which includes such high-profile international jobs as Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest tower. Today, the bulk of its clients are in China, Abu Dhabi and North America. While Chinese fabricators have access to cheap labour, giving them an advantage over Canadian competitors, Ko says that the Chinese lead is slipping somewhat because labour rates in China have risen significantly over the past five years. See PARTNERSHIPS, Pg.14 Industrial • Commercial • Institutional • Residential Specialists in Insulated Concrete Form Construction • Multi Story • ICF Manufacturer certified • LEED structures • Union certified Tel: 905-857-1792 Fax: 905-951-8037 www.elitebuildinggroup.com [email protected] Page 14 Daily Commercial News October 15, 2010 Focus on Building Envelope Mould a byproduct of push for energy efficiency Building science improvements, new materials bringing relief PETER KENTER correspondent T he growth of mould inside building projects has been the stuff of lawsuits. When mould grows inside the building envelope, it’s usually the fault of unwanted moisture caused by poor construction practices, building envelope failures, floods, unwanted air infiltration, and condensation or other moisture collecting in air handling units or ductwork. Conditions conducive to mould growth are being slowly eliminated by an increased emphasis on treating buildings as a system, but the battle against mould continues. “The problem never seems to go away, and there are always people in the building industry who have never experienced it,” says Philip Brearton, operations manager of the building science group with Pinchin Environmental Ltd. in Mis- sissauga, Ont. Trying to differentiate between different types of mould is primarily of interest to the companies hired to remove it and remediate buildings. It’s the by-products of most moulds — reproductive spores and mycotoxins — that are of prime concern to building owners, because they cause significant health problems in building occu- Training in prevention is now available to contractors pants, including respiratory problems and headaches. “If someone’s lungs are already compromised or they have an auto-immune problem, are susceptible to asthma, have lung disease or are very young, they can’t be exposed to an unusual amount of mould,” says Brearton. “The time fac- Discover New Levels With… Certified Equipment and Certified Safety Telehandlers • Scissors • Booms Rentals • Service • Sales Safety Training Certified Safety Training Centre www.certifiedequipment.com www.certifiedsafe.ca S C C Tel: 416-747-7878 Fax: 416-747-8199 tor is also very important. The greater the intensity of the exposure and the longer you’re exposed, the worse the health effects can be. You don’t build up a tolerance. In fact the opposite is often true.” A mycologist, a mould expert, can examine a sample of mould to determine which strain may be growing in the building. Some moulds are more toxic and dangerous than others. Stachybotrys, for example, is a particularly invasive greenish-black mould that can cause a rash just by touching it. “It stands out because it happens to love paper and cellulose,” says Brearton. “It thrives in buildings because more and more we’re using paper-backed gypsum board and paper-backed mouldings. I came across it by accident once at a new construction site and I was gently prying back the moulding and the wall crumbled in my hands, like a pretend house.” The degree of remediation required might be more or less extreme depending on whether the affected area is isolated, and the degree of PINCHIN ENVIRONMENTAL LTD. The use of paper-backed drywall can contribute to mould growth if moisture is present. mould concentration. But the recommended remediation is always the same — to control humidity and repair water damage and to remove and clean any visible or concealed mould, regardless of species. Brearton says that building codes haven’t been able to keep up with mould problems, in large part because they stress energy efficiency. “We’re finding that, as buildings become airtight, mould and moisture problems are moving to areas where they didn’t appear before,” says Brearton. “Moisture-laden air is still finding ways to get into buildings and the moisture generated by human occupants is becoming more of a problem.” And, although mould is likely here to stay, Brearton says the response to the problem is evolving: • Mould investigation and remediation are being recognized in insurance settlements, if mould is caused by a covered peril. • New mould-resistant construction materials are entering the market. These include mould-resistant wood, insulation, drywall, drywall tape, paint, stucco, carpet, caulk and sealants. • Mould prevention training is becoming available to contractors. • Building officials are increasingly involving themselves with mould investigations. • Property managers are increasingly adopting due diligence practices, including mould management programs. “I also think that LEED is one of the best things that’s happened to the construction industry in North America,” says Brearton. “It forces attention to be placed on construction materials and methods and how air and moisture interact with the building envelope.” Partnerships possible as market changes Continued from Pg. 13 AGS’s Chan sees the Chinese going mainly after larger projects, not small ones (50,000 to 100,000 square feet). Tall towers might typically require 300,000 or more square feet of curtainwall. Mark Lawton, building science specialist with Morrison Hershfield Ltd., says the company has been retained on a couple of projects in Vancouver using panelized curtainwall from China. “It is my opinion that the competiveness of the Asian suppliers is a game changer for major building projects in Canada,” he says, adding that Canadian developers have been contacting Chinese fabricators. Lawton has visited fabrication plants in China, including Yuanda Aluminium Industry Engineering Co., Ltd, based in Shenyang. The company supplies curtainwall for mega-buck projects around the world. Its expansive operations include four engineering groups, each specializing in a region in the world. “The size of their operation is scary.” Lawton says the changing tide follows another shift: nearly all aluminum extru- ADVANCED GLAZING SYSTEMS LTD. Advanced Glazing Systems designed and managed the curtainwall component of Jameson House in Vancouver, but the glazed panels were manufactured in China. sions for curtainwall are now made in Asia, typically China or South Korea. To maintain its market segment, Canadian curtainwall fabricators will have to keep a tight control on budgets and provide “excellent customer service,” points out Chan. The changing market could bring other opportunities, such as partnerships with Chinese manufacturers in which Canadian companies like AGS design the curtainwall while the Chinese fabricate it, Chan says, adding AGS and other Canadian fabricators have already started working with Chinese firms. “Basically, it means we manage design and engineer the project and they manufacture it.” Lawton says a day could come when all curtainwall is made in Asia but it’s difficult to predict what will happen in the next few years. A jump in fuel costs could hike the cost of shipping curtainwall from Asia. “Right now though, the supply of the major materials for metal or glass curtainwalls from offshore is kind of the norm.” Daily Commercial News October 15, 2010 Page 15 T:10.375” MEET A HEAVIER-DUTY ^^ HEAVY-DUTY. T:14.3125” STRONGER STURDIER MORE CAPABLE (397 HP) • (765 LB-FT)^ CAPACITY (6,635 LB.)* CAPACITY (21,700 LB.)** HORSEPOWER & TORQUE PAYLOAD THE NEW CHEVROLET SILVERADO HEAVY-DUTY. THE PROOF IS IN THE TRUCK. ^^Compared to 2010 Silverado HD. ^2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD/3500HD with available Duramax 6.6L V8 Turbo Diesel engine and Allison 6-speed transmission. *2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD DRW Regular Cab 2WD, when properly equipped. Maximum payload capacity includes weight of driver, passengers, optional equipment and cargo. **Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD DRW 4WD Regular cab with 6.6L Diesel engine and 5th wheel/goose neck. 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TOWING Page 16 Daily Commercial News October 15, 2010 Building Envelope Solutions From Coast to Coast Glazing & Curtain Walls • Architectural Metals • Roong Service & Maintenance • Roong Systems Museum of Nature, Ottawa Maple Leaf Square Podium, Toronto FLYNN CANADA LTD. flynn.ca City Hall Podium Roof, Toronto MGCS Data Centre, Guelph D A I L Y C O M M E R C I A L N E W S Building Envelope S P E C I A L F April 30, 2010 www.dailycommercialnews.com E A T U R E Page BE-2 Daily Commercial News April 30, 2010 Building Envelope Heritage Building Revitalization seeks to recapture original vision It’s out with the “goldy” and in with the bronze-tinted glass DAN O’REILLY correspondent A massive renewal of one of Toronto’s oldest office towers is designed to bring the building up to modern day energy efficient and sustainability performance standards while respecting its heritage character. As part of a $110-million revitalization of the former Royal Trust Tower, construction manager PCL Construc- tors Canada is removing all the single pane windows in the 42- storey building and replacing them with double panes. The project is expected to take until May 2011. Now known as 77 King Street and one of six skyscrapers comprising the TD Centre, the tower is a designated structure under the Ontario Heritage Act and envelope or exterior improvements cannot impinge on its heritage elements, says Tônu Altosaar, senior partner, B+H Architects. The revitalization will, in fact, recapture the original vision of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the design architect. Several years after the tower was built in 1969 a ‘goldy’ screen film was added to the windows and that has seriously impacted the aesthetic look, he says. “Now the building is being rejuvenated to the former (heritage) intent,” says Altosaar, referring to the new windows’ bronze tint which is more in keeping with the original concept. Apart from aesthetics, the project is targeted at achieving LEED EBOM standards. The new double pane low-e Argon filled insulated glass units will work in conjunction with new manual roller blades to provide a complete energy efficient system, he says. The window replacement is actually the first phase of a much broader revitalization which encompasses main lobby restorations, infrastructure improvements and mechanical upgrades. A prime example of the latter is the replacement of the floor Economic Snapshot Even after the Olympics, B.C.’s economy is still going for gold These increases offset weakness in foreign sales Although it has lost the heat of the Olympic of machinery/equipment and energy products. torch, British Columbia’s economic engine is still gaining momentum. Although the effects of government fiscal stimulus will steadily dissipate over the next four quarters, Year-over-year employment growth in March was faster than it has been since August 2008. a steady pickup in lumber exports – driven by strong Moreover, although the province’s unemployU.S. housing demand – should underpin growth of ment rate moved up slightly, from 7.7% to 7.9% in full-time employment. March, it is well below the recent (December 2009) The outlook for residential construction should JOHN CLINKARD high of 8.3%. be supported in the short term by a surge in home The pattern of employment growth over the past sales to purchasers wanting to buy ahead of the year suggests that B.C.’s growth has primarily been introduction of the harmonized sales tax on July 1. the result of increased domestic demand, driven in large part Over the longer term, residential construction should by increased monetary and fiscal stimulus. benefit from positive net migration and stronger growth of Across industrial sectors, employment in education serfull-time employment. vices is up by 9.5% year over year, followed by public adminMajor projects that should support non-residential conistration (+11.5%), wholesale and retail trade (+7.4%) and struction spending over the remainder of 2010 and into construction (+5.8%). 2011 include the Lower Mainland transmission line expanGrowth in B.C. has to date relied primarily on domestic sion, the Roberts Bank rail corridor improvement, the Unidemand. However, there is now evidence that the economy is versity of British Columbia pharmaceutical science building, starting to benefit from stronger external demand. and the Ritz-Carlton hotel and residential development.♦ In February, B.C. exports increased for the fifth consecutive month, due to increased foreign sales of agriculture and John Clinkard has over 30 years’ experience as an economist in international, fishing products, industrial materials and, most important, national and regional research and analysis with leading financial institutions exports of lumber products. and media outlets in Canada. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth – British Columbia vs total Canada Per cent change year over year Gross Domestic Product - British Columbia vs Canada British Columbia GDP growth 6% 5% Forecasts Total Canada GDP growth 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% -1% -2% -3% -4% 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year Data Source: Statistics Canada, Forecast - CanaData/Chart: Reed Construction Data, CanaData Data source (actuals): Statistics Canada. Forecasts and chart: Reed Construction Data – CanaData. ©2010 CanaData. All rights reserved. Vol. 8, Issue 34 PCL CONSTRUCTORS LTD The Royal Trust Tower, part of the TD Centre, is a designated structure under the Ontario Heritage Act and envelope or exterior improvements cannot impinge on its heritage elements. induction units with new ones which will be mounted within the ceiling space on 16 floors. “This will add approximately 1,300 square feet of useable space per floor or 527,000 square feet when the entire tower is completed,” says Altosaar. For now, though, the focus is the window installation. That is being accomplished in a bottom-to-top sequence with the existing windows removed from the inside, says PCL project manager Matt Stainton. The first 14 storeys were vacant when the work started just after Christmas. But the second to seven floors had to be completed by April 1st which was the date a single-use tenant took possession, says Stainton. “On the unoccupied space we have been averaging about four days to complete a floor.” But that timetable and the dynamics of the project will change significantly when the installers reach the occupied floors. Notices have to be sent to the tenants three weeks, five days and again two days prior to work commencement in those areas which has to be done at night to minimize disruption to the occupants, he says. “We will be starting at 6 p.m. and have to out of the offices by 6 a.m.” And as work proceeds higher and higher, the timetable could be altered if high winds make the outside scaffolding work too dangerous, he says. Another unpredictable factor is the impact of the G20 Summit, June 26-27 at the nearby Metro Convention Centrewhich may impede worker access and material delivery: “We may have to shut down work for a week.” The revitalization was partially sparked by the corporate relocation of RBC, a significant tenant, to the new RBC Centre, says Steven Sorensen, vice president of property management with Cadillac Fairview, the owner and property manager. “But it’s also part of our commitment to ensure that 77 King Street remains at the forefront of corporate real estate and reinforce its’ long-standing commitment to sustainability.” The reinvestment in 77 King Street will enhance tenant comfort and enhance the overall appeal of the property. Any operational savings, including energy savings will be measured over time, through its GREEN AT WORK sustainability program, says Sorensen. Daily Commercial News April 30, 2010 Page BE-3 Building Envelope Retrofit Toronto landmark gets a 72-storey facelift Marble facades removed from Canada’s largest office tower DAN O’REILLY correspondent A lmost 40 years after it was constructed, the 72-storey, 298-metre-high First Canadian Place office tower still retains its status as Canada’s largest office tower. Now it will soon be receiving what is conceivably the largest recladding in the country. The approximately 45,000 Italian marble panels that have highlighted the tower since its construction in 1974 in Toronto’s financial district will be replaced with approximately 375,000-square feet of glass spandrel panels. Construction manager EllisDon began site work last September in preparation for the recladding which is expected to start in May and take until the end of 2010 to complete. Locally based B+H Architects is the Architect of Record and Design Collaborator. New York City-based Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects is the design architect. Halcrow Yolles is the structural engineer and Brook Van Dalen is the engineering consultant. Developed by Olympia and York and named for Canada’s first bank, the Bank of Montreal, the skyscraper has been a Toronto landmark since it was built. “But the marble was starting to fail and it was getting quite dirty,” says B+H project senior associate Kevin Stelzer. That was the catalyst for the building’s co-owner and property manager Brookfield Properties to look for ways to transform the building. But that was not an easy process. The new white fritted glass curtain wall is the culmination of a year of design work and lengthy approvals by Brookfield and its partners, says Stelzer. The seven-foot by 10-foot glass modules are comprised of three layers of glass with a ceramic frit pattern on the first layer, which is designed to project a luminous white texture. “It’s a really simple design.” For EllisDon the project has and is a logistical challenge. The base of its operations is the tower’s podium roof where a number of site modules were lifted into place by a 500-ton crane, says project manager Mike Fitzgibbon. The project is basically a three-step process with the glass spandrels lifted from busy Adelaide Street to the podium roof by a man material host. From there the spandrels and other material will be transported by carts along a roof protection system to two other men material hoists—one on the west side and another one on the east side of the building. After being lifted by the hoists the spandrels will be rolled on to a three-level suspended elevated platform designed by New York-based Atlantic Hoisting. The excavated marble will be stored on the bottom level and then the platform will be lowered so workers can retrieve the glass panels and install them on the tower. Clifford Restoration is the subcontractor for the marble removal, while Sota Glazing is installing the panels. “We intend to start at the top floor and gradually work out way down. All four sides of a floor will completed before work on the next floor starts,” says Fitzgibbon, who expects about 80 workers will be on site at any one time. DAN O’REILLY A three level suspended platform will be used to remove and store marble panels while also replacing them with new glass panels. Design Challenge Grande Prairie gallery a building-within-a-building $10 million project will preserve the area’s first all-brick high school PETER KENTER correspondent T he new Prairie Art Gallery in Grande Prairie, AB has been designed as a building-within-a-building to honour the city’s heritage and the rigorous environmental requirements of a modern art gallery. The building was designed by Teeple Architects Inc. of Toronto, the design team responsible for the Montrose Cultural Centre, which stands directly behind the gallery. The original gallery was housed inside the community’s first high school building, constructed in 1929. “It’s designated a provincial heritage building because it was the first high school the community had ever built,” says Martin Baron, an associate with Teeple Architects. “It was quite significant for such a small agricultural community of wood frame houses to invest so much money and effort into a large brick structure such as this. It’s quite an unusual achievement for the area and designed it as though we were treating the original building as an artifact in a museum,” says Baron. The province ultimately decided that this approach would diminish the heritage value of the building. Another involved repairing the existing structure and building a direct connection to the Montrose Centre. “We couldn’t go through with that option for various reasons,” says Baron. “One of the main problems was the floor levels of the school building didn’t match that of the Montrose Centre, so it would have required a major adjustment of floor levels. The second issue was that the Montrose Centre was designed using modern building TEEPLE ARCHITECTS INC. envelope technology and a state-of-the-art Grande Praries’ first high school is now home to an art gallery. The modified building HVAC system. The gallery had to operate incorporates a steel frame inside. year round at a temperature of 21 degrees shows that the town was looking toward the nificant damage to part of the brick wall. Celsius and 40 to 50 per cent relative humidfuture.” “Nothing of the interior survived the 1982 ity whether it was plus or minus 35 degrees The high school building was gutted in repurposing of the building,” says Baron. “At Celsius outside. The challenges of doing that 1982 and converted into the new Prairie Art this point we were asked to come up with a with the existing building envelope were too Gallery. The initial plans for the revamped design that would preserve the remaining great.” gallery involved a seamless connection to the heritage assets and move forward with a new In addition, local fire codes frowned on Montrose Cultural Centre. Those plans were gallery.” the idea of marrying a wood frame structure cut short in 2007 when unusual snow loads One option involved the construction of to the steel frame building behind it. The caused the failure of a glulam beam and a a new curtain wall envelope that would com- approach would have required the construcSee MARRYING, Pg. BE-4 collapse of the building’s roof along with sig- pletely surround the heritage structure. “We Industrial • Commercial • Institutional • Residential Specialists in Insulated Concrete Form Construction • Multi Story • ICF Manufacturer certified • LEED structures • Union certified Tel: 905-857-1792 Fax: 905-951-8037 www.elitebuildinggroup.com [email protected] Page BE-4 Daily Commercial News April 30, 2010 Building Envelope Marrying gallery, cultural centre was a challenge Continued from Pg. BE-3 tion of a significant firewall between the two buildings, destroying the original intent of a seamless transition. The ultimate decision was to build a brand new steelframed building within the framework of the old building. In partnership with heritage consultant Simpson Roberts Architecture and Interior Design of Calgary, the architect devised a plan to gut the interior of the old school building, maintain the existing masonry walls on the front and both sides and install a new steel frame to support them. “The open back of the building connects to the Montrose centre on all three levels,” says Baron. “The bricks harvested from the back wall were used to repair the damage caused by the roof collapse.” Additional excavation of about five feet was ordered to even up the difference in elevation between the basements in the two buildings. “We were digging about 10 feet in from the original walls to minimize the risk of damage to the original heritage structure,” says Baron. “Essentially we built a threestorey building—a basement and two storeys—that reflected the language of the Montrose Cultural Centre. MMPI Ear Lug ads for DCN The new building doubles the gallery space from about 8,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet.” The interior of the heritage walls will be sprayed with four inches of polyurethane foam insulation. A water-based vapour barrier will be sprayed on top of the foam before the walls are finished with a layer of plywood sandwiched between two layers of drywall. Plywood is traditionally used in gallery wall construction to anchor hanging artwork. “We were lucky that the 1982 renovation spared the original windows, which we used in this restoration,” says Baron. “On the inside wall, we used a triple-glazed window system that filters out 99.6 per cent of ultraviolet light.” The design creates an additional gallery space in the perimeter between the new and old buildings and allows light to enter the building without damaging the artwork in the central exhibition space. While the Montrose Cultural Centre is applying for LEED Silver status, Baron says the art gallery is being built to the same standards without seeking accreditation. The $10-million gallery is scheduled to open in 2012. 4/16/10 12:09 PM Page 1 BUILDING ENVELOPE SOLUTIONS CONFERENCE Solutions and Strategies for Sustainable & Durable Building Envelopes May 13, 2010 • Toronto, ON Earn 7.5 OAA Core Learning Hours REGISTER ONLINE TODAY! www.buildingenvelopeforum.com ARCHITECTTURA Glazed unitized glass panels form the exterior of two walls with one foot building separation creating a climate control effect and preserving building’s original brick veneer. Urban Renewal School revitalizes downtown core Project merges old with the new to create a ‘wow factor’ RON STANG correspondent I WINDSOR t’s called the MediaPlex. It’s St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology’s new hi-tech journalism school located right in the centre of downtown Windsor. The school is equipped with state of the art news studios. It brings journalism training from St. Clair’s suburban campus into the heart of the city. The building, paid for with more than $5 million in federal stimulus money, will help revitalize Windsor’s core, which has long suffered from too many vacant storefronts in an often less than pedestrian-vibrant atmosphere. More than this the building stands out as an architectural landmark. In terms of wow factor there is nothing quite like it in the city or perhaps anywhere else. The remarkable fact is that the design and construction were all done in just over four months. Windsor’s innovative architectural firm Architecttura Inc. Architects came up with a striking exterior curtain wall. The state of the art unitized system accomplishes several functions. First it gives the glazed opaque and colourful green glass panels the complex’s aesthetic appeal. Next it allows the college to merge new with old. The curtain wall is not melded on to the original 1950s-era building — formerly home to Windsor’s Salvation Army headquarters – but attached one foot away, keeping the original brick veneer underneath and exposed around the corners, side and back. Finally, it provides climate control. “It’s a canvas of expression,” Architecttura’s Dan Amicone said. The south wall also sports, in huge Arial font, the name “MediaPlex” on the south side, and “St. Clair College” on the east. At the corner there is a huge video screen, which currently carries announcements but will report news live as the students produce it inside the building. “The exterior glazing concept design is about news and the changing nature of news throughout the day,” Amicone said. The architects designed the new wall just on two building sides. “We didn’t want to totally wrap the existing building,” Amicone said. “We wanted to show some of the history” of what was a well-known and well-preserved structure in Windsor’s relatively intimate downtown. “It’s a canvas of expression.” Dan Amicone Architecttura Second, the gap allows air flow creating a blanket effect. “It’s very unique,” for large building design, Amicone said. But the basic principal is what’s known as “double skin curtain walls” with two exterior walls where the space “technically acts as an insulator.” Windsor’s Contract Glazers Inc. (CGI) was the glazing contractor that assembled each unitized panel from nine glazed sections, and lifted them into place on site. “Installation took only a week and a half,” Dave Lester from general contractor Amico Design Build, said.“Normally this would have taken over a month.” This unitized panel design — consisting of about 20 individual unitized glass panel sections – also helped the construction schedule. Work had to be carried out over winter (federal government rules tied the grant funding to March 31 completion). If the panels could be assembled inside and then put up in a much shorter period it was all to the good. The panels were connected by aluminum struts, the same used for the new interior windows in the partlygutted building. The accent on hi-tech news presentation extends from the building exterior to inside. A visitor walks into the main building and is confronted with a mural of a map of the world. It will be a backdrop for news anchors who want to report from that space. “It’s really to express the vision that they can broadcast from anywhere,” Lester said. Meanwhile a walk up the stairs takes one to the open concept newsroom, a cavernous studio with news anchor and reporting desks, TV cameras, four editing suites, a radio broadcast booth and an electronic central command booth. A giant plasma screen will create an infinity effect of images like a blue screen behind the presenting news anchors. The building has a total 17,000 sq. ft. and the newsroom was carved out of the first floor. There are also classrooms, which can be temporarily divided, on the floor below. The management system, such as temperature and access, can be controlled from the main St. Clair campus. Amicone and Lester said the major challenge was coordinating the project on a tight schedule. “The construction and design was going on at the same time,” Lester said. Meanwhile the design and construction teams worked closely with an advisory group of St. Clair administrators and journalism teaching staff. “The key factor was site coordination,” Lester said. With as many as 20 sub-trades the scheduling was extremely tight. “We had two different electrical contractors in here at the same time, two different structural steel companies.” They also installed an elevator. “Even with this time frame that had to be a world record,” he laughed. Daily Commercial April 30,8/21/09 2010 Stanley_FMXfamilyNews ad_DCN_tab.pdf C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 11:26:33 AM Page BE-5 Page BE-6 Daily Commercial News April 30, 2010 Building Envelope Innovation German firm launches ‘intelligent envelope’ system Four components work together to mitigate interior environment IAN HARVEY correspondent I n modern building design and construction, every component is getting a rethink around increased efficiency and reduced operating costs. Building envelopes are no exception. The one size-fits-all approach in today’s era of green-consciousness doesn’t work anymore as architects, and indeed owners, look to find ways to make their structure more efficient and literally smarter. And that’s why there’s a buzz around the German Schüco E2 Façade system that debuted in Europe last December and is now making the rounds here in North America. The design breaks away from the rigid, centrally controlled HVAC model that has dominated design over the last 40 years and instead creates what it calls an “intelligent building envelope system.” Instead of trying to control heat gain or loss and move warm or cold air around the interior via a central HVAC system, the envelope design is locally adaptive, allowing workers on one side of the building that may be lit up by late afternoon sun to feel as comfortable as workers on the other side who otherwise might shiver in the shade and wind. The company claims the system will reduce heating and cooling energy costs by 50 per cent of the prescribed 2009 German energy saving regulations and up to 80 per cent over North American averages. It achieves this through a series of four integrated components, chief among them, a system of high-performance external CTB sun blinds integrated into the window walls with small aluminum profiles, concave in the inside and convex outside. Photovoltaic solar thin-film technology is embedded in the safety glass which can direct energy either back into the building to power the local HVAC cooling ductwork or SCHUCO Above, a fully integrated energy façade: Transparent photovoltaic modules house interconnected solar cells in an insulating glass unit. The grid pattern of the modules can be adapted for each individual project. Below, system draws warm and cold incoming air into the room through slotted outlets in the ceiling. Missed the Feature? Advertise in October’s 2010 Focus Preservation Second part of brick study underway Masonry technology goes back to school for energy testing DAN O’REILLY correspondent A BUILDING ENVELOPE C353-10_HOUSE CONTACT: Telephone: 1.800.465.6475 ext. 5531 [email protected] to the grid, if prevailing local Feed In Tariff rates are more attractive. Also, internal, mobile and opaque insulating panels can be moved into place to cut heat loss at night and block solar gain during the day. Instead of central HVAC control, each area has its own independent venting system that can draw air according to users’ needed for increased heating or cooling. These technologies combine to rack up LEED points, including the use of more ambient daylight and recycled content among the materials. The concept of an intelligent envelope allows designers and owners much more flexibility, more so in an era where long term tenants are being selective about where they set up their offices. Gone are the days of “build and flip” says Murray Atman, architectural sales advisor with Schüco Canada Inc.which brought the E2 system here barely six months ago. Developers are sticking with their projects as owners and are acutely aware their prospective tenants are well versed in the common language of sustainability and energy efficiency. They also know comfortable offices mean happier, more productive employees and tenants or prospective buyers are looking for construction technologies which are in keeping with that current thinking. “We’re at the point where people are calling us as much as we’re calling them,” says Altman. “Schüco is new with this, though we’ve sold curtain components and solar here for 10 years.” A lot of initial interest is coming from Quebec, he says, where the market is more receptive to European trends, while another project in San Francisco is closest to being the first in North America to use the system. “They’re just about to go to tender so if all goes well in San Francisco we could be up in 16 months or so,” says Altman, noting there are enquiries from both private sector and public sector projects. The U.S. is slightly ahead of Canada in demand, he added, and is why a project will debut there first. two-part study measuring the impact of interior insulation on solid masonry walls may provide some solutions on how to effectively and safely bring Canada’s extensive inventory of older buildings up to modern day energy efficiency standards. That inventory is a tremendous opportunity to reduce our environmental impact if those buildings can be given renewed life and lessen the need for new construction, explains James Wilkinson, project manager for Halsall Associates which is conducting the study. He says the size of the opportunity is demonstrated by the increased application—or at least interest—in interior insulation/retrofit strategies by both public and private sector owners of buildings with solid or load-bearing masonry walls, says Wilkinson. “Often these buildings have a heritage or historical significance that precludes work from the exterior. And even when it’s not a heritage building, many institutional owners don’t want the original masonry hidden.” Insulating a masonry building from the interior, however, presents its own set of challenges. It may result in accelerated masonry deterioration, corrosion of the embedded steel, interior plaster finish deterioration and possibly mould growth. That challenge is the basis for the study which Halsall is conducting at a Toronto private school. It includes the use of mock up walls in a classroom, temperature sensors, the physically testing of bricks and extrapolated computer generated weather and climatic conditions. The institution wants to improve the energy performance of its buildings which includes a three-storey school built in the 1950s where the research is being conducted. Common materials used to insulate masonry walls include traditional fibreglass, open-cell spray-foam insulation and closed cell spray-foam insulation. Each has its own specific risks and benefits, says Wilkinson. For this study Halsall focused on the use of the closed cell spray foam insulation without supplying conditioned air to any of the wall cavities. Four mock up walls were constructed on the top floor of the school and at outside corner facing south and east. The exterior walls are three wythes thick and the interior is finished with hollow clay tile and painted plaster. The mock ups included two noninsulated and two insulated wall See MOISTURE, Pg.BE-7 Daily Commercial News April 30, 2010 Page BE-7 Building Envelope Industrial Gentrification Canadian architect revives New York historic site Former steam-powered electrical plant is now a residential condominium PETER KENTER correspondent W hen CGS Developers and Zigmond Brach of Brooklyn, NY undertook the historic condominium renovation of a New York City landmark, the intention was to preserve as much of the structure as possible. The century-old Penn Station PowerHouse in Long Island City, Queens, once supplied steam-generated electrical power to the city’s Penn Station railroad terminal. Constructed in 1906 and immortalized by painter Georgia O’Keefe in Across the East River it was most recently an abandoned plumbing warehouse. Canadian architect Karl Fischer, who has offices in New York City and Montreal, was commissioned to adapt both the PowerHouse and nearby Schwartz Chemical Factory to multi-residential use. Fischer initially hoped to preserve the power plant’s row of 90-metre chimneys by building a glass box between them but was thwarted by local zoning and so they were demolished and replaced with four metaland-glass towers. “The glass circular shapes are meant to recall the original large masonry chimneys that were demolished,” says Fischer. “They are in the exact location as the original chimneys but in glass and metal so that they can be used as livable space.” The 11-storey chimney towers feature residential units with double-height living rooms and a Manhattan skyline view. Construction of the US$170-million project began in 2006 and is scheduled for completion in 2011. Now known as The PowerHouse Condominiums it was designed to retain as much character as possible of the original building, including the window profiles and three of the original walls. However, the four new chimneys needed to be aesthetically tied into the exterior of the old building but no match could be found for the existing brick. Riverside Group of Windsor, Ontario was awarded the contract for fabricating and installing 37,000 square feet of 4-mm copper-coloured Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) with fire-resistant core on all facades including the mechanical bulkheads and stair towers. The company also supplied 2,500 square feet of the material for the lower three floors of the elevation courtyard. “The deadline wasn’t as tough as some of the condominium projects we’ve completed in the New York City area,” says Stuart Salonen, Production Manager with Riverside Group. “But the project accelerated during the last quarter of the schedule.” The company manufactured the panels at its Windsor plant, then packaged them in Moisture levels checked Continued from Pg. BE-6 assembles. Nine sensors were installed in each to calculate temperature, relative humidity and moisture content at various locations. Driving rain was measured on the exterior south and east-facing exterior walls, while interior temperature and humidity were also measured at two locations within the test room. There were a number of significant findings reached during the first stage of the study, conducted from Sept. 2007 to the same period in 2008. A key discovery was that the insulated walls demonstrated a low freezethaw deterioration risk when compared with the non-insulated walls. There was, however, a minor risk of embedded metal corrosion. The study also concluded the bricks were highly moisture absorptive and didn’t meet modern CSA standards for freeze-thaw resistance performance. In reality, though, the bricks are functioning properly and haven’t exhibited signs of deterioration, says Wilkinson “They look okay.” This first stage study wasn’t considered conclusive enough because the monitoring period was marked by a mild winter and lessthan-normal rainfall. Those limitations were the catalyst for a follow up second study which started last September and scheduled to wrap up this THE METAL INITIATIVE The old Penn Station Powerhouse once supplied steam-generated electricity to Penn Station and is now a preserved condominium project. crates before shipping them on flatbed trucks where they were hoisted by tower crane. “The most complicated part of the project was with respect to the fact that there were some complex shapes that started out from a flat wall, then went from the flat wall to an inside corner, then around the chimney towers,” says Salonen. “There were up to four segments on a single panel, so we had to find innovative ways to assemble, package and ship them so that the panels wouldn’t be damaged in transit by falling into each other.” The material was shipped both to the worksite and to installation partner Island International Industries, Inc., of Calverton, NY who also manufactured the framing components for the panels. Island International installed the panels under general contractor CGS Construction of Brooklyn, part of the umbrella corporation that includes the developer. Riverside Group has worked on a series of high profile architectural cladding contracts across North America on such diverse projects as Pearson Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, a Los Angeles high school, and the Akron Art Museum in Ohio. “As a designer and fabricator of these specialty claddings, we’ve developed relationships with installers all over the continent,” says Salonen. “Island International is just one of our many partners.” Manufacturer and Distributor of hot forged bolts, specialty threaded products and fasteners in accordance with the highest quality standards – Niagara Fasteners. Our manufacturing range is from 1/2" to 2 1/2" diameter, and M16 to M36. Larger diameter blanks and, all common grades are stocked and ready for threading to your specifications. 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