Infrastructure maintenance has been a major concern all over the world, especially in countries with a cold-winter climate. Full or partial shut-down of transit-related facilities during rehabilitation imposes significant inconvenience to the public. The project presented in this article represents an innovative approach to infrastructure rehabilitation in general, and for the subway sector in Canada, in particular.
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Opening last month, the 5400-m2 (58,125-sf) addition and renovation to St. Mary’s community hospital (Sechelt, B.C.) boasts new services and energy-efficient features.
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When acoustical coatings first came to the marketplace in the early 1980s, an untapped market was finally addressed. This market was represented in commercial spaces by ceiling tiles that no longer appeared new and were traditional candidates for replacement, despite still being structurally sound. They no longer appeared white, failed to disburse light as they should, and were spotted with random water stains.
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In an effort to retrofit its facilities, a bank requested a study to determine how effectively an acoustical coating could increase ambient light in an office. The research’s purpose was to determine how to maximize energy savings with a lighting retrofit while minimizing negative impact on the work environment.
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Pilots and passengers landing at Edmonton International Airport will be treated to an architectural achievement not normally granted to utilitarian buildings such as air traffic control towers. The new tower, already an iconic structure on the horizon, features a giant ribbon-like metal ‘wrap’ that twists and turns around the building.
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Traffic topping systems for suspended concrete slabs found in parking garages come in two basic types: ‘thin’ and ‘thick.’ (While these are unofficial ‘categories,’ they are nonetheless fitting.) This article reviews both variations, outlining the physical properties and noting differences in terms of performance, design, cost, lifecycle, and maintenance.
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In commercial construction, continuous insulation (ci) is no longer the exception—it has become the norm. Both the National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) and the National Building Code of Canada (NBC), along with green building programs, have set higher efficiency requirements. At the same time, the industry is increasingly recognizing the building enclosure’s role in overall operational performance.
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The design/construction industry’s efforts to save energy may have also inadvertently created a biological time-bomb. Leaps have been made in tightening buildings and making them more energy-efficient, but pollutants—such as moisture, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other gases—can build up to alarming concentrations. Both homeowner and facility managers are offered the allure of energy-saving design with tighter windows and doors, high-efficiency furnaces, and closed chimney ventilation. Although friendly on energy bills, owners are not always fully aware of potential health dangers associated with these improvements.
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Several years ago, this author was invited by University of Toronto’s Ted Kesik, PhD, to join a technical advisory committee formed to provide a critical eye for work he was undertaking with Ivan Saleff, B.Tech (Arch.Sc.), M.Arch, OAA, MRAIC. The task was to produce a single-source document that would present state-of-the-art information on high-rise tower renewal; specifically Toronto’s aging stock primarily erected during the 1960s and ’70s. The result of Kesik and Saleff’s work was the resource document, Tower Renewal Guidelines.
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Architects have traditionally been held at arm’s length when it comes to the performance of the assemblies they specify. The statistics regarding wall performance have always been provided by manufacturers or testing organizations. Values such as thermal resistance, fire rating, and acoustical performance for individual materials can be found from individual suppliers—still, an objective stance on how all the materials work together in an assembly is unavailable.
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