Designing a landscape for learning

by nithya_caleb | May 3, 2019 7:42 am

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by Scott Torrance, OALA, CSLA, GRP

York University[2], Toronto, has a history of supporting innovative and ambitious buildings throughout its campus. Following a referendum in 2013, the decision was taken to build a second centre devoted entirely to the needs of the large, diverse, and active student body. As a sign of how engaged the students were in the process from day one, approximately 90 per cent of them voted in favour of the investment.

This high level of engagement made the design and construction process especially important. The landscape architecture studio at FORREC[3] was tasked with creating an exterior for the new student centre (designed by CannonDesign[4]) to match the forward-thinking approach of the project and client.

Amphitheatre

The landscape architecture team began designing with the goal of encouraging students to use the outdoor spaces in spite of the extreme climate one experiences during an academic year.

The overall flow of the landscaping was a natural consequence of the design values and programming of the building. Transparent surfaces, large, open-plan spaces, and a preference for natural materials in CannonDesign’s proposals allowed this author’s team team to play with the same design motifs in the landscape.

A sloped amphitheatre-like space was created on the sunny, southern, wind-protected side of the building. Other areas around the centre provide students with options for seating with further protection from wind, rain, and sun, and create a park-like setting.

Large slabs of natural Ontario limestone caprock interplanted with birch trees, sumac, and juniper evoke an escarpment-like setting on one side of the amphitheatre. Highly visible from within the building, this stone wall provides a striking visual feature while functionally supporting a change in grade. Further, the wall creates a wind-protected microclimate, absorbing rainwater and promoting biodiversity with native plants.

It was crucial for the design team to support the pedestrian-focused campus York University provides for its student body. The new student centre and its outdoor spaces fit seamlessly within the campus. Multiple seating opportunities along the north side of the building are adjacent to a major east-west pedestrian spine. Along the south side of the building, the new landscape architectural features complement the existing Roy McMurtry Green youth centre.

Today’s students primarily work with laptops and screens, so it was also important to create a landscape allowing them to use this everyday technology, regardless of the weather. The student centre is surrounded by recognizable urban and indoor features, such as bar-style seating—reminiscent of a breakfast bar or cafe—with sheltered spaces to create a laptop-friendly working environment outside.

Sustainability

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The team aimed for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard and let this goal guide the design. In this process, they were guided by the Low Impact Development Treatment Train Approach tool[6] (LID). Developed by Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), Credit Valley Conservation (CVC), and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the tool helps developers, consultants, municipalities, and landowners understand and implement more sustainable stormwater management planning and design practices in their watersheds.

As a stormwater management strategy, LID seeks to “mitigate the impacts of increased runoff and stormwater pollution by managing runoff as close to its source as possible.”

Since Toronto is a ravine-landscape prone to floods, the design team believed it is best to work with the landscape and climate rather than against it. Small landscape interventions, such as bioswales (i.e. rain gardens to capture and absorb stormwater) and green roofs, make a huge difference by converting unused spaces into natural water management systems.

Continuous soil trench was employed to provide a minimum of 20 m³ (706 cf) of soil per tree for healthy root establishment, which also provides a stormwater treatment function. Rainwater runoff can enter the system through pervious paving, drains, and the opening around the tree trunk.

Of course, coupled with flood risk, is the possibility of drought during the long, hot summer months. The decision was made to not rely on an automated irrigation system for the landscape. Instead, specific native and drought-tolerant plants, such as fragrant sumac, snowberry, and switchgrass, were utilized.

The built landscape features function as a support network for LID elements. Considerate design coupled with the latest technology, such as permeable pavers and green roofs, and native plant materials help to retain and reuse rainwater onsite, and to absorb and manage more extreme rainfall events. The natural stone wall running along the west side of the amphitheatre blends with the overall design concept, while also creating a permeable boundary to allow rainwater to irrigate the plants.

Comfort from a canopy

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The addition of trees to a landscape is not purely an esthetic decision; they also serve as functional elements to improve the health and well-being of the end-user. According to research[8] from Bern University (Switzerland), published in the International Journal of Public Health in 2010, the benefits of green spaces include restoration and recovery from mental fatigue and stress, cultivation of positive emotions, promotion of physical activity, and social integration.

The Red Maple grove provides a soothing canopy of leaves that not only reflects York University’s Canadian and sustainable credentials, but also gives students the opportunity to interact with nature, on the doorstep of the new student centre. If the building was designed as a ‘home,’ the landscape was designed as the home’s ‘front and backyard’.

Constructing a collaborative environment

The theme of interaction and collaboration was also strongly reflected in the project team’s working methods. Through an integrated project delivery (IPD) approach with building information modelling (BIM) the entire design team was able to develop the design from concept to construction in a three-dimensional model, thereby allowing the client team to visualize the design as it evolved.

This approach has the added advantage of allowing the design team to see the project exactly as it would be built, allowing for quality control (QC), and reduced change orders for the university during construction. Upon project completion, the complete digital model, including all landscape architectural features, was turned over to York University, who can use it to track energy performance and maintenance, as well as support research.

The 11,706-m² (126,000-sf) student centre officially opened in September 2018. This project serves as an example of the benefits of a contemporary, collaborative construction effort between the client, other stakeholders, end-users, and the design and construction teams.

[9]Scott Torrance, OALA, CSLA, GRP, is senior director of landscape architecture at FORREC Ltd., a global entertainment design company. An award-winning landscape architect with more than 22 years’ experience, he leads FORREC’s landscape architecture work for Ontario-based clients.

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/designing-a-landscape-for-learning/

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