DESIGN PROBLEMS ADDRESSED
- Edmonton's climate and geophysical location;
- Designing a public building: the challenge of achieving beauty + durability;
- Phasing;
- Relationship of the rink and park to the pavilion, and designing the pavilion to be visible from a distance;
- Need to integrate the program components, while separating Zamboni and pedestrian / bicycle traffic.
RATIONALE FOR THE RESOLUTION OF THE DESIGN PROBLEMS
Our vision for this pavilion began with the City of Edmonton's commitment to design excellence and to sustainability in its broadest sense.
And so the design rationale centered on creating beauty, durability and magic; the pavilion is profoundly shaped by its natural and programmatic context, and is a celebration of Edmonton's geophysical location.
THE DESIGN SOLUTION
Through a series of strategic spatial and material folds, landscape and light are captured by the pavilion to create a landmark physically and visually embedded in its site. At the macro scale, the building takes its form from three spatial folds. The first of these is the covered north-south path that bisects the program and folds the landscape through the building. A second fold - this time of the roof down to grade - ramps up to a look-out from which the skaters and park can be seen. Openings through the roof fold the sky into the pavilion, punctuating the cross-axial plan with light and sky-views.
At the micro-scale, the screen of folded aluminum plates wrapping the building catches and filters light, shifting in appearance and colour over the course of a day and from season to season. Cued by the form and movements of a speed skater, the plates stretch out at the bottom of the screen and fold tighter as they go up.
SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES INTEGRAL TO THE DESIGN
- Operable windows and skylights for natural ventilation and daylighting;
- A green roof provides a reduction of heat island effect, storm water retention, CO2 absorption / production of O2;
- A cistern for rain water collection for flushing toilets and irrigation;
- Solar shading integral to building form j design to reduce cooling loads;
- High performance envelope with minimum R30 walls and R50 roof, and a thermally broken high-performance glazing system;
- High efficiency heating and cooling system via a thermo-active slab and wall system fed by heat pumps + a ground source heat exchanger;
- Use of durable and low maintenance materials, left in their unfinished states where possible;
- Exterior materials are reflective, reducing summer-time cooling loads;
- Low-energy displacement ventilation system: 100% fresh air is tempered by in-ground earth tubes and supplied at low level and low velocity; this supply air rises up to a high level exhaust air system;
- The aluminum sheet used for the screens is 85% recycled content (-60% post-consumer), and is 100% recyclable;
- Low VOC materials used throughout where possible;
- Conservation of material: soil displaced by excavating for footings, foundations, slab, and other structures and services, will be stockpiled and compacted to create the ramp.
- Spare conduit to run to roof and screen for future installation of photovoltaic panels; screen is designed so that aluminum panels can be removed and replaced with PV panels.
% FOR ART LOCATIONS, NON-INTEGRATED
- The south-west corner of the site is designed as a location for a sculpture or installation;
- The roof terrace at the top of the ramp is a also location for a sculpture or installation;
% FOR ART LOCATIONS, INTEGRATED
- The ramp is an ideal location for a sculptural or installation work composed of multiple objects that could be clustered or dispersed along its length; these could integrate or coordinate with the low level / step-lighting needed for the ramp;
- The interior fascia of the round roof openings and skylights provide an ideal location for (a) mural (s), mosaics, graphic or text art, or photography;
- Mosaic or cast-metal work could be integrated with both the indoor and exterior pavers.
EDMONTON DESIGN COMMITTEE PRINCIPLES ADDRESSED
1) Urbanism creating and enhancing the site
We set out to create a building that would reflect its changing environmental conditions, and so always look a little different - depending on the time of day and the season.
With its reflective and perforated screen and white concrete block walls, the pavilion will catch the sun, take on the shadows of the clouds, and spill slivers and squares of light at night. Little mounds of snow will build up on the screen in the winter, ever so slightly changing the form of the building.
This, in combination with the accessible green roof that can be used as a look-out to the skating oval in the winter and a quiet place to read in the summer, makes a building that is thoroughly embedded in its site, and provides a clear sense of time, weather and location.
Quiet places to read or daydream - on the roof or on a bench at grade - in combination with larger spaces that can shelter a group of people starting a nature walk or getting ready to go skating, provide for both individual and group use. Ali edges of the building, including the roof, are active with exterior lighting, windows, overlooks or occupiable exterior space.
2) Design excellence
Sustainability in its broadest sense is central to the design. Passive cooling, lighting and ventilation strategies heavily inform the shape of the building; a high performance envelope reduces energy consumption and operating costs.
Integration and encouragement of public arts and culture / The design set out to provide multiple integrated and non-integrated locations for public art, and with its accessible roof and ramp to grade the pavilion could easily serve as a platform or performance venue. In addition, the screen wrapping the building has a performative aspect all its own, changing in appearance under different lighting and weather conditions.
Celebrating the winter city - edmonton's climate / The shimmer of snowfall and the ethereal quality of long summer nights - coupled with the form and motion of a speed skater - were the inspiration for the form and materiality of the pavilion design.
The design development focused on providing great space for the required program, laid out in such as way as to also provide sheltered outdoor space to escape the rain and wind, space for lounging, and a belvedere from which to view the park and skating oval. The perimeter and roof of the have built-in lighting, and windows or overlooks for safety.
Durable, permanent and timeless materials / Building materials were chosen for their durability, costs, and recyclability. The white concrete block walls are both beautiful and durable, part of a conventional cavity wall assembly that does not sacrifice low-maintenance or cost-effectiveness for aesthetics. The aluminum is durable and low-maintenance; five different sizes of panels are used to make the screen, maximizing fabrication efficiencies and minimizing material waste. The aluminum is 100 percent recyclable when the building comes to the end of its life span.
Appropriate use of innovation / The pavilion highlights the use of common materials and conventional construction techniques in both traditional and innovative, cost-effective ways. The use of digital design techniques is at the heart of the design and fabrication of the pavilion and the screen; used to produce both innovative architectural forms and to streamline the design and construction process, it promotes efficiency and so the sustainability of the project.
3) Scale, connections, & context
Scaled to nestle comfortably into the site and the trees around it, the pavilion is nonetheless visible from a distance. Whether sparkling in the sun or quietly grey on a dull day, the scale and pattern of the screen around the pavilion will be eye-catching both up close and from afar. The pavilion will quickly be known as a small landmark, memorable for its form and materiality, its magic.
(From competitor's text)
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- Axonometric Drawing
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