reimagine Winter 2015

8/10/2019 reimagine Winter 2015

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WINTER 2015

MISSION

POSSIBLE

Ask an architect

EIA tower study

Trends in LEED-EB

San Telmo artspace

Wonderful in Winni

THE BEAUTY OF RETROFIT

HOW A CAR PARK BROUGHT LIFE

TO CALGARYS FOURTH STREET

EPLS ONE DESKStanley Milner Libraryrevises its service stance

REBUILDING AN EMPIRENYCs tallest landmarkgets a deep retrofit

OFFICE SPACECubicles are a thingof the past


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ISSUE #2

WINTER 2015

How a simple

change to an

existing parking

structure helped

rejuvenate

Calgarys FourthStreet

6A Walmart storeis repurposed as a

leading library

22 The ugliestbuilding in

Denver

loses title

30The Empire StateBuilding becomes a

deep retrofit leader

10 Seeing the

possibilities in anoutdated facade

11 Ask an architect:embodied energy

broken down

12 Why propertymanagers, owners

are embracing

LEED (EB)

18 Its whats on theinside that counts

26 The Avenue gets

a fresh start inWinnipeg

34 Koreas Hanwhaheadquarters

saves face

36 Stanley MilnersOne Desk is future-

friendly

42 EIA floats renewalfor its aging tower39 A 16th-century

museum

embraces its

natural side

+

Cover photo:

BOOKSTRUCKER

Contents photos:

BOOKSTRUCKER,

Fred Fuhrmeister,

ESRT Empire State

Building L.L.C.,

Fernando Alda

Lara Swimmer

CONTENTS

14

The 1800

building


4/48

FSC LOGO

PLACED BY PRINTERS

MANASC ISAAC ARCHITECTS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Vivian Manasc

ASSOCIATE EDITORKent McKay

GRAPHIC DESIGN CONSULTANT

Lisa Mentz

VENTURE PUBLISHING INC.

PUBLISHER

Ruth Kelly

DIRECTOR OF CUSTOM CONTENT

Mifi Purvis

MANAGING EDITOR

Shelley Williamson

ART DIRECTOR

Ryan Girard

PRODUCTION MANAGERBetty Feniak Smith

PRODUCTION TECHNICIANS

Brent Felzien, Brandon Hoover

DIRECTOR OF CIRCULATION

Sharlene Clarke

CIRCULATION

Karen Reilly

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Matt Beauchamp, Tiffany Shaw-Collinge, Martin Dover, Lindsay Farr, Richard Isaac,

Jen Janzen, Shafraaz Kaba, Vivian Manasc, Nadia Moharib

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Bookstrucker, Fernando Alda, Brice Ferr, Heather McIntyre, Lara Swimmer

Reimagine is a biannual publication produced by Venture Publishing for

architectural firm Manasc Isaac. Manasc Isaac is a Canadian leader in integrated

sustainable building with deep expertise in the reimagining of existing buildings,

primarily those built between 1950 and 2000.

Reimagine showcases the best of reimagined spaces and promotes sustainable

building practices in the community, and strives to be the authoritative business

voice on the value of reimagined building practices.

Contents 2014 by Manasc Isaac. No part of this

publication should be reproduced in print or on websites

without written permission.

Non-deliverable mail should be directed to:

10225 100 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0A1

ISSUE #2WINTER 2015

reimagine


5/48

or decades, Ive been thinking about

ways to repurpose existing buildings.In the latest issue of the Economist,

admittedly the only news magazine that

I usually enjoy, was an article entitled Bringing

the House Down, about new technology for the

demolition of existing towers in compact urban

conditions. Discussing the whiz-bang innovations

and enhanced recycling in the demolition of

towers in Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Lyons, one

question is missing: why tear down perfectly good

towers when they can be repurposed at a fraction

of the capital costs, with significantly lower

environmental impact? Lets talk about why weneed to reimagine and also, why now?

We are inspired to reimagine in both grand

gestures and small interventions at the small scale,

this issue of the magazine showcases the dramatic

benefits of the modestly reimagined workplaces (in-

cluding our own) that enable companies to enhance

productivity, creativity and the number of team

members who can effectively occupy a given floor

plate. These refreshing design ideas and solutions

highlight the results of transforming existing spaces

and creating flexible creative environments. Why?

To make better use of existing space, so we dont

have to demolish and build new. And that is just

the beginning.

On the urban design front, our cover story talks

about the value of investing in a community, espe-

cially after major challenges. The 1800 - 4th Street

project in Calgary, located near one of the hardest hit

spots of the Calgary floods of 2013, was completed

in the fall of 2013, and represents Strategic Groups

commitment to the community. We worked with

an old parkade to create a new face, and a renewed

sense of community. Refreshing the face of a park-

ade seems a modest intervention until you see the

effect it has on the neighbourhood. We met with

the community league and they were delighted to

see that the scale and texture of the facade could

be enriched, attracting better tenants and animating

the street. From booming Calgary to the Big Apple,

we will talk about the Empire State Building and its

reimagined future, with a clear focus on the impor-

tance of extending the life of iconic buildings while

reversing decades of wasteful energy practices.

We have found great reimagine examples all

over the world and we bring these together in this

magazine, to highlight what is really feasible. We are

inspired by whats possible in our own neighbour-

hood and what can be realistically achieved overthe next decade or two. Every day, as I walk down

the streets of Edmonton and Calgary, Ottawa and

Montreal, I see possibilities buildings that need to

be reimagined to enrich the urban experience as

well as the environmental performance. Speaking a

few months ago at BOMA Edmontons first Energy

Conference, I was delighted to see the interest of the

property management community, in going beyond

the effective operations and maintenance of existing

buildings and exploring the added value of re-

imagining buildings, for enhanced energy efficiency

as well as enhanced asset value.Recently, we looked at the opportunities to

reimagine two significant government buildings in

Edmonton as well as a residential condo building

these will be showcased in our Spring 2015 issue.

Stay tuned!

Peter Diamandis, author of the bestsellerAbun-

dance: The Future Is Better Than You Think,was in

Edmonton for E-Town 2014. His comments about

the abundance of solar energy reminded us that we

are very close to some breakthroughs in building

design and sustainable net-zero operations. We are

looking at ways to create more momentum around

the repurposing of existing buildings. This magazine

is a part of that an invitation to join us in a conver-

sation about what you think can be done with the

existing buildings in your community.

Please drop us a line at the below email address

to share your examples or ideas. re

Vivian Manasc

Editor-In-Chief

THE PURPOSE OFREPURPOSING

reimagination

F

[email protected]


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reframetrends, innovations and ideas

BIG BOX-

TURNED

BOOKISH

Did you hear the one about the

abandoned Walmart store that was

repurposed as a library? Its no joke.

After a store in McAllen, Texas closed,

a team of architects transformed the

space into a funky and functional

library. Minneapolis architectural

firm Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle

was responsible for the design-build,

which also won the 2012 International

Interior Design Associations 2012

Library Interior Design Competition.

Boultinghouse Simpson Gates

designed the exterior.

The retrofitted space boasts a

lounge and six computer labs just for

teens, as well as 16 public meeting

spaces, 14 public study rooms, 64

computer labs, 10 childrens computer

labs and a pair of genealogy computer

labs. Other new perks in the McAllen

Public Library include an auditorium,

art gallery, used bookstore, coffee

shop and self-checkouts. Whats more,

within the first month of opening,

new users reportedly increased by a

whopping 23 per cent.

Spanning 124,000 square-feet,

the revamped bookworms paradise

is now the largest single-floor library

in the U.S. As they say, everythings

bigger in Texas.

PHOTO LARA SWIMMER

Within the first month of opening,

new library membership jumped

23 per cent.

An abandoned store inTexas becomes the largest

single-floor library


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PHOTO LI NEAR CITY DEVELOPMENT LLC

L.A. TOWER HITS THE REFRESH BUTTONOnce the headquarters for the Met-

ropolitan Water District (MWD), LosAngeles Elysian was initially designed

by renowned architect William Pereira

in 1961 and completed in 1973. Though

the building at 1115 Sunset Boulevard

has long been lauded as an aesthetic

and engineering marvel, the tower had

been sitting vacant for nearly 20 years,

and it was in need of a reboot.

When Linear City Development, a

partnership of Leonard Hill and Yuval

Bar-Zemer that focuses on high-density

mixed-used projects, purchased that

aging marvel, the Elysians reimagining

as a 96-unit residential tower began.Flanked by Chinatown and Echo Park,

and overlooking Sunset Boulevard, the

tower is well placed and characterized

by clean lines and wrap-around bal-

conies. The project architect for the

$30-million adaptive reuse was David

Lawrence Gray, who consulted with the

MWD General Counsel to recover the

original plans for the building to help

with the retrofit.

In a press release, Linear City states

that the Elysian preserved much of the

buildings iconic architecture while add-

ing the latest technological innovationsincluding 240-volt EV charging stations.

The Elysian, whose rents are expect-

ed to range from $1,500 to $6,500, also

features upgrades including a solar ther-

mal system for the buildings hot water,

LED lights and double-pane high-E glass

throughout.

The buildings pair of 1,700-square-

foot penthouses, built above the original

roof of the building, are punctuated by

20-foot floor-to-ceiling windows allow-

ing spectacular views of Los Angeles.

One of just three architects to grace the cover of Timemagazine (along with

Frank Lloyd Wright and I.M. Pei); Pereirais acknowledged as a mid-century

Modernist pioneer. His works include the TransAmerica Building in San

Francisco and LAXs central theme building. Pereira also won an Academy

Award for his work on special effects in the 1941 film Reap the Wind.

DID YOUKNOW:

>


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reframe

PHOTO (VOLTAIC)FINISH IN BANFF

ONE OF MANASC ISAACS EARLY SUSTAINABLE DESIGN PROJECTS

IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES JUST GOT SLIGHTLY GREENER.

Banffs Town Hall was designed by Manasc Isaac and Sturgess

Architecture in 1996, pre-LEED certification, but was crafted to C 2000

standards the first of its kind in Alberta. Last year, the building got a

sustainable boost with the advent of 72 solar panels to its roof, making it the

most extensive photovoltaic panel installation in the whole Bow Valley.Chad Townsend, the towns environmental coordinator, predicts

the system developed by Calgarys SkyFire Energy will save roughly 11

tonnes in CO2emissions annually, as compared to electricity generated

by fossil fuels. The panel setup is expected to generate about 17,109

killowatts per year, the equivalent to what three households use in

that time. A monitor in the Town Hall lobby will show real-time energy

readings of emissions saved, electricity generated and equivalent uses.

PHOTOS COURTESY THE TOWN OF BANFF / WIKICOMMONS - JOE MABEL

LOOKS LIKE A MILLIONIT WEATHERED TWO EARTHQUAKES AND A GREAT FIRE

AND NOW IT HAS ALSO SURVIVED A RETROFIT.

San Franciscos historic Flood Building which was built in

1904 at the corner of Powell and Market Streets for a cost of

$1.5 million by James L. Flood was once the largest building

in the northern California city.

Carbon Lighthouse was behind the revamp, which is

expected to save at least $1 million in energy costs over the

next 12 to 15 years. The building improvements included

installing a computerized central management system;

incorporating an improved HVAC system; and replacing and

updating the buildings lighting.

In addition to saving our tenants money on their utility

bills, this project makes a significant dent in our buildings

carbon footprint, says building owner, Jim Flood grandson

of James L. Flood in a press release. Carbon Lighthouses

work aligned with our mission to preserve the integrity of this

historic space while modernizing our operations as much as

possible. Even better, the project was smooth and stealthy, and

posed no disruption to the day to day business of our tenants.

The 12-storey Flood Building spans 300,000 square-feet

and counts flagship stores for The Gap, Urban Outfitters and

Anthropologie among its 350 commercial and retail tenants.


9/48

PHOTOS COURTESY WWW.IRIS-INDUSTRIES.COM / CENTAINE TYLER

COUNTERCULTURE

BLUE JEANS

DOLLARS AND SENSEOF GOING GREEN

A husband-and-wife team in Lincoln,

Nebraska hopes to find a second life

for that favourite pair of comfortable

jeans everyone has kicking around

their closet: countertops.

Appropriately dubbing their up-

and-coming product Denimite, Jen

Carlson and Josh Shear of Iris Indus-

tries launched a Kickstarter campaign

last fall and reached their $10,000 goal

in a matter of days, thanks to nearly

100 backers from Nebraska to thePhilippines.

Along with the recycled jeans,

Denimite is made of partially bio-

based thermoset resin, which con-

tains no volatile organic compounds

(VOCs), compounds shown to have

adverse effects on human health. Carl-

son and Shear report that the material

is lightweight, water impervious, and

due to the way the denim fibres are

distributed, boasts mechanical strength

in every direction. Because denim is a

key ingredient, the materials are cheap

and plentiful; plus the finished product

has a cool, blue-jeans look. There are

myriad potential uses for the material,although Carlson and Shear say its

best suited for things like countertops,

panels, furniture, automobile parts, and

consumer goods.

A study by the CoStar Group of 1,300 buildingsfound that LEED-certified buildings can ask

rent premiums of $11.24-per-square-foot over

conventional building counterpartsand have

a3.8 per centhigher occupancy rate. LEED-

certified buildings also sell for an extra $171 per

square foot on average.

Deep retrofits areestimated to add

$3 to $30 per

square footto an

office spaces value.

If half of all new commercialbuildings were built to use 50

per cent less energy, it would

save more than six million

metric tons of CO2and be the

equivalent of taking a million

cars off the road.

Buildings consume70 per centof the electricity

load in the U.S.

Sources: U.S. Green Building Council and Carbon War Room Research Report

Calgarians may recognize the name Cam Dobranski from his tenure as chef

and proprietor at Winebar Kensington and Brasserie. These days you may

see him on social media tweeting about his latest concoction: Container Bar,

which tweets updates and opening hours for the remaining days of autumn.

Dobranski told the Calgary Herald back in July his plans to craft a patio

hangout next to his businesses was fuelled by a desire to clean up an unused

alley and provide some relief for an outdoor space crunch in the trendy

northwest neighbourhood. He helped build the tables from repurposed wood

claimed from old pallets, while church pews and school chairs make up the

spaces seating. A walk-up bar is made from, as the name would suggest, a

modified three-metre-square shipping container. Follow Container Bar, which

opened in July, on Twitter at @Container_Bar. re

SHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK


10/480

leading edge

s a reimaginer,

one learns to

see possibility

everywhere.

Walking through a city likeCalgary, with a downtown

core full of aging building

stock, several stand out as

striking examples of structures

in need of reimagining. Some

of them offer such unique and

transformative possibilities

that I cant help but bring

the idea of them home and

doodle what a renovation

might look like, just to flex

my muscles.One that strikes me every

time I see it is the Encana

Centre, a 20-storey 1970s

building located in Calgarys

city core. Sitting on a two-

storey podium, the diamond

shaped building stands out,

sharp-bowed and thrusting

eastward like some sort of

ship of commerce.

Although the tower plan

shape is interesting, the facade

itself is challenging. Each floor

and each facade face repeats

itself, and the building makes

no differentiation between

the six directions it faces.

Although this delivers an

elegant appearance aligned

with the values of modernist

architecture, it undoubtedly

causes some discomfort for the

building occupants. You see,

those who have workspaces

facing north will probably

be comfortable, benefitting

from steady daylight and no

solar heat gain. But if a person

works somewhere on thesouth or the west sides, both

glare and heat gain is likely a

challenge for them.

I snapped a photograph

of the building and brought

it back to my Edmonton

studio, where I conceptualized

a hypothetical solution to

Encana Centres facade

dilemma. A client did not

commission this, but I was

interested in creating a designsolution for the tower, as an

example of what an average

office tower could do.

To create both an aesthet-

ically and environmentally

better tower, I propose that

each face be treated differ-

ently, depending upon which

direction (north, east, south

or west) it faces. I admit I

am a fan of avant-garde design

solutions (those that push

the boundaries of what is

accepted as the norm or status

quo), and undertook a draw-

ing that articulates a visually

striking and dynamic answer

to the Encana Centres

facade treatment.

This design proposes the

addition of brightly-coloured

shading devices, which serve

multiple purposes. First,

they improve the comfort of

occupants, adding shading

where necessary (on the south

and west sides), as well as

stimulating colour to revitalize

the building and urban

streetscape as a whole. Crafted

from frittered glass, this facadetreatment is an elegant design

solution that achieves multiple

successes with one installation.

In the photo above to the

left, you are looking at the

west facing elevation. The

south facade is to the right.

This south-facing glazing has

been given projecting, which

acts as a horizontal blocker

against the sun. Not just for

appearance, the sun-shading

devices maintain occupant

comfort, modulating heat and

light when the south sun is

high in the sky. This treatment

would not be effective on

the west side of the building

where the sun is low in the

sky. I propose installing vertical

shading elements for this side

of the building facade.

Certainly, one could also

add plain sunshades to the

building that would align

with the neutral tones of the

existing facade, but recent

technology allows us to

add colour to the shaders,

breathing new life into the

Encana Centre and making itsparkle on the street. Doesnt

this building look like a 21st-

century wonder with the

addition of rainbow hues?

Perhaps the best news is

that this reimagine exercise

would be relatively low-

cost. After all, my suggested

updates dont require any

changes to the buildings

exterior envelope or

windows. Its difficult to

accurately assess cost without

an invitation from the client

to examine the building,

but I would speculate that my

suggested transformation of

the Encana Centre could be

achieved for about

$5 million a bargain price

to revitalize the urban

landscape, improve the

comfort of tenants and add

value to an asset. re

By Richard Isaac

MODERNISTMUSINGS

A

The Encana Centre is among ageneration of structures in Calgaryscore begging for a refresh

PHOTOS COURTESY MANASC ISAAC


11/48

ask an architect

What is embodied energy?

Embodied energy is simply the total amount of energy put into

the manufacture of materials that are used in the construction

of buildings. For example, its the energy required to turn a tree

into a two-by-four piece of lumber. Embodied energy is import-

ant because different materials have different amounts of energy

required for their processing and manufacture.

When embodied energy in materials is studied more closely,

one can also see the relationship of natural resource depletion,

greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and environmental

degradation. Embodied energy is also important with existing

buildings because we need to account for the vast amount of

energy that has already been put in place with the materials used

in the construction of that structure.

Materials should be evaluated for their embodied energy

as this helps make more sustainable choices. For example, the

embodied energy of wood (2.5 megajoules per kilogram)

is almost an order of a magnitude less than that of steel (32

megajoules per kilogram). This is due to the extremely high

amount of energy it takes to run a steel foundry and process raw

iron ore into steel.

Wood, on the other hand, is relatively simple to harvest and

mill down into usable products. Therefore, choosing a woodstructure for smaller buildings would be a less energy-intensive

choice and also has the added benefit of being a carbon-sink,

as wood which is left intact sequesters carbon within its fibres.

Thats not to say that wood is always the best choice steel

and concrete are appropriate for larger buildings, due to their

increased structural capacity and robustness. One must also weigh

the longevity of materials and their durability in selecting the

right material.

Existing buildings are important for their embodied energy

in that theres already an investment of energy and material thats

usually still good for adaptive reuse. The amount of wood, steel

and concrete that can be found in existing buildings is in themillions of tonnes of material, and within this material, there is

enough embodied energy that can save hundreds of megajoules

of energy if this existing material is reused.

The reuse of existing building materials spares the need

to manufacture new materials, particularly those with large

embodied energy like concrete and steel, helping to conserve raw

materials, resources and energy. re

Reimaginemagazine sat down withShafraaz Kaba,

partner and architect at Manasc Isaac.END OF LIFEMANAGEMENT

USE ANDMAINTENANCE

RAW MATERIALEXTRACTION

EMBODIED

CARBON

TRANSPORTATIO

MANUFACTURING

THE ENERGYOF MATERIALS

PHOTO BRICE FERR / GRAPHIC DATA FROM INTERFACE GLOBAL VIA BUILDINGGREEN.COM

5%

22%

2%

10%61%

73%

EmbodiedEnergy of

Nylon Carpet


12/482

or a leasing agent

or building owner,

there is a case to bemade for sustain-

able buildings, and nobody

knows that better than the

folks responsible for the first

LEED-EB Gold building in

Edmonton.

Sun Life Place may

have been built in 1978, but

a series of improvements

throughout its life span have

made it a model of sustain-

ability and green operations.Most recently, it was recog-

nized as LEED-EB Gold,

but this acknowledgement

from the Canada Green

Building Council was a long

time coming.

When we decided to go

for the actual certification,

most of the work had been

done or was part of our nor-

mal operations as a matter of

course. The incremental cost

was probably about $230,000,

which is about 80 cents a

square-foot, says Rod Gaten-

by, managing director of Real

Estate Investments at Sun Life

Investment Management.

Graham Halsall, who

consulted on the LEED

certification for Sun Life

Place on behalf of greening

leader Halsall Associates, says

making existing buildings

sustainable is gaining steam

with building owners and

tenants. For a leasing agent,their perspective is that

tenants often want to move

into a LEED building. If

its an older property, the

opportunity to lease space is a

little better when you say, We

are LEED as well. Attracting

tenants who care about green

buildings or sustainability is

the key leasing driver. From

the landlords perspective,

they typically respect tenantswho have respect for building

systems, even something as

simple as turning lights and

computers off at the end of

the day.

Because LEED-EB fo-

cuses more on a buildings

operations than design, Hal-

sall explains, its actually easy

to be green, just by putting

some saving measures in

place. In the case of Sun Life

Place, chillers were upgraded

and automated, 95 per cent

of lights were replaced with

low-Mercury types and water

use was tempered by low-

flow fixtures and sub-meters.

The payoff was palpable. We

just looked at the year fol-

lowing completion and our

utility costs were down about

25 cents a foot compared to

2013, says Gatenby, noting

F

Seeking LEED status for existing buildings is gainingsteam with building owners and tenants

GOOD AS GOLD

whats trending


13/48

water consumption declined by 30 per cent since implementing

the changes.

Energy was a large saving point. This building has an En-ergy Star rating of 83, which means its in the 83rd percentile of

comparable buildings on a national basis. We are using about 35

per cent less energy in that building than the national median,

says Gatenby. We went ahead and purchased about 50 per cent

of our energy from renewable sources, which obviously reduces

our greenhouse gas emissions. We put in energy efficient retro-

fitted chillers pr ior to going for certification, and we also updat-

ed the boilers, so we are looking at about 30,000 kilowatt hours

per year in savings.

Also part of the plan was incorporating a recycling

program diverting 100 per cent of durable goods and 50

per cent of consumables from the landfill and encouraging

tenants to take the LRT from the nearby Churchill station,

says Gatenby. We did surveys to try and increase use of

public transit, and over 50 per cent of our occupants are using

alternative transportation.

Philip Gillin, senior managing director and portfolio man-

ager, Canadian Property Investments at Sun Life Investment

Management, says it all comes back to the company culture

and market demands. We made the decision a number of years

ago to do whatever we could to own and manage buildings

that had an excellent environmental profile. We challenged our

property managers to get involved in that with us and also our

tenants. We see sustainable real estate as being a key element of

our environmental program within the company and thats a

key element of our sustainability strategy.re

We made the decision a number of years ago to dowhatever we could to own and manage buildingsthat had an excellent environmental profile.

SOURCE: THE CANADA

GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

-Philip Gillin, of Sun LIfe Investment Management

LEEDING THE PACK LEED, or leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a

third-party certification program and an internationally accepted

benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-

performance green buildings.

LEED rating systems encourage and accelerate the global adoption

of sustainable green building practices through the creation and

implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and

performance criteria.

LEED Canada EB: O&M certification differs from other LEED

classifications in that it focuses on the operations and maintenance

phase of the building instead of the construction phase. Under thisrating system buildings must file for recertification at least once

every five years to maintain their LEED Canada EB: O&M status.

LEED certified buildings meet the highest environmental

performance standards in Canada.

There are currently 3,600 registered LEED projects and 2,000

registered homes in the country, accounting for 500 million square-

feet, including registered and certified buildings since 2004.

In addition to lower operating costs, green buildings can offer

healthier environments, produce less waste, use less water, and

help reach commitments to reduce carbon footprints.

LEED-certified buildings can be found in most sectors, including

single-family homes, schools, retail, hotels, hospitals, public safety,

government and commercial and industrial buildings.

LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by

recognizing performance in five areas:

- Sustainable site development

- Water efficiency

- Energy efficiency

- Materials selection

- Indoor environmental quality


14/484

A makeover of Calgarys 1800 breathesnew vitality into an entire Mission block

By Jen Janzen

Photos by BOOKSTRUCKER

STRATEGICTRANSFORMATION


15/48

As the city of Calgary emerged from the

devastation of the 2013 flooding, as debris was

cleaned up, electricity restored, and as life once

again bustled in the downtown core, it was fitting

that the first post-flood development permit the

city issued would also facilitate another transformation. Theproject: redeveloping the 1800 building, a mixed-use structure

named for its address (1800 - Fourth St. S.W.). The building is

located in the Mission area, south of the downtown core, which

was among the places in the city hardest-hit by flood damage.

Thanks to its higher elevation, the 1800 building hadnt been

harmed in the flood.

The ground level of the building features several retail rental

units, and office spaces fill the floors above, crowned by several

floors housing 100 apartment units. Strategic Group, a Calgary-

based real estate development and property management firm,

purchased 1800 then known as Hillsboro Tower in 2010.

Randy Ferguson, Strategics chief operating officer, concedes theoriginal tower wasnt much to look at. You would see this tall

parking structure, then youd see a rather dilapidated facade to

the south, he says.

Though the buildings interior was also in need of an update,

Ferguson says the exterior was the most urgently warranted

fix. The dated brown-and-beige facade edging the retail spaces

made the property resemble a run-down strip mall more

than a proud member of the up-and-coming Mission distr ict.

Passersby who dont have a reason to enter the building wont

see the inside, but the entire community sees the exterior. It was

dilapidated and uninviting, Ferguson says.

But the leadership team at Strategic Group wasnt put off

by the buildings lacklustre veneer. With the stated objective of

creating value others cant by seeing what others dont, Stra-

tegic found the 1800 project a perfect fit. Our company plan

around the acquisition of properties is to redevelop, repurpose

and re-use to bring properties up to todays standards in terms

of how they appear and how they fit into the neighbourhood,

to modernize and make our environments more pleasant so our

tenants and customers have a better exper ience in our buildings,

Ferguson says. >

While the 1800

building escaped

flood damage, its

exterior was in

need of a serious

reimagining, with

its run-down facade

that resembled an

aging strip mall.


16/486

ith Manasc Isaac

Architects help, Strategic

Group developed a

new vision for 1800,

transforming the

colourless eyesore into a winsome monument

for the Mission neighbourhood. The parking

garage is clad in metal mesh, which lends

texture and dimension and creates a sense of

continuity with the rest of the retail space.

Enter designer Claire Johnson of Manasc

Isaac, who says the vision for the property

was to bring an element of cohesion to the

buildings various constituents. The concept of

the design is to pull the building together and

emphasize the corner, drawing people in and

creating a landmark, Johnson explains.Ferguson says that the exterior work didnt

only benefit the buildings appearance; it

also boosted 1800s overall efficiency. When

buildings get of a certain age, they begin to have

air leaks that your mechanical systems must

compensate for. By replacing things like the

facade and the retail storefronts, we made the

building much more efficient, Ferguson says.

Refreshing older buildings is a more

sustainable approach than tearing down and

building new ones. We have a large existing

building stock and it is not sustainableenvironmentally nor economically to keep

building new and discarding the old, Johnson

says. You can achieve large energy savings and

dramatically decrease running costs by focusing

on both the building skin and system together,

plus there is the immense satisfaction of the

before-and-after comparison, from an aesthetic

point of view as well as quality of the indoor

environment.

Along with its reworked exterior, the

building now also boasts a renovated interior,

with new HVAC systems and occupancy sensors

that save electricity by turning on only when

needed. The residential units were re-done

as well; as tenants moved out of the building,

vacant units were ripped apart right down to

the original concrete structure and rebuilt. By

the time we were finished it was a brand new

apartment, Ferguson says.

The offices got the same treatment. Upon

being vacated, they were torn down to the

concrete and redone. Except, Ferguson notes,

for those whose tenants who decided to stay in

place and work through the renovations. Well

renovate those offices when theyre empty, but

wed just as soon the tenants stay 100 more years,

Ferguson says with a laugh.

For the buildings retail clients on the other

hand, it was business as usual through the

construction process.

This prompted the question: how do you

completely transform a structure while making

sure retail customers and building tenants still have

access to it? Very carefully, says Ferguson, noting, It

created another element of complexity.

Aware of the need to minimize disruption to

1800s tenants, the Manasc Isaac team developed

a detailed schedule listing all facets of the project:

from when materials were to be delivered to when

W

TOP PHOTO COURTESY MANASC ISAAC


17/48

Ferguson knows its already positively contributed to the

neighbourhood. Weve had a great many compliments from

all of the constituents involved, Ferguson says, emphasizing

that the refreshing, urban feel of the new exterior has a more

enduring design than the original 1970s version. We wanted

to create a design that is more or less timeless so you can look

at it today and enjoy it today, and keep enjoying it 10 years

from now. This is what Manasc Isaac accomplished for us.

They did an outstanding job of creating something we can beproud of.

For Johnson, the success of the project can be summarized

by the way its now classified by other Calgarians: Its no

longer the car park on 18th Avenue and Fourth Street, but

the cool building with the green stripe. re

there could be work going on, all balanced

against the staggered hours of the various

businesses operating from the building. The

interim result was that businesses that could still

operate and the renovation schedule continued

without delays. Front-end planning is the

greatest risk mitigator, Ferguson says.

One of the aspects of the 1800 reimagining

that stands out for Johnson was the relativeabsence of construction waste. The facade

was built in collaboration with Calgary-based

Ferguson Glass and the framing and glazing

design could be custom-made to work with

the sizes of the material available. So whilst

maintaining the intent, we saved a significant

amount of material from the landfill, as well

as keeping the costs down for the owner, says

Johnson.

Its the new mesh-lined parking garage that

stands out the most in Fergusons mind, partly

because, in the old space, the garage was one of

the buildings most obvious aesthetic problems.

The building was craving a consistent look

that spoke to a parkade, retail space and an

office all together. We struck a balance in terms

of mater ial. The selection of mesh mutes how

that structure loomed off the site, he said.

The final phase of the project finished

up this past September, so there hasnt been

enough time to say how much more energy

efficient 1800 is post-reimagining, but

You would see thistall parking structure,then youd see a ratherdilapidated facade to

the south.-Randy Ferguson, Strategic Groups chief operating officer

(Top) What the building looked

like before being reimagined.

Aware of the need to minimize

disruption to tenants, the design

and construction team developed

a detailed schedule for 1800.


18/48

From chatter space

to collaborative hubs,

offices and learning

venues have evolved

from the contained

cubes of the past

DESIGNOF THE TIMES

BY KENT MCKAY

8


19/48

hen Lindsay Gurevitch walks into a room,

she sees it though a different lens then most.

Working for Edmonton architectural firm Manasc

Isaac taught Gurevitch to focus on sustainable design

approaches on cutting-edge projects. A long history

in sustainable building has earned the studio many

firsts even pioneering the first-ever LEED-

certified building in Alberta and ushering in a new

era of green design.

The interior designer took full advantage of the

sustainable design experience offered by Manasc

Isaac, cultivating a keen sense of possibility and

frugality in a design approach specifically tailored to

workplace environments. This approach led to the

creation of Reimagine Interiors by Manasc Isaac, aCalgary studio dedicated to transforming the citys

interior landscape.

There hasnt been a major shift in office

design since the modern cubicle-and-water-cooler

system was invented, says Gurevitch. We know

that there are better ways to design a space. People

work better in spaces that are designed for them,

and tailored for what they do every day. It sounds

so simple, but designing a good office does require

you to shift your perspective and think outside of

the box.

A reimagined interior is one thats thoughtfullyand thoroughly considered, taking advantage of

knowledge about the work being done in the space,

and leveraging all inherent and existing benefits in-

cluding existing finishes, furniture and natural light.

Each reimagine project begins the same way.

The first thing I look at when I walk into a space

to be reimagined is windows. How much light is in

here? Gurevitch says.

Windows are a fundamental component of a re-

imagined project. They offer natural light, which re-

sults in energy savings for the building and healthier

and happier occupants. Whether or not windows

are operable also influences the sustainability and

comfort of a space; fresh air is widely recognized as

a benefit to occupant health and reduces cooling

loads and energy costs during summer months.

Next, I start scanning the space for anything

that might be reused or repurposed, she says. Is

the carpet in good shape? How about light fixtures?

Ceiling tiles? She notes that items can be reused

across different projects; some furniture might fit

perfectly into a design that the studio is working on

across the street. At worst, excess finishes and fur-

niture can be donated to a reuse centre to benefit

someone else. But perhaps the most important

consideration in a preliminary scan is whether or

not existing walls can be maintained.

At the end of the day, the layout has to

work well. If an offices old design doesnt fit the

workflow of your people, the space needs to be

reconfigured. Its the bones of the project.

So, whose input helps guide the design process?

Everyone in the organization should be at the table

to create the new space. It has to be everyone

from the janitor to the CEO. Its not just about

empowering everybody, but its about understand-

ing how everyone works, every day. By getting to

know everyones individual workflow, we can really

maximize the space.Although inviting the whole team to par-

ticipate in design charrettes and workshops may

look like an additional investment on the surface,

designers argue that it will save time in the long

run. This is part of lean design. Building the

space around peoples workflow gets you away

from cubicle farms. Plus, it gets everyone engaged

and invested in the project.

oday, everyone is questioning the typical office

layout. While many people accept that cubi-

cles, phones, fluorescent lights and water coolersare just how offices are, there is a growing debate

as to whether this is good for people or even the

bottom line.

Technological developments have changed the

way people work. Telecommuting, the Internet

and collaborative tools such as Skype challenge

traditional office design. Old-fashioned office

concepts dont work very well in todays world,

Gurevitch says. If someone is working from home

or a coffee shop, or if they are out of the office

a lot of the time, why should there always be an

empty cubicle with their name on it at the office?

Its not an efficient use of space, and it doesnt do

the employee or the business any favours. So we

say, Lets look at what people actually do on a

given day.

Activity-based working (ABW) has become a

raison dtrefor reimagine interiors projects. It has

revolutionized the way designers at Manasc Isaac

approach office design. Its basically about design-

ing spaces around the functions that people use

them for, she notes.

The team learned this lesson quickly working

on Alberta Museums Association (AMA), who >

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T


20/480

approached Manasc Isaac to reimagine its office space in 2010.

The results were transformative for the organization and in the

end the project reinvigorated the entire AMA team. It was among

Manasc Isaacs notable ABW experiments.

Even though the term activity-based working hadnt really

been coined yet, the Alberta Museums Association was a kind of

proto-activity-based working project.

The Three Cs of space chatter, concentration and collabo-

ration are at the heart of ABW.

Chatterspace is everyones favourite place to gather and

bond with co-workers. This is the clich water-cooler space,

where team members talk about their weekend or a recent

hockey game. They also offer a unique opportunity for staff to

bump into people, and sometimes these collisions result in in-

creased productivity for the office. Happy accidents take place

in the chatter space. These areas allow cross-pollination between

departments to happen. Many clients have written to me sayingthat they love the spontaneous interactions that take place in the

chatter areas, she adds.

Collaborationspace is a slightly less pronounced version

of a chatter space. These areas are a middle ground, places where

groups can gather for focused discussions and brainstorming ses-

sions and can include boardrooms, but more frequently represent

less formal meeting areas such as staircases, kitchens and lounges.

Collaboration spaces balance comfort and inspiration with

function. These are areas where you can get down to busi-

ness but in a more creative and vibrant setting than a plain old

boardroom.

For Alexandra Hatcher, former executive director of theAMA, the energy of the spaces collaboration areas proved a valu-

able asset to her entire team. We absolutely love the spontaneous

meeting areas; the reading nook and the chat bar, says Hatcher.

People gravitate toward these informal sitting areas. The design

improved both productivity and collaboration for our team.

Concentrationspace is the bread and butter of a traditional

cubicle-style office. These quiet areas are where occupants go to

hunker down and get work done, undisturbed, perhaps following

an inspiring encounter in a chatter or collaboration space.

You absolutely need concentration space, Gurevitch says, adding

the reimagine approach is more about challenging the notion of

one desk per person, per office. For some organizations, having

an open office with a few dedicated quiet areas works really well,

she says.

In 2013 Manasc Isaac decided to walk the talk, adopting an

activity-based-working design for its own Edmonton office. We

colour-coded a map of the building with the different spaces

clearly labelled. This way, everyone knows where they need to be

careful about noise, and where they can go to take meetings and

have conversations. The map was distributed to staff and put up

in washrooms.

Recently, open-concept offices have been given a bad rap in

the news, but the style of workspace is slowly starting to catch

on. You cant just open a space and expect it to work. Acoustic

The Oliver Building in Edmonton houses the

offices of Manasc Isaac, whose venue hasbeen transformed into an activity based

workplace with 150 square-feet/person.


21/48

IMAGES MANASC ISAAC

techniques need to be used to make sure that its well considered

for sound, Gurevitch says.

Flexibility is the order of the day in implementing an

activity-based working model. By untethering occupants from

dedicated desks, designers not only give staffers the freedom to

collaborate when necessary, but the arrangement also reduces

the bottom line for a business. These layouts save business

owners money and even allow them to make more money.

First, you need less space to begin with, due to the fact that you

arent setting aside a certain amount of square footage for everyemployee, at every moment. After all, not all employees are in

the office all the time.

It can also cut down an organizations footprint. Reducing the

amount of square footage that you need, which saves you rent and

operational costs. Second, if an employee has to move around or

change departments, its easier to pack up and move around the

office. You can basically eliminate this cost entirely by doing away

with dedicated desks.

Another byproduct of the approach to design is autonomy

and employee satisfaction, she explains. If your team is happy and

more empowered to do their jobs effectively, the whole organiza-

tion will benefit from that productivity.

hen Manasc Isaac asked Gurevitch to help tweak the

Edmonton studios layout to accommodate its growing

staff, hot-desking or the idea that occupants can anchor tem-

porarily in a different spot all the time made sense even for

some partners.

Change started right at the top. Manasc Isaacs principal

Vivian Manasc, along with partner Shafraaz Kaba, gave up their

desks and offices right away, opting to settle wherever there was

a free desk on any given day. This flexibility speaks to Manasc

Isaacs corporate culture, and also happens to save the organiza-

tion space and operational costs.

Just as something as simple as a personal choice of shoes

affects first impressions, the esthetics of an office can make an

immediate imprint. When you walk into a reimagined space,

you should instantly connect with and feel the organizations

corporate culture. Are they fun? Progressive? Whats their story?

asks Gurevitch.

For Manasc Isaac, the transition to ABW was a worthwhile

one. Nearly a year after the completion of the new office design

the studios 60 employees have not only adjusted to the style, but

they have embraced it.I like how open it has made the office feel, explains Manasc

Isaac proposal writer Gloria Alamrew. Even though the different

spaces are clearly delineated, the office doesnt feel sectioned off

anymore. We have the work pods throughout the office, which

everybody understands and respects as concentration space. We

can put on our headphones and really focus.

My favourite spaces are the informal gathering areas like the

couches by reception, or even the kitchen with its big bar table.

They really invite you to chat and mingle, and that environment

tends to stimulate very productive conversations, says Alamrew.

The journey wasnt an easy one, she adds. After the renova-

tion, I wasnt sure how the transition to ABW would work and

like with any big change there were a few growing pains. But

once the dust settled it was pretty neat to see how easily everyone

settled in. It felt very intuitive.

For the Alberta Museums Association, culture is an import-

ant part of the design, too. This design reflects where we want

to go as an organization, says Hatcher. Were open, vibrant and

thinking about the future.

The best reimagined interiors require considerable thought,

as well as buy-in from the entire organization, not to mention

careful attention to the unique workflows of each employee, says

Gurevitch. A successful interior is one thats designed around

two things: the people and the brand. re

The Alberta Museums Associations

reimagined office space includes several

collaborative hubs for meetings.

W


22/48

Dowdy inDenverBY JEN JANZEN

2

Reinventing an office building in the Golden Triangle has made the area more inviting


23/48

Now, as you enter the Golden Triangle

district, youre greeted by a 10-storey marvel

of sustainability: a re-skinned, LEED Gold-

certified aluminum and glass-cladded structure

with a 33 per cent reduction in energy use. And,

filled as it is with natural light from the boost

in window coverage (the windows are now six

feet high, up from four-and-a-half feet in the

buildings previous incarnation), not to mention

a completely renovated interior, its also a more

pleasant place to be for its nearly 300 federal

employees. Its a great-looking building, says

Scott Miller, senior project manager at GE

Johnson, the construction company that won

the design-build contract for the project. When

you see the before and after, you cant believe it.

Owned by the General Services Admin-

istration (GSA), the Cesar Chavez Memorial

Building houses five federal agencies and adaycare. The 180,000-square-foot structure

was built in 1982 and it was clearly time for

a change. The metal panels surrounding the

building were starting to look worn. They

were all fading in various places depending on

how the sun hit them, Miller explains and

the seven-storey, 290-car parkade was showing

structural deficiencies.

The project was designed by Tryba

Architects, a Denver-based firm that specializes

in shaping and reshaping urban spaces.

Tryba worked with GE Johnson to develop

the energy-saving facade of the Cesar Chavez

building, using various solar studies and

simulations to ensure that, despite the generous

amount of sunlight pouring through the

windows, there would be minimal heat gain

in the building. Theres also minimal heat loss

in the winter, thanks to the high-efficiency

glazing on the glass. The building envelope is

designed to last for 75 years. Other energy-

saving upgrades include a new HVAC system >

Youd never know that theCesar Chavez MemorialBuilding was once known

as downtown Denversugliest building. A dark

green postage stamp of astructure with an equally

plain parkade on thestreet to its north, it made

for a drab gateway into

Denvers Golden Triangleneighbourhood, where artsand culture institutionsmingle with office buildingsand residences.

IMAGES FRED FUHRMEISTER, COURTESY GE JOHNSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY


24/48

and a lighting system with daylight harvestingand occupancy sensors to ensure that energy

isnt wasted on an unoccupied building. The

elevators were also replaced with a high-tech,

high-efficiency model. Local materials were

used whenever possible, including Colorado Yule

marble, recycled steel and a terrazzo floor in the

lobby that credits 50 per cent of its contents to

the recycled beer bottles of local breweries. The

team also made a conscious effort to recycle

construction waste, with 83 per cent being

diverted from landfills.

Construction started in April 2010 andwrapped up in February 2013. The structurally

deficient parkade was first on the list. It was

demolished very carefully, says Miller, pointing

out that it stood just five-and-a-half inches

from an existing building. The top floor of the

improved, structurally sound version features

a solar sculpture that pumps 115 kilowatts of

electricity a year into the office building across

the street, providing five per cent of its total

energy needs.

GE Johnson is no stranger to environmen-

tally friendly building projects. The companys

website explains that sustainability experts

work in all facets of the organization to help GE

Johnson reach its goal of continuously reducing

the environmental footprint of its projects. With

a number of LEED-certified projects under its

belt, GE Johnson was a good fit for the GSAs

requirement that the completed Cesar Chavez

renovations make the building eligible for a

LEED Gold certification. We were required to

meet Silver, but delivered Gold for no additional

cost, says Miller.

Construction of the Cesar

Chavez Memorial Building

took nearly three years but

resulted in a LEED-Gold

certification for the building.

4


25/48

panels and installed the new glass and aluminum curtainwall.

The Golden Triangle is one of Denvers oldest areas and con-

struction crews in that area regularly find early-1900s mementos

like horseshoes and bottles. Other buildings had come and gonebefore the Cesar Chavez structure was created, including row

homes and the original site of Denver Public Schools book depos-

itory. During one phase of the construction project, when the team

expanded the lobby by 25 feet to engulf the original colonnade

and dig new foundations, the crew uncovered some old china sets.

Some of them were in very good shape, Miller recalls. They

were just buried from years of excavation and backfill.

This modernization, or reimagining of the building, inspired

urban revitalization. Thanks to a number of other construction

projects since the Cesar Chavez Memorial Building was reinvent-

ed, the entire block is a lot more welcoming. What once was an

overlooked building now takes advantage of integrating a pedes-

trian-friendly and realigned Fox Street, landscaping, public art and

a hardscaped entry plaza, writes the GSA in a press release about

the building. The result is that the Chavez Building no longer sits

in isolation at the end of the block, but rather serves as a gateway

building into Denvers Civic and Justice Center and the Golden

Triangle Neighborhood.

Looking back on the project, Miller says hes still proud of the

way the team collaborated to keep employees productive and on site

even while the building was being totally redone. Owners are always

looking at ways to upgrade their building without displacing tenants.

Weve figured it out; we know how to do it. re

The company may have been familiar with

the world of sustainable building practices, but

GE Johnson had never worked on such an

extensive renovation while the tenants remained

in the building. In many cases, property owners

simply move tenants to a temporary location,

but in the GSAs case, rather than find offices

for about 290 people, move all the furniture to

the temporary location and then back again, it

was more efficient to simply work around the

employees.

The challenge of safely working aroundemployees also turned into one of the companys

biggest success stories. Miller and his team

worked closely with the GSA, planning the

project in phases, mapping out which people

were going to move where and for how long.

They determined which parts of the building

were swing spaces; meaning workers could be

temporarily placed in those areas while major

renovations took place on their home floors.

The team at GE Johnson also developed a

solution for employees who wanted to stay in

their offices while the exterior was being torndown and rebuilt: all the staff had to sacrifice

was three feet of their floor space. A temporary

weatherproof barrier wall was set up to separate

office staff from the work that was being done

on the buildings exterior. It allowed us to work

outside with all the safety precautions in place,

with the tenant just on the other side of that

wall, Miller says.

Most of the interior renovations took place

by a night shift crew. The workers would show

up at 6 p.m. and work until 4:30 a.m., taking

out ceilings, replacing HVAC units and lighting

fixtures and installing new carpet, then cleaning

up all traces of their work so GSA employees

could use it during the day. The team installed

a temporary daycare on the main floor with a

barrier wall, temporary bathroom and hand-

washing sinks and security so the daycare

program could be maintained without a hitch

while the construction crew developed a new

space. During the day, the teams focus shifted

from inside the building to outside, where

they finished taking down the dreary metal

Local materials wereused whenever possible,including Colorado Yulemarble, recycled steel,and a terrazzo floor in

the lobby that credits 50per cent of its contents tothe recycled beer bottles oflocal breweries.

IMAGES FRED FUHRMEISTER, COURTESY GE JOHNSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY


26/486


27/48

PHOTO COURTESY 5468796 ARCHITECTURE

SprucingupThe AvenueA downtown Winnipeg eyesoregoes from blight to delight

By Nadia Moharib

THE BIRDS HAD BRAINS. BUT AFTER TAKING UPresidence in two turn-of-the-century, derelict buildings for years,

they were unceremoniously evicted when deeper-thinkers had

designs on their mothballed downtown digs.

Today, The Avenue on Portage houses birds of a different

feather in 75 apartment units for tenants and a 22,500-square-footground-level commercial space thats occupied by Manitoba Start, a

non-profit organization serving new immigrants to Winnipeg.

Colin Neufeld, with 5468796 Architecture and the projects prin-

cipal, is proud of the final product lauded by many as an architectural

icon, a str iking addition to the citys centre. But he concedes it took

looking with some imagination at the boarded-up Avenue and Ham-

ple buildings now a single entity to make it happen. Essentially,

we had to walk through the building with hazmat suits, he recalls

of his introduction to the project. You literally were knee-deep in

pigeon droppings.

The firm was approached in 2010 by a developer looking for

someone to reimagine the buildings, to breathe new life into the

city-owned structures that had survived the wreckers ball numer-

ous times. We thought it was a great project, a great location and

a building that really needed some excitement, Neufeld says. Im

certainly proud to be part of it.

After structural remediation to make the buildings safe, crews

then went about renovating the inter ior, removing partitions, eleva-

tors and staircases. While the three-storey Hample building was built

like a bomb shelter, its wood-framed neighbour, with all six of its

floors, was in need of extreme upgrading.>


28/488

Rick Hofer with Hofer Construction,shortly after completing a successful 43-unit warehouse

refurbishment nearby with Neufeld, was approached by

the city, asking if his company would be interested in

refurbishing an understatement, to be sure the sad and

decrepit Portage Avenue buildings. At first, we didnt even

want to think about it, Hofer says. It looked 10 times

worse than the building we had just done. It was just in

such a state of disrepair. He decided to give it a second

look, and soon Neufeld and company were on board.

Hofer bought into the lofty vision to transform the

buildings, which had become a blight on the city centre,

but it took some time. Everybody thought I was crazy,

he says. I always thought, Lets just see how the building

is. If we rip it apart and we still ended up with good bones,

then its a go. If you have a good building, if thats the case,

then its off to the races; you already have the property, thefoundation and the walls.

Hofer says the job was challenging from the start. It

had OK bones but we had to fix the bones, he says. Lets

put it this way: we had to use a lot of casts and splints.

At one time, Portage Avenue had many mixed-use

buildings that were abandoned due to urban sprawl. But

over recent years, Winnipegs downtown has seen quite

the transformation, says Stefano Grande, executive director

for Downtown Winnipeg Biz. With millions of dollars in

public-sector cash flowing into developing housing on

the nearby waterfront, there has also been the influx of

restaurants, hotels, post-secondary campuses and theMTS Centre, home of the Winnipeg Jets and a popular

concert venue.

With an influx of about 4,000 residents in recent years,

there are now about 16,000 people living downtown,

Grande says, noting The Avenue on Portage is simply

another success story. The Avenue building has been in

the dark for about 15 years, Grande says, clearly thrilled

with its newest incarnation. If there was ever a silver bullet

to revitalize downtown, it is people living downtown who,

in turn, spend money downtown and are extra eyes and

ears on the streets.

The project is not only a coup for downtown

development, but it is also philosophically pleasing,

by repurposing buildings that have housed everything

from billiards to bowling lanes, a kung fu school and

retail in the past. We have a good mix of old and new,

Grande explains. Preserving our history and celebrating

contemporary architecture its one of those buildings

tourists will take photos of.

He appreciates the building and its original brick

exterior, rooftop patio garden, beautiful original marble

staircase and unique balconies, which showcase the new

life within and extending from the building. You see it

when you have the Christmas parade and all the residents

come out on the balconies thats what we want to see, people

enjoying the urban environment downtown, Grande says. Its

a very contemporary feel.

While stellar on its own, the project also contributes to the

cores vibrancy. Its dramatically different than it was 20 years

ago, he says of the downtown. Its not a boom like in Calgary

or Vancouver but we are a very stable market and there hasbeen steady growth.

Neufeld says the last 15 years have been transformative to

the downtown and he is pleased this project could help in that

continued evolution. It needed an adventurous spirit; it was a

project that needed someone who could see past the buildings

derelict past, he says. We are young and stupid and optimists

and believed it could easily be a great building.

Neufeld says the buildings reimagining was beneficial

in many ways. First, its an environmental win, given the

project diverted building material from the landfill, and

second, theres the significant salvaging of Winnipegs history.

Its important to save it from the perspective its from the

turn of the century, on one of the most famous streets, two

blocks from Portage and Main and has been there for the last

hundred years, he says. They were nothing terribly sexy,

just office buildings but in their heyday probably occupied

80,000 square-feet of commercial office space in downtown

Winnipeg, he says. They are part of our fabric. And our city

is dying for residential development in its core.

The positive impact of the retrofit on its surroundings is

undeniable. Its a block away from the arena where the Jets

play, having this residential infill says we are not a vacant city,

says Neufeld. It was an empty building for a decade that

sends the wrong message. Everybody knew it was full of

Suites in The Avenue boast 11-foot ceilings and large

windows and range from 400 to 1,100 square-feet.


29/48

ORIGINAL BUILDING + ACQUISITION = MINIMUM PARKING RAMP LENGTH

ECONOMIC VIABILITY

ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL

ALLOCATION

LONG TERM TENANT

=

EXPANDED COMMERCIAL

ALLOCATION

DISPLACED RESIDENTIAL

=

ADDITION REQUIRED

EXCEEDS STRUCTURAL CAPACITY

TOO HEAVY

ADDITION REQUIRES

SUBTRACTION

FINAL PROJECT

pigeons and parties and to overcome that we thought

it needed a big statement to give it a complete

makeover.

That statement seemed to work, given the tenants

flocking to the buildings suites, which range from 400

to 1,000 square-feet, one block west of Winnipegs most

famous corner: Portage and Main. The building now

features a salvaged staircase, punctuated by marble and

a wrought iron railing and skylight at the top in anO-shape so that someone looking over the railing on the

ground floor can see all the way up to the top floor.

Inside boasts 11-foot ceilings and big windows,

while the exterior is painted a dark grey over original

brick. The balconies incorporate the old building with

the new the idea being to push out from the inside

and announce new life to the city. Balconies of dif-

ferent sizes are randomly scattered along the face of the

building, built through the original openings. They rep-

resent the her itage projecting out of existing openings,

so thats pretty cool, Neufeld says.

They had to apply for encroachment on city prop-

erty but there was significant public encouragement,

Neufeld says. We probably encountered less opposition

than we would have if we were just proposing other

developments. There was an appetite to work with us.

Of course, given Winnipegs notorious winters, one

safety concern was the snow and ice falling to the street

below easily eliminated by construction and design of

the balconies which have transparent steel grated floors

preventing any buildup. The mirror-finish aluminum

south-facing canopy angles outward 13 feet from the

face of the Hample side before returning to meet the

edge of the Avenue. The effect is a unity of the two

facades, and a de factosafeguard against potential ice and snow

falling from balconies above.

The city has given you this building and given you

money to develop, so you have to give the city something,

Neufeld says of the budget constraints. They really wanted it

to be an important piece on an important street not just a

building which made money for the owner. They were game,

but said, You only have this much money, Neufeld says.

There wasnt an open chequebook. It got built for$12 million; thats where the love comes in.

Hofer says the project probably spearheaded a lot of

future downtown reconstruction. Nobody believed it would

work. Numerous architects have tried and it just didnt work

either due to a lack of money or expertise. It needed some-

one with this crazy vision, he says.

All of a sudden its an iconic building from a building

that was empty for 11 years. It has numerous awards from

architects and peers. To take a building like that and turn it

around its awesome to actually see people in it. That was

our vision, Hofer explains. He also says there was some-

what of a spiritual approach behind the reimagining. I

believed it should have been torn down; you walked through

that place and all you saw was mould, he says. What re-

ally inspired us is we met a fellow about a quarter of the

way through construction who intended to buy the Avenue

building. He believed in it, he says, adding the man hesitated

to do so due to a lack of parking.

As it happened, the buildings had enough frontage

for a ramp to allow for 38 parking stalls, Hofer says. The

project, although created with passion, was hardly a get-

rich-quick venture. I only got my wages, says Hofer, who

owns the building with his partners, adding, I am making

my money now. re

The construction

process, seen here

through a series

of sketches, was

multi-faceted.

PHOTO/RENDERINGS COURTESY 5468796 ARCHITECTURE


30/480

NEWSTATE OF

THE EMPIREBy Matt Beauchamp

The Big Apples best-known landmark

soars as a deep energy retrofit leader


31/48

ON MAY 1, 1931, PRESIDENTHOOVER OFFICIALLY DEDICATEDTHE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.Hailed as one of the seven wonders of the

modern world by the American Society of

Civil Engineers, the Empire State Building is

not only an American treasure but a feat of

engineering to marvel the world over. It stood

for 41 years as the worlds tallest skyscraper

and, while it may no longer hold the record,

it still stands as an iconic piece of the New

York skyline.Back in 1931, the term deep energy

retrofits didnt exist. In fact even as recently

as five years ago the term was unknown. Now

in 2014 there is a booming industry around

it, with architects and engineers collaborating

with property managers to develop ideas that

allow building renovations to go deeper and

provide greater energy efficiencies with more

cost savings.

Deep energy retrofits is a term coined

by the Rocky Mountain Institute to describe

a whole-building analysis and constructive

process that uses integrative design to achieve

much larger energy savings than conventional

energy retrofits. The Empire State Building is

a shining example of what deep energy ret-

rofits can achieve and it is, once again an icon

forging the way into a new area.

I think the Empire State Building is the

leading example for many reasons, says Dana

Schneider, senior vice-president of Jones LangLaSalles Energy and Sustainability Services di-

vision, the firm with whom the Empire State

Building partnered for the retrofit. We were

one of the first projects and still one of the

best examples that went through an intensive

analysis. We conducted a holistic, quantitative

analysis for all the options that would work

best then we developed a replicable process

that we shared.>


32/482

PHOTOS COURTESY ESRT EMPIRE STATE BUILDING L.L.C.

It is that openness and continued education

that Schneider says is one of the main reasons the

Empire State Building is a leader in the deep en-

ergy retrofit field. Its all posted on our website,

its all open book, not proprietary, for others to

use. Our whole motivation there was to inspire

others to replicate what we did, says Schneider.

We were using this entire project to develop

the ideal process in an attempt to show that

there is a business case for deep energy retrofits

and inspire others to follow suit and do the same

in their buildings.

Schneider adds that the education process is

ongoing and a point of pride for those that work

at the Empire State Building. I dont know anyother building that has gone through a process

and given away all of their tools and all of their

results, he notes. We guest lecture, we speak

at panels, in an attempt to educate other build-

ing owners and occupiers about how great the

business case is and how much difference we can

make in overall energy usage by doing this and

the fact that it completely makes business sense

as well.

And businesses are beginning to listen, due

in large part to the results the Empire State

Building has managed to achieve. Since 2012 thedeep energy retrofit program has generated

a total of approximately $7.5 million in energy

savings and, over the next 15 years, will keep

more than 105,000 tonnes of CO2from entering

the atmosphere.

All portfolio managers and real estate own-

ers to some extent have been concerned with

energy efficiency, and theyve done small things,

says Clay Nesler, vice-president of Global Energy

and Sustainability for Johnson Controls. What

this project is going to show is that it actually

makes sense to make large and significant energy

efficiency improvements, not the five to 10 per

cent type things, but the 20 to 30 per cent and

more type of improvements, and that there is a

business case for doing so.

The remanufacturing of the Empire State

Buildings 6,514 windows is perhaps the most

innovative undertaking in this retrofit. This step

was completed in 2010 and saw the change of the

buildings original windows into super windows.

This cut winter heat loss by at least two-thirds

and summer heat gain by half. The advanced

glazing, along with improved lighting and officeequipment, will further cut the buildings peak

cooling load by one-third. Replacing windows

and glass units with new ones is one of the

strategies that differentiate deep energy retrofits

from more conventional building renovations.

The result is that the buildings old chiller

plant can simply be renovated instead of replaced

and expanded, saving more than $17 million of

budgeted capital expenditure. This will account

for 38 per cent energy savings, which is several

times the savings commonly achieved from a

typical retrofit.A major renovation project like this couldnt

be completed without the involvement of the

buildings tenants and Schneider says their buy-in

to the program will help them achieve a lot of

their energy reduction goals.

Nearly all our tenant spaces are scheduled

for renovation over the next 10 years, says

Schneider. We developed a section of the lease

for high-performing tenant spaces and it sets

forth guidelines of what we expect our tenants

to do to ensure that their space is a high-

performing space.

We assist them with design reviews, design

workshops, evaluations of technologies, payback

analysis to incorporate these standards into their

spaces. We also developed a software tool for ten-

ants to monitor their energy usage in real time

and compare their usage to other tenants in the

building to give them daily recommendations on

usage and inspire them that way to use less, since

they pay by usage.

Anthony E. Malkin, Empire State Realty

Trust chairman, president and CEO, says the


33/48

(Left) The chiller plant retrofit project included the

retrofit of four industrial electric chillers for the air

conditioning system.(This page) The remanufacturing of the buildings

6,514 windows is the most innovative undertaking

in the Empire State Buildings retrofit project and

designed to maximize natural lighting.

project is exceeding all expectations. The Empire State

Building retrofit project has dramatically exceeded

projected energy savings for the third straight year,

reducing costs by millions of dollars, says Malkin. As we

continue our energy-efficient installations for incoming

tenants, we are confident we will meet and exceed our

completed project goal of saving $4.4 million each year.

As for now, we are ahead of our projections, and thatmeans more savings and more returns on our investments

to date.

The Empire State Building retrofit is about more

than just energy savings and educating current building

owners; its also about educating the public. With more

than four million visitors a year, the well-known Big

Apple landmark is a huge tourist attraction. As part of

the renovations, the project team took advantage of the

observatory line-up space, to educate visitors on whats

being done and what they can do.

It goes through the whole design and construction

process we went through and ties it into what you can

do, says Schneider. Its a beautiful exhibit of five or six

pillars that are interactive and that are LED. They have all

these displays and statistics and information about all the

projects that we implemented and what it would mean if

everyone in New York replicated what we did, if every-

one in the U.S. replicated what we did, if everyone in the

whole world replicated what we did. That really ties into

our message of education and trying to move the needle

and inspire others to replicate what we have done.

Its a wonderful building and it just continues to

inspire, says Schneider. re

ESB BY THE NUMBERS$550 MILLION - Total cost of retrofit

$106 MILLION - Total cost of energy-related projects

6,514 - Total number of windows

105,000 -Metric tons of CO2kept out of the atmosphere in the next 15 years

2.7 MILLION SQUARE FEET - Total size of the building

88 kBtu/square-foot pre-retrofit and

60 kBtu/square-foot projected - Annual energy use


34/484

higher ground

ooking around our

cities, there are many

existing buildings

that have become

outdated in their performanceand technology, and no longer

operate at optimal efficiency.

The building facade plays an

important role in this, and

since tearing down existing

buildings generates much

waste and emissions, savvy

urban planners are consid-

ering ways to retrofit them.

Since the building facade acts

as the barrier between the

outdoor and indoor climates,it plays an important role in

the overall performance of

a building. Retrofitting the fa-

cade on an existing structure

offers an opportunity to sig-

nificantly improve the overall

performance, and can allow

the opportunity to explore

new strategies for envelope

solutions that explore new

technologies and offer more

effective building solutions.

Existing buildings are

typically static in nature, and

retrofitting them allows archi-

tects to rethink the approach

to creating facades that are

responsive, interacting with

building users, climate, light

and other surrounding condi-

tions. Designing a facade that

has the ability to respond to

these various factors provides

an opportunity to create effi-

ciencies in the overall perfor-

mance of the building.

The Hanwha Solar power

company saw an opportunity

to do just this by retrofittingits headquarters in Seoul,

South Korea. As a producer

of photovoltaic power,

Hanwha wanted to improve

its environmental impact to

align with its company val-

ues around sustainability. The

existing building was built

in the 1980s, with 29 storeys

and standing more than 127

metres tall.

It offered several areas forimprovement in its environ-

mental impact, including ener-

gy consumption. The facade on

a building of this scale covers

a lot of surface area, and the

existing one on the Hanwha

headquarters was not ideal with

its opaque and covered single

layers of dark glass.

Hanwha made a call for

proposals as a design compe-

tition to retrofit the existing

headquarters. The winning

design was led by Ben van

Berkel with UNStudio, who

proposed a retrofit addressing

several sustainable approaches,

including energy consump-

tion and the well-being of

the buildings occupants. A

significant component of the

proposed redesign includes

the revamp of the existing

building facade. UNStudio

partnered with Arup for the

design of the facade and en-

gaged AG Licht as the lighting

consultant.

The design of the new fa-

cade includes individual LED

lights that correspond with

movement within the interior

of the building. It was import-

ant for the design to respond

to the existing site conditions

and fit in with its surround-

ings. The design for the

Hanwha HQ media facade

aims to avoid an overstated

impact. In the evenings, as the

By Lindsay Farr

SAVING FACE

L

There is a sound argument forrevamping building facades ratherthan tearing them down


35/48

mass of the building becomes less appar-

ent, the facade lighting integrates withthe night sky, displaying gently shifting

constellations of light, says van Berkel.

The proposed exterior offers the op-

portunity for significant building perfor-

mance improvements, resulting in a more

sustainable building, which addresses the

context, environment and programmat-

ic use. Van Berkel says, By means of a

reductive, integrated gesture, the facade

design for the Hanwha HQ implements

fully inclusive systems which significantly

impact the interior climate of the build-

ing, improve user comfort and e

Documents

reimagine Winter 2015