An eight-story structure located at Vancouver Community College will feature the latest in electric and hybrid automotive shops that will teach students how to service the electric vehicle and educate them on renewable energy sources. The 343,832-square-foot Center of Excellence in Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation that is being designed by Stantec will feature laboratories, classrooms as well as a library, and a learning center as, well as it will include an Indigenous area for gathering, administrative offices, and a variety of collaborative learning spaces. The space will also be devoted to design, fashion jewelry, CAD/BIM.
The building is designed to promote sustainability in its design as well as in the learning and teaching which will take place inside. The structure will be equipped with robust HVAC systems that adapt to the changing climate and will use mass timber as the main structure material in the atrium area. The architects will seek to minimize carbon embedded and will be in compliance with British Columbia’s Step Code 2, LEED Gold Certification, along with Rick Hansen Foundation Gold certifications specifications.
Particular attention was paid to Indigenous participation and consultation during the process of design. Two Row Architect is the Indigenous design partner. The design concept was influenced and influenced by the pre-settlement heritage of the site and based on the stories shared by the team of integrated project participants through Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nation people who are knowledge keepers.
Its significance to the Canoe and its connection to water and the land, and the craft involved in the construction of the canoe was a design focus. This led to the investigation of design and massing possibilities that evoked the concept of an old-fashioned Coast Salish canoe. The dark metal panels that are visible on the exterior mimic the traditional Coast Salish canoes. The canoe’s shape is represented by the angle of the panels when it is being cut. The wood details inside can reduce maintenance and provide a reference to the story of the canoe.
“That didn’t mean we wanted to put a canoe on a building,” says Eleonore Leclerc Stantec chief and architect. The canoe and water, and land are represented by three key design components: the atrium is water; the solid structure symbolizes the earth, and the overstructure is the construction of the canoe. “It’s less figurative and more conceptual,” Eleonore states.
On the team for the project:
Developer and/or owner: Vancouver Community College
Design architect: Stantec Architecture
The architect of record is Stantec Architecture
Indigenous design collaborator: Two Row Architect
MEP engineer: Stantec
Structural engineer: RJC Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: Bird Construction
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