Bridgepoint Active Healthcare

Project
Bridgepoint Active Healthcare

Location
Toronto, ON

Award Winner
Stantec Architecture / KPMB Architects / HDR Architecture / Diamond Schmitt Architects / PFS Studio / MBTW Group Landscape Architects

Project Team

Planning, Design, & Compliance: Stuart Elgie, Stantec Architects
Planning, Design, & Compliance: Mitch Hall, KPMB Architects
Design, Build, Finance, & Maintain: Rodel Misa, HDR Architecture
Design, Build, Finance, & Maintain: Greg Colucci, Diamond Schmitt Architects
Landscape Consultant: Brad Keeler, MBTW Group
Structural Engineer/LEED Consultant: Kathryn Edwards, Halsall Associates/WSP Canada
Contractor: Darius Zaccak, PCL Constructors Canada
Mechanical Consultant: Brad Bull, Smith + Anderson
Electrical Consultant: Brandon Hayes, Smith + Anderson
Building Envelope Consulant: Mark Brook, Brook Van Dalen & Associates
Developer & Equity Investor: Brian Budden, Plenary Group
Client: Marian Walsh, Bridgepoint Health Foundation

“The design intent for Bridgepoint Active Healthcare was to connect with nature and community and to inspire patients and staff. This commitment extends right to the rooftop. The garden terrace there provides a sanctuary for healing, where people can enjoy the natural setting and extraordinary views of the city skyline and feel they are part of the world around them.”

— Greg Colucci, Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects

The Restorative Power of Good Design

Bridgepoint’s goal is to teach, coach and inspire chronic care patients to “live well” and to be active participants in shaping their own treatment and health outcomes. With an average patient stay of three months, there was strong impetus to design a built environment that facilitates recovery and wellness. Bridgepoint Active Health Care is the manifestation of the belief in the restorative power of good design.

From animated public spaces to intimate private ones, the building connects community and landscape with patients and staff. Panoramic views of the Don River Valley within every patient room, open terraces at the roof level, mid-tower and at grade levels provide broad visual engagement with the surrounding community, parklands and landscape.

Spaces for rest and therapy include the large ground floor terrace adjacent to food services, a therapy pool with picture-windows overlooking the park and a wheelchair-accessible meditative labyrinth patterned on the one at Chartres Cathedral. An accessible, therapeutic green roof terrace on the 10th floor extends the therapeutic benefits of nature vertically and offers active horticultural therapy. Patients can participate in a gardening program of engage in self-directed rehabilitation. People practice walking on the gentle slope, build strength in wheelchairs by moving up the gently sloped ramp or by climbing stairs.

A 4-year post occupancy evaluation was specifically developed to evaluate the impact of the design on patient health and well being. By blurring the distinction between private and public property and providing public circulation continuously around a fully glazed exterior, the facility is highly permeable. Staff and patients feel connected to nature, to the city and consider the hospital to be a place of wellness. Patients feel safer, are more cheerful, are comforted and are more satisfied with their stay. They feel they have more opportunities to visit with others, perceive improvements in their mental health and are more confident in their mobility. The judges praised this project’s use of green roofing for patient recovery and human health treatment and accessibility as well as the use of deeper root profile plants in the meadow roof and integration of small trees.

Edmonton Federal Building

Project
Edmonton Federal Building

Location
Edmonton, AB

Award Winner
Nedlaw Living Walls

Product Supplier & Designer: Dr. Alan Darlington, Nedlaw Living Walls
Product Supplier & Designer: Randy Walden, Nedlaw Group
Designer: Peter Streith, Kasian Architecture
Principal: Oliver San Agustin, Kasian Architecture
Job Captain: Les Poon, Kasian Architecture
Contract Administration: Susana Lui, Kasian Architecture
Principal Design: Bill Chomik, Kasian Architecture
LEED Coordinator: Esther Rivard-Sirois, GRP Kasian Architecture
Project Manager: Rob Mulyk, Kasian Architecture
Project Administration: Jennifer Tucker, Kasian Architecture

“As well as being an aesthetic element, this biofilter is also a functional piece of machinery, improving indoor air quality. It actively removes pollutants from the air, generating over 1,500 cfm (700 litres per second) of virtual fresh air. That’s enough ‘fresh’ air to supply two thirds of the needs of over 150 people. And this virtual fresh air is generated using up to 90 per cent less energy than conventional air treatment systems.”

— Dr. Alan Darlington, Nedlaw Living Walls

A Case Study in High Efficiency

The Bio-filter Living Wall system at the Edmonton Federal Building is the focal point of the large glass public atrium, the newly added grand entranceway into this rejuvenated historic building. The living wall and associated water feature provide a calm and serene environment in the busy public space. The vibrant layered and organic pattern of the plants makes the wall a work of art, and provides a foil for the otherwise angular and clean-lined space.

In the Edmonton Federal Building project, landscape and urban design were extremely important. The exterior of the building features numerous green roofs and an extensively landscaped plaza featuring local and native plant species. Utilizing a green wall within the building seemed the next logical step to ensure that the objectives so carefully considered on the exterior of the building also translated into the interior.

However, this living wall is not only aesthetic; it is also a working element of the building’s mechanical system. Air is actively drawn through the wall of plants, where biological components degrade pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene into harmless constituents of water and carbon dioxide. The living wall also filters fine particles such as dust and spores. Once these processes have occurred the air is distributed back to the space mechanically. The living wall also contributes to the humidity levels of the atrium space contributing innovation points to the LEED Gold certification goal.

The judges felt that this project presented an excellent integration of living wall technology into the public space of the building in both a functional and beautiful way.

Credit: Kasian & Nedlaw Living Walls

Alberta Ecoroof Initiative

Project
Alberta Eco-Roof Initiative

Location
Calgary, AB

Award Winner
Green T Design

Designer: Kerry Ross, GRP, Green T Design
Designer: Bob Thornton, Studio T Design
Supplier: Marie-Anne Boivin, Soprema
Supplier: Trevor Sziva, Soprema
Contractor: Stephen Teal, GRP, Flynn Canada
Building Owner: Neil Ubi, Innovate Calgary
Building Owner: Dave MacKillop, Innovate Calgary

“The Alberta Ecoroof Initiative project is the green roof that I have worked most with. It has evolved over time and my understanding of its characteristics and benefits has grown. I intentionally call it an ecoroof because it is not green all of the time; the changes in the colours, the varying blend of plant species over the seasons and the habitat it created has been an interesting wonder to observe.”

— Kerry Ross, GRP, Green T Design

A Showpiece of Research and Function

An organization and building that houses a mixture of tech start-ups and likens itself to an ecosystem sprouts green roof habitat to deliver ecosystem services. The project serves as a key component to Innovate Calgary's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, but also serves as an example of clean technology. The green roof provides a tangible example to educate staff and visitors and it acts as a tangible resource for peers in the field of living architecture.

It was ten years ago this summer that the first phase of planting was undertaken on top of the link building that connects two wings of the Alastair Ross Technology Center in the University of Calgary Research Park.

This project distinguishes itself from other green roof projects as being the only known green roof in Alberta to feature different systems side by side, varying by type and depth of growing medium, and plant species selection. In addition to the various systems trialed here, a two year stormwater study was performed which demonstrated the effectiveness of green roofs to retain runoff.

By using a variety of planting systems and monitoring their progress, we have been identifying types of systems and species that thrive in the Calgary climatic region, noting successful outcomes as well as shortcomings. The installations serve as a green roof botanical garden.

Credit: Bob Thornton

Williamsburg Condominium

Project
Williamsburg Condominium

Location
Brooklyn, NY

Award Winner
New York Green Roofs

Head Designer, Installation Project Manager: Adam Schatz, New York Green Roofs
Co-Creation Direction: Chad Gessin, Condo Board
Waterproofing Provider: Michael Balaban, Siplast Engineered Roofing Systems

“Bright, playful plant palettes and awe-inspiring views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn’s industrial past instill the vaulted courtyard and rooftop of this condominium with a sense of environmental connection and quiet beauty.”

— Adam Schatz, New York Green Roofs

A Return of Williamsburg’s Natural Systems

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is currently a hotbed of real estate development. Most of the neighborhood suffers from a serious lack of green infrastructure. In 2011 New York Green Roofs (NYGR) was contacted by the condominium board of a large complex at125 North 10th Street and asked to follow up a major waterproofing rehabilitation to transform the existing rooftop spaces into something of a dream for the residents. Two distinctive six story buildings on the north and south sides of the property are connected by a vaulted courtyard walkway so that the condo works as a whole. With 86 units of owners to please, NYGR kicked-off the design phase by setting up a "co-creative" public meeting to hear about goals and desires for the green roof. A short list of elements to be included in the overall functional program was produced based on feedback and distributed to the tenants. Common themes included the importance of integrating the green roof with the existing garden sculptures, organizing plenty of space for entertainment and meals, creating sitting/lounge areas, and retaining open spaces for children and dogs to play. Surveys showed that the most important aspect of the renovation was to simultaneously create a greener environment and increase the property value of the residence with the project.

The resulting semi and intensive green roofs provide a beautiful, ecological experience when moving between buildings and when gathering together. On the south roof a series of gently rolling mounds and a colorful palette grasses and flowering perennials mimic landscapes that look and function as in the wild: robust, diverse, and visually harmonious, with views of the Williamsburg Bridge and sunsets over the Manhattan skyline to boot. The vaulted courtyard pass through is a hybrid of both wild and cultivated plant communities. Industrialization drove most nature out of cities years ago. This project brings back Williamsburg's natural systems that thrive within our built world. The judges praised the beauty of this project and its maintenance strategy to ensure continued project health and viability. The judges also highly praised the plant palette variety used in this installation.