The Little Passive House that Could Maintain Ultra Low Energy Demand in Cold Climate and a Devestating Heat Dome

Valemount, BC

Faced with an extremely low budget, the design strategy of Valemount Passivhus (Swedish spelling) maximizes structrual efficiency with only exterior walls bearing load on perimeter grade beams and supporting a clear span pitched roof of I-joist rafters on a ridge beam allowing flexibility of interior partitions and a grand cathedral ceiling. Exterior walls and roof were prefabricated and shipped to the site and framed within two days. The pure rectangular plan and minimalist gable form streamlines Passive House PHPP energy modeling and simplifies application of the air barrier while also making reference to early Scandinavian vernacular barn houses. Local cedar siding was torched on site to achieve a charred surface resistant to weather, UV and termites while also providing some resistance to wildfires. Valemount Passivhus was designed in collaboration with Erik Olofsson, Constructiuon Manager.

Photo credits: Andru McCracken, Owner; Erik Olofsson, Construction Manager; Collective Carpentry

A Mid-Century Modern Inspired House in a Victorian Suburb

New Westminster, BC

This Bauhaus inspired home, with monolithic white surfaces against dark voids of glass transparency, was designed for a family with two aspiring daughters excelling in their school studies, piano and swimming training. Advanced analysis of zoning and coordination with city planners allowed a 16’ high cathedral ceiling and window wall with sweeping vistas of the Fraser River and Mt. Baker in Washington State. The roof assembly features a dropped ceiling to minimize penetrations through the air barrier with a perimeter light alcove that also conceals an automated blind system. The overhangs have a slim profile and are an extension of the ventilation sleepers. The daughters’ bedrooms are each built with deep bay window seating and ceiling high windows capturing westerly sunlight.

Photo credits: Interior photos by Derek Wong, Owner. Exterior photos by Vincent Siu.

A Passive House Certified & Mass Timber Office Building for “Canada’s Green University”

Prince George, BC

UNBC-FMB is the new operations office of UNBC Facilities Management achieving all Passivhaus Institut criteria for Passive House Certification in a cold climate zone. The project was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic on a fast-track schedule from design to substantial performance in only 9 months. Other sustainable solutions include wood dominant construction and a mass timber structure featuring clear span members such as CLT (cross-laminated timber) panels and glue-laminated beams that achieved the required cantilever of the upper floor without the use of steel or concrete. The project was delivered as a design-build consortium with Vincent Siu as architect, design lead and coordinating registered professional, and Erik Olofsson and Chris Brown as construction managers.

Photo credits: Vincent Siu

Clinical Updates for University Student and Staff Health Care

Prince George, BC

Tenant improvement of UNBC Health and Wellness involved relocating the Medical Clinic and Counselling offices to meet expansion requirements and increased exposure to daylight. Counselling especially benefitted with each psychiatrist’s office capturing therapeutic vistas of the distant horizon over the city below. The waiting rooms for both are lit with daylight from storefront windows that reach deep into back spaces. A new vestibule with glazed storefront doors welcomes students into the Health and Wellness wing, along with an additional borrowed light, providing daylight to a previously dark corridor. The Medical Clinic takes on a radial floor plan with the Medical Office Assistant (MOA) seated at the centre capturing sight lines to all areas of the clinic allowing monitoring of patients and providers requiring assistance or any situations that may arise. Millwork was custom designed and updated for modern practice and routines. Exam and counselling rooms are configured for patient privacy and provider safety while also acoustically mitigated to eliminate sound transfer.

Photo credits: All photos by Brit Kwasney https://www.britkwasneyphoto.com/ courtesy of IDL Projects Inc.

Establishing a Welcoming Threshold for Students and Visitors

Prince George, BC

Tenant improvement of the Registrar’s office involved a new layout for an 8315 SF space where the structural vectors of two post-modern free-form buildings collide at a meandering expansion joint. The new floor plan effectively rationalized rooms along three axes of circulation opening deep interior spaces to daylight with sight lines through borrowed lights. The design also establishes a connection to adjacent campus corridors by placing public facing administration, recruitment, advising and student gathering spaces that softly transition from public to private with a blurred and porous boundary at the south perimeter benefiting also from sunlight. The ESR counter was relocated to face the front entrance serving as the first point of contact for both students and visitors. Procession of visitors follows into Student Recruitment and Admissions Advising facing the intersection of Student Street and Agora corridor with an un-enclosed space, under a new feature ceiling of wood slats and circular panels hung in faceted planes, that allows events and social activities to spill out into the concourse area while also providing students with 24 hour study space on custom millwork long tables with ample power receptacles for laptops. Finally, a visual connection is established from the front entrance to Student Street through the Student Recruitment area.

Photo credits: Photos 2-5 by Brit Kwasney https://www.britkwasneyphoto.com/ courtesy of IDL Projects Inc.

A New Student Hub for Group Learning and Interdisciplinary Interaction

Prince George, BC

The new Learning Commons at the ground floor of Geoffrey R. Weller Library provides students with library services, research and tutoring assistance, event space and a 24 hour study, group work and social gathering space equipped with enough laptop power receptacles within reach of every seat. A variety of semi-private spaces such as pod seating, long tables and high tops strategically flank an “interior street” provide different scenarios for human visibility and serendipitous cross-pollination. By removing existing storefront glazing that formerly enclosed the library space, open access and visual welcome to the Learning Commons has resulted in the establishment of a busy social hub for students at any hour of day or night. Curvilinear millwork seating at the entrance concourse serves as a gathering place for indigenous elders and canvas for a First Nation’s art installation.

Photo credits: Indigenous Welcome by Brit Kwasney https://www.britkwasneyphoto.com/ courtesy of IDL Projects Inc.