Swimming in the arctic northern technologies and a love of hot climates find a home in the far far north
project | inuvik family centre by wayne guy
swimming pools thermosyphons permafrost oases heat reclamation arctic architecture
Drifts of snow able to swallow houses fill the windswept landscape above the Arctic Circle. It’s hard to believe this region is actually a desert receiving less than 10 inches of precipitation a year. Water is the prerequisite for human settlement, both physical and psychological. This has inspired Canada’s only year-round aquatic cente in the Arctic. The Inuvik Family Centre is a reprieve from the long sunless winters when temperatures hover around -30°C for months on end. It offers light, colour and warmth; a tropical respite — an oasis where weary northerners can recharge their batteries. Like an oasis in the sandy desert, this one stands as a surreal counterpoint to its surroundings. It establishes a great sense of place and strengthens the bonds of community between the people who use it. It is the community leaders who want first class amenities, with state of the art technology, for everyone who makes Inuvik home. foundation The facility sits on 5metres of ice and peat (permafrost). If this were to melt, the building would settle to its eaves. To prevent the permafrost from melting, a lattice of piping (a thermosyphon) filled with compressed carbon dioxide was laid underneath the building. It intercepts heat from the 30°C water in the swimming pool, which is then radiated to the atmosphere. exterior walls and roof The walls and roof were designed to perform well with a 100°C difference between the outside and inside temperatures; the same difference between ice and steam. A structural insulated panel (metal skins sandwiching 150mm of polyurethane) was used for exterior walls and the roof. Developed in Texas for blast freezers (keeping food at -40°C in 50°C Texas sun), SIPs are attached to the outside of the structure. Insulation between panels is continuous and joints are double-sealed to avoid cold spots on the interior skin where warm moist air could condense. ventilation This is the first pool in Canada to use a displacement ventilation system, originally developed in Sweden for welding shops.
Displacement ventilation has large air diffusers on the pool deck level where low velocity air, slightly cooler than the ambient air, pours across the surface of the water. Swimmers, whose noses are inches above the waterline, breathe better quality air because chloramines, the gaseous products of chlorination that linger at the water’s surface, are removed. Stale air does not get a chance to recirculate because it is exhausted at the opposite side of the pool. The slower moving air associated with this system reduces the rate of evaporation on wet skin thereby reducing the body’s heat loss, keeping bathers warmer. It also means less energy is consumed by mechanical systems to heat and move the air. amenities This is not a rectangular lane pool. The centre takes its cue from the natural landscape to create an interior aquatic world. Grotto, beach, river and lagoon shape the pools so that bathers have a variety of experiences. The circular tot’s pool, with ergonomically designed seating for little ones, has jets of air and water built into the floor so it feels like a pool beneath a waterfall. A circular stream of fast moving water is where children can tube and seniors can walk against the current for exercise. This stream enters the main recreation pool beneath a spray arch marking the change from turbid to calm water. Facing the main pool, steam room and sauna are located in beach hut cabanas. All these features, plus a 60 metre water slide, animate water
play and recreation. the great indoors
Our new ability to create an oasis in the most barren of settings can be seen as terraforming, where ideal life-supporting conditions can now be placed anywhere on the globe. Interior environments can present landscapes we once associated only with the outdoors. Although the genesis of this kind of architecture was predicated on keeping the elements out — building a benevolent fortress containing a different kind of natural world, technology now permits the dissolution of the traditional boundaries of inside and out. Our architectonic lexicon has been liberated so that we may now create worlds previously impossible and unthinkable. D
Project Name: Project Cost:
The Inuvik Family Centre, Inuvik,NT.
$8.0M
Client:
Town of Inuvik, Peter Clarkson, Mayor
Architect: Guy Architects Ltd, Yellowknife, NT
R. Wayne Guy, NWTAA/PP, MOAQ, FRAIC Principal, Constantina Tsetsos, B. Arch, Associate Celeste Whalen B. Arch , Cheslaw Hawryk B. Arch
Specialist: Vic Davies Architect, Victoria BC Vic Davies MAIBC , Brian Inness Structural: Reid Jones Christoffersen. Victoria BC Ron Bremmer, P. Eng Mechanical: Thorn Engineering, Yellowknife, NT Ian Dinnan, P. Eng Jon Howe, P. Eng Keen Engineering, Victoria, BC Rob Walter Electrical: AD Williams Engineering, Yellowknife, NT Robin Ferguson, P. Eng Contractor:
Ninety North Construction & Development Ltd.
on site review 17
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