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Dual flush buttons are the key to massive water savings. A half flush (3 litres) is used for liquid waste and a full flush (6 litres) is used for solid waste. Caroma’s two-button dual flush technology averages less than 4 litres per flush.

The remarkable 6/3 litre two button dual flush system is the latest development in Caroma’s research and technological advancement and a world first. With an average flush volume equivalent to just one gallon it is set to become the global standard for water usage. With some homes in Canada still flushing over 100,000 litres of water a year, compared to Australian homes which average 27,000 litres, the Caroma toilets are sure to please the user and the environment.

austral imports inc. austral@telusplanet.net 403.243.4442

cover and above: résidence Vaillancourt-Normand, Ste-Catherine-de-Hartley, Québec. CIMAISE (see page 41)

publisher The association for non-profit archi- tectural fieldwork [Alberta] editor Stephanie White

contributors Alejandro Alarcon Michael Barton Jean-François Brosseau Scott Donovan Frida Escobedo Peter Hargreaves Dan Heaton Ivan Hernandez Quintéla Ron Isaac Christie MacLaren Florian Maurer

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Klaus Mayer Tonkao Panin David Poiron Carmon Shirras Steve Smyth Joylyn Tesky Shawn van Sluys Paul Whelan Richard White Stephanie White

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above: a high end modern Sami house in the Finnmark region 66 left: a Sami house in Karasjok, based on their traditional buildings, with sod roof and battered sides.

conference report:

michael barton sami housing | Finnmark, Norway

a two day conference in Karasjok (the main town in the Finnmark region) was attended by representatives from all of the four Sami groups, as well as architects, engineers, eco- nomic development people, a few academics such as a professor of anthropology, local politicians and the media. The conference was opened by Geir Tommy Pedersen, the leader of the Sami Council, and was followed by sessions which dealt with historical background, culturally significant material and needs and approaches to com- munity housing requirements. The traditional Sami dwelling is the gumma , circular with sod on the sloped-in walls and roof. Some modern Sami houses still incorporate these features; in this they are

The region of Finnmark is in the very northernmost region of Nor- way, around 71 degrees north. The Sami people live in this region, their lives still entwined with the reindeer herds, as they have been for thousands of years. Traditional Sami lands extend from Norway, into Sweden, Finland and the Mur- mansk region of Russia where the indigenous people are by far the worst off in terms of cultural recog- nition by the larger state. Overall, the indigenous people of this region are at a similar stage of development to the First Nations people of the Yukon. There are par- allels in the needs of both groups for housing, community facilities and infrastructure.

sustainable and could earn a few LEED points. Gummas had one main area divided according to specific use, including space for reindeer. A young Sami couple might move into a fairly small house to begin their life together; as they acquire children, they expand the prop- erty. Sometimes grandparents will move in, resulting in more expansion — the opposite of many modern cultures where people start down-sizing when the children have left the nest. Our work on an eco-logical approach to plan- ning and design in the north outlining season- al/cyclical considerations, the Canadian LEED system and e-green technical examples seems to fit well with Sami culture and philosophy presented at the conference. c

Michael Barton is a consulting architect with Energy Solutions Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon.

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ivan hernandez quintéla

joylyn teskey

michael barton and a sami leader

daniel heaton

richard white

tonkao panin

the deconstructed binding of Gordon Matta-Clark. Phaidon, 2004 see page 48

ron isaac

paul whelan

klaus mayer and petra sattler-smith

contents | On Site 13 | Houses + housing | spring 2005

masthead | information | contact us

1 2 4 8

peter hargreaves

12 14 16 18 21 22 24 28 30 34 36 38 41 44 46 48

jean-françois brosseau

shawn van sluys

stephanie white

david poiron

Klaus Mayer | sol cab | Alaska

scott donovan

carmon shirras and steve smyth

florian maurer

christie maclaren

Stephanie White | on bravery

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ron isaac push | reshaping domestic topography

b uildings in which we live may accommo- date work, play, rest, entertainment and exer- cise. This variety demands spaces of various dimensions, qualities of light, temperature, enclosure, and visual and acoustic privacy. Also, what is suitable for one person’s living may be intolerable for another. So, the do- mestic environment needs to be a constantly shifting collection of objects, surfaces, filters and devices capable of producing the many qualities we may desire. And, we need to interact with these devices to have them suit our particular wants. Like a bed, the house or apartment should rightly be made, unmade, and remade by the activities, rituals and desires of habitation. In short, the house or apartment should be flexible.

The value of having a private space that we can inhabit stems partly from the fact that we can ‘claim’ this space by arranging it to suit our needs. The ability to rearrange relieves monotony and it may be practical to use flex- ible design elements where functions overlap. Changing our domestic surroundings for special occasions, or as is required by some ritual or circumstance, can greatly enrich our experience of the places in which we live. These rituals may be daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, or yearly. This flexibility may be achieved by manipulation or re-habitation. The dwelling itself need not change, but if the way in which it is used or inhabited can

be reinterpreted, it can be equally valuable as a flexible design. One may wish to relocate one’s sleeping quarters from time to time or by season based on qualities of light, enclo- sure, temperature, or sound. A design which allows the resident to switch from room to room is certainly flexible and potentially of great value.

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Unit plans for First Step Housing design competition. Units below have been contracted.

The ability to manipulate the qualities of interior space has long been a consideration in the design of Japanese houses, just as it is central to Shigeru Ban’s 9 Square Grid House (1999) or his Curtain Wall House (1995). European designers have given us some well- known examples of flexible design includ- ing the Rietveld-Schroder house (1924), and Eileen Gray’s E-1027 (1955) to whom the idea of impermanence and remaking was central. Canadian designers appear to be less involved in producing works which incorporate flex- ibility. There are, however, some recent ex- amples of flexible designs by Canadians that help to illustrate the value of this approach to design.

Vancouver’s Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen have designed a ‘Soft House’ which was selected as one of five winning entries in the First Step housing competition held in New York in 2003. This is a multi-unit building in which the units are made of a flexible honeycomb structure that allows them to be literally reshaped by the users. As the soft housing units are compressed, the public hallway takes up their space. Thus, if residents wish to gather in the hallway, they may compress their units to create a suitable venue. This epitomizes the idea of appropri- ating or claiming space. Presumably, the honeycomb structured fabric enclosure of which the units are made will also change the way in which they filter light, depending on the degree to which they are compressed. Both the dimension and the quality of the space are changed.

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Interior of unit show- ing collapsible spaces, balcony, and louvred exterior wall

Light from the exterior is filtered by translu- cent operable glass louvres, which enclose balconies that are in turn separated from the interior space by sliding glass doors. The louvres, which are vertical, can be pivoted to be completely open thus admitting breeze, direct light and sound. Alternatively, they may be shut to create a quiet enclosed balcony that is calm and infused with filtered light. There are many degrees of openness available to the resident and the variety is made manifest by the exterior appearance of the building. Yet more flexibility is made available by the pullout spaces, which can disappear into the interior wall of the unit shown.

Forsythe and MacAllen’s interest in flexibility is also expressed in their 2002 winning entry for the Aomori Northern Style Housing com- petition in Japan. Although the requirements of this project have changed since the review of the initial design, (the housing complex has been replaced by a museum and cultural centre) it is the scheme for a 200 unit hous- ing complex that is of interest here. Interior volumes expand and collapse, and exterior walls employ devices that may be controlled to manipulate light, sound, view and degree of privacy.

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Ramp in raised position. Lowered ramp collapses space of the kitchen and provides access to sleep- ing area above.

These dynamic examples from two Canadian designers illustrate some of the exciting possible solutions to the problem of making flexible, adaptable design for the domestic environment. The shifting interior landscapes and manipulable spaces give us an inkling of the many rich environments we may come to inhabit if we design more dwellings with flexibility in mind: more spaces that can be unmade and remade. Otherwise, we may not be taking full advantage of our living spaces, perhaps like a bed in which we sleep only above the covers. c

Jacques Bilodeau’s Montreal residence and atelier for landscape architect Claude Cormier achieves flexibility both by the use of move- able elements as well as static multivalent constructions that are both furniture and ar- chitecture. One of the more unusual features of this work is the floor/ramp/ceiling that is raised and lowered providing access to the upper sleeping area and collapsing the space of the kitchen. Hydraulic manipulation of this floor is as necessary to living in this space as are eating and sleeping. Other moveable or flexible building elements allow for the manipulation of vertical elements that affect the configuration of the plan. Here, an origi- nal feature changes the building’s section to unique effect. The ambiguity of some of the elements used here is important. A single surface may be a seat, a table, a shelf, or a floor. Flexibility is gained not from motion, but reinterpretation.

Ron Isaac holds degrees in art history, en- vironmental design, and architecture. He currently works as an intern architect with Young + Wright Architects in Toronto.

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CASE, Community Architects for Shelter and Environment (formed in 1996) is a group of Thai architects inter- ested in alternate housing visions, the relationship between dwelling and con- text and both the physical environment and the hu- man element of the place. TEN OSAKA In 1999 CASE Japan was formed. Both groups are linked by conceptual collabo- ration, as well as informal exchanges of information and ideas. CASE Japan’s first systematic cooperative housing project is called TEN Osaka — ten separate housing units on the same plot of land for ten work- ing class families whose choice of housing have always been restricted to tiny generic apartments. Each of these working class families is unique, some with many children, some with elderly members. They all work in different places in different time frames. CASE Japan wanted a housing project where each unit would employ similar architectural as well as structural and constructional logic, yet be particular enough to respond to vary- ing requirements of its inhabitants. They involved the clients in the design process to the extent that each dwelling unit is an expression of a particular way of life. Not only were the inhabitants of each unit involved in the design of their own home, they also had to cooperate with their pro- spective neighbours. All TEN inhabitants gradually became the co-designers of their housing project. They could choose their adjacent neighbors according to similarities and differences in living conditions. They decided what to share and what not to share. In many ways, during the design process, they expressed their senses of individuality, while shaping the community. The result is a housing project that can be seen as both ‘one’ unified unit and ‘ten’ separate quarters. All the units are connected by either a courtyard

TEN | the dialectic between com- munal and individual dwelling tonkao panin

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or a continuous rooftop garden that serve as multipurpose spaces that are easily accessed but separated from all the private spaces. By actually involving the clients in the design process, CASE became an architect-consul- tant more than an architect-designer of the project. Yet, CASE’s role is crucial; it trans- formed the clients’ needs and visions into a final design that responds to each individual and to the whole community. TEN Osaka, completed in 2004, is the point of departure for TEN Bangkok. TEN BANGKOK TEN Bangkok responds to current housing problems in Bangkok. With the total provi- sion of upper income housing by the private sector and government aid to the lowest classes, Bangkok’s broad spectrum of middle classes are left without alternate housing strategies. Overpriced houses are out of reach, medium incomes are ineligible for aid. With this problem in mind, CASE Thailand shifted its focus to ideas of community. What would happen if individuals built strength through cooperation and collaboration with others. As a collective force, will they stand a chance against the brutal economic competi- tion in the housing world? As an individual each of them remains powerless, but as a community, both their economic and creative power may multiply. TEN Bangkok is a pilot project whose middle class inhabitants are architects; some are members of CASE Thailand. They lack buy- ing power, and alternate housing choice drew them together. All were in search of their ideal dwelling. Site selection: the land has to be affordable and accessible. Currently the site is not situ- ated in the most convenient location of the city however future expansion of Bangkok’s transportation system is taken into account. All aspects of the context are considered as a potential framework for the design. The project occupies a single plot of land, divided into ten equal subplots. Each inhab- itant is the designer of their own home, in mandatory design collaboration with their

neighbours. One could not simply insert one’s own design into the site without careful consideration and negotiation with others. Each inhabitant would therefore own a house in a place that also belongs to others.

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INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE DWELL- ING CRITERIA The question that predicates the design is: to what extent can each and every particular need, requirement and criterion be fulfilled? And to what extent can each inhabitant conform to the collective living within the community? Both individual and collective dwelling criteria were established before the design began. COOPERATIVE DESIGN TEN does not result from the design of a single creative genius. As TEN frames the design, a community is formed and coopera- tive dwelling has begun. Architects do not determine and control, rather architecture is the fruit of cooperative design where ar- chitects are clients and clients are architects. Each design is a result of laborious negotia- tion with others as it is shaped and reshaped collectively, and as the requirements of each inhabitant are reconstructed. The result is a unique collective project whose sense of total- ity is marked by the diversity of each individ- ual design. Cooperative design may work if it also allows individual identity to emerge. DIFFICULTIES As a pilot project, TEN faces various difficul- ties. Its novelty and experimental nature means that TEN doesn’t fit pre-established programs. TEN has to establish new relation- ships with restricted financial programs and new understandings with existing building regulations. These difficulties have become the creative and productive challenges for TEN. They urge the project to examine all possible alter- natives so TEN can become a flexible housing project that is capable of fitting into today’s changing life styles. WHAT’S NEXT? TEN Bangkok is currently at the very begin- ning of its construction process. Yet, the ultimate goal of this project is not to serve only a single group of people. Both TEN Osaka and TEN Bangkok set themselves up as an experimental project in search of alternate housing visions. This also opens doors for possibility. It may provide choice and oppor- tunity for those who are sympathetic to TEN’s

working method and concept. Thus TEN may become the kind of housing suitable to both individual requirement and universal applica- tion as well as particular location. c

Tonkao Panin currently teaches at the Faculty of Architecture, Silpakorn University, Bangkok. She is a practicing architect in Bangkok and a member of CASE Thailand.

Architecture is no longer the familiar cult of objects. (Sanford Kwinter)

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Carolyn Green, Peter Wallace, Mary Spurr and myself, were all interested in changing our living conditions. Carolyn and Peter were looking to downsize and Mary and I were seeking a foothold in home ownership. We recognized that we could accomplish more if we pooled our resources. We were keen to renovate a house from older Halifax housing stock. This meant an energy- efficient retrofit, which we favoured over new construction, and it would keep us closer to the urban core, releasing our dependence on the automobile. A small house would minimize construction costs and keep our ecological footprint small. Inspiration for the project came from the ex- ample of intentional communities and their success, if not popular appeal, in Europe, Canada and the United States. Co-housing is a values-based approach to housing. People come together not solely out of need for shelter, but to engage collaboratively, to play an active role in the design and development of housing, and to live intentionally as part of a community. Co-housing typically has 12-60 houses, tightly clustered, with a common laundry, workshop and guest suites. The anchor of the community is a common house (kitchen and dining hall) where people might share a few meals a week. Co-housing projects can take years to complete and because of their often large size they rarely locate in urban centres. However much we admired the co-housing model, we were much less ambitious. Our community was the four of us — a miniature test case. We each came to the project with different resources. Peter and Carolyn had equity in a house they were going to sell. While Mary and I lacked the cash for a new house pur- chase, we did have building and construction management skills to offer. Both Carolyn and myself are design professionals so there would never be a shortage of design advice. Together we uncovered a means by which we could all contribute equitably to a housing project.

house | collaboration

above: front, back, night below: interior lower right: deck

scott donovan

Late in 2000 two Halifax couples came together to test an idea about shared resources and collaborative working methods in the construc- tion and habitation of a house. Their common goals and values in- formed choices of loca- tion, design, financing and construction man- agement.

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The small footprint of the house (18x21) left plenty of room within the 3000 ft 2 site for a garden. Much of the back yard had been used for years as a gas station parking lot. Instead of disturbing the existing grade we imported soil and constructed raised beds. Inert con- struction debris (plaster and brick masonry) was incorporated into a garden plan which today supports flowering shrubs, perennials and a kitchen garden. Despite going over budget and some grum- blings over a lack of living space, the experi- ence was a positive one and the project a success. It demonstrates how much more can be achieved by pooling resources and sharing responsibilities. It is an example of a small scale values-based alternative to conventional home ownership where do-it-yourself meets working in community. c

A deal was struck. Peter and Carolyn agreed to purchase a property, pay legal and admin- istrative costs, and fund a building renovation for up to one year. In exchange, Mary and I offered our time and building skills for a year of weekends as well as project management on the parts we weren’t able to do ourselves. Cash meets sweat equity. It was agreed in writing that once the renovation was com- plete, all costs, including the purchase price and renovations, would be split fifty-fifty, and Peter and Carolyn would mortgage Mary and I for our half. The property would be co-owned and co-managed. We found a little house in Halifax’s north end, derelict, abandoned and listed as a ‘contractor’s special’. The original foundation and frame of the circa 1910 house was kept, and the interior was fully stripped. Refuse materials were sorted and recycled at a construction debris depot. A pitched roof was added to the existing flat roof to make a third storey without disrupt- ing the strong horizontal soffit lines of the streetscape. The house was refitted with insulation, new windows and mechanical sys- tems, bringing it to a relatively high standard of energy efficiency. The lower floor is a bachelor apartment for Peter and Carolyn. It is small for a couple (375 ft 2 ), but they own a second house in rural Nova Scotia where they go on weekends and to which they will eventually retire, so it meets their present needs. Above is a one bedroom apartment (750 ft 2 ) over two sto- reys. In both units every measure was taken to maximize the use of space. Ample daylight breathes much life to the rooms and keeps things from feeling too cramped. A badly built back addition was removed except for the parts that could be reconfigured into deck space, a privacy screen and bicycle barn (our common house!).

Scott Donovan stud- ied architecture in Halifax and practices housing design there.

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lost and found | collective memory and the suburban house of cards

steven smyth

c ities have long memories held in their streets and structures. In early 2005 the City of Edmonton announced that its population was over a million. Viewed as a positive devel- opment, it nonetheless raises some concern about how we will look after the next million residents. Here are two tales: one the story of an Edmonton inner city neighbourhood on the verge of big things, and the other, a small condominium renovation that is a part of this urban regeneration. Street life is vibrant, rich, occasionally ugly in this neighbourhood; no attempts are made to blur this reality. The Avenue of Nations, 107 th , anchors the north edge of Edmonton’s downtown, with a multitude of services from schools, hospitals and restaurants from all corners of the globe, to massage parlours and liquor stores. There is increasing develop- ment pressure on this community. Failure to recognise its architecture and design will un- doubtedly destroy one of the few real, vibrant communities left in the city. The other side of the story is that 15,000 new housing starts have taken place here in the last three years. This is not an unfamiliar context; the influx of new neighbours puts

increased pressure on existing communities and even greater pressure on the landscape for neighbourhoods yet to be realized. Through the housing viewfinder the vision is that of a cultural, social and physical discon- nection between reality and the world that most of us try to live in, where a manufac- tured utopia is driven by the bottom-line and where ignorance carries no consequence. The cities we live in speak of this, with our atti- tudes, neighbourhoods and houses providing the evidence. A fortunate side effect of the craft of building is that once constructed, a building will last at least one lifetime. The same can be said of streets and neighbourhoods. This longev- ity retains the social and cultural qualities of neighbourhoods made when there was pleasure in a walk, when a community was a source of pride and inspiration rather than a place to compare merchandise. These places, the forgotten inner city neighbourhoods, give us the opportunity to re-learn what has been forgotten in our haste to house — how to build simply and allow for complexity, where places for people are rich and diverse rather than gentrified and stagnant.

Urban environments offer benefits beyond short commutes and a smaller environmen- tal footprint — there are other reasons for people to migrate to cities. The international population around the Avenue of Nations remains true to these urban roots. A street life thrives at all hours. From the window of a passing car the image is of urban grit — the reason sheltered suburbanites leave the city, however a walk down the street reveals something very different — people engaged in conversations, strangers smiling and the constant entertainment of road rage as people rush past to wherever they may be going. Back alleys look servicable; storefronts are unpretentious; the street defines the space and buildings and people animate that space. Reality and clarity of purpose are everywhere. Drawing on its surroundings, the condomin- ium building at 10743 107 th Avenue strength- ens and further defines this context. Built in 1982 and designed by Edmonton architect, Wayne Scott, its location and tectonic expres- sion provide great bones for a renovation project.

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For many their home will form the basis of the most intimate relationship they will have with a building. The tight site called for long, narrow suites. With an advantageous east/west orientation we organised our living spaces so we rise with the early morning sun and see the evening sun as day turns to night. The outside is pulled into the building through open decks and large windows, attaching us to time and place as light and volumes change with the passing hours and the changing seasons. The new colour and material palette reflect the character of the building and enhance the daylight within the spaces. Blemishes are not masked with mouldings, materials are finished to both reveal and celebrate their character, not made to look like something else. The arcade of mature maple trees gives us solar shading in the summer and defines the space of the street while infusing green life into the city. When experienced together none of this seems arbitrary, contrived or banal. For many their home will form the basis of the most intimate relationship they will have with a building. The street in front will be the playground and will shape the child’s comprehension of the social, cultural and

environmental elements of the city. These experiences should also inform an awareness of reality, anchored in time and to a place. We are fortunate to inhabit an incredibly unique and beautiful place on the planet. Our homes, streets and cities should commemorate and connect us to the reality of this. The design community can not afford to remain silent, we must begin to involve ourselves within our communities as they grow. The leadership role is wide open and now is the time to think big. The possibilities for greater awareness of the issues are upon us, people are ready to listen and are looking for something better. As Edmonton and Alberta mark their first century of place, it is time we began to con- sider the legacy and story our housing will leave on the landscape. c

Carmon Shirras is a freelance photog- rapher. Steven Smyth is a designer with Manasc Isaac Architects. Both are past executive board members of the Media, Art and Design Exposed (M.A.D.E.) in Edmon- ton Society and have lived on the Avenue of Nations for several years.

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rainscreens | rainforest Nanaimo Youth Housing, Nanaimo BC

david poiron

window sill flashing with a turned up water dam and self-adhesive membrane below. The metal flash - ing forms the first line of defense against moisture penetration, while the membrane forms the second. The membrane is embedded with a fiberglass scrim that helps hold the membrane together when the surface temperature of the dark flashing increases during direct summer exposure.

a t the Nanaimo Youth Housing (NYH) project in Nanaimo, British Columbia, the young residents of the building are part of the maintenance crew, helping to keep the build- ing and property clean, and through their continuing surveillance of the exterior of the building, in top physical shape. If signs of any kind of failure develop, it is spotted and brought to the resident manager’s attention for action. — ongoing maintenance of a building is critical to ensure the longevity of a building’s envelope —

The NYH project was funded by the British Columbia Housing Management Commis- sion, one of the only provincially funded housing agencies left in Canada. The spon- sor, the Nanaimo Youth Services Association, manages the project with a resident manager. As well as housing youth-at-risk between 16 and 19 (including single parents), NYH has an on-site office for a full time social worker, a computer room, a resident lounge, laundry facilities and outdoor recreation areas for residents and their children.

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The performance of the building envelope was a major consideration in light of the leaky condo crisis which still afflicts all man- ner of buildings on the south coast of British Columbia and stems, in part, from a lack of detailing of building envelope elements, poor implementation of details on site and a lack of ongoing maintenance of the building’s envelope. Face-sealed technology, especially using stucco cladding, represents the majori- ty of building envelope failures, and is largely inappropriate for a rain forest environment. A face-sealed building is literally sealed at the outside face, using caulking to seal all exte- rior penetrations and other potential avenues for water ingress. Problems occur if these caulked areas fail, allowing water through the building envelope. If there are no paths for moisture to leave the envelope, it accumulates leading to mould and rot. Increasingly, rainscreen systems are being used where an airspace is put behind the cladding. This has been used in brick veneer construction for years, allowing moisture that penetrates the outside skin (through capillary action, wind pressure, or other means) to evaporate or otherwise escape. Because of the airspace, wind pressure on the cladding is equalized, preventing moisture from being blown onto the substrate behind the cladding. A double line of defence against moisture is made: the cladding and airspace forms the first line of defence, the building paper and sheathing behind the airspace form the second. Excess moisture escapes through weep-holes at the bottom of the airspace cavity at each floor level. When these holes in the rainscreen system that let water to escape are zealously caulked by maintenance crews used to face-sealed systems, moisture is trapped and probable decay ensues. Everyone involved with the on- going care of the building should be taught how rainscreen systems work to understand how to properly maintain them.

The Nanaimo Youth Housing project is clad in fibre-cement horizontal siding and acrylic stucco. Both surfaces were set onto a similar rainscreen base of exterior plywood sheathing, two layers of ‘30 minute’ asphalt- impregnated building paper (lapped like shingles to shed moisture) and 1x4 pressure treated vertical wood strapping. The wood strapping creates a 3/4” air cavity behind the cladding and allows for the fastening of the cladding system. For stucco, a material that is only semi-solid when applied, a further step is needed before application. Spanning the strapping, an as- phalt impregnated fiberglass board provides a firm substrate upon which to apply the wire mesh and stucco. Although a rainscreen system is designed to handle moisture penetration of the building envelope, it is still preferable to keep water outside the envelope. Junctions between materials are potential spots for infiltration — properly lapped materials allow water to drain away from the building envelope. All horizontal surfaces should have some degree of slope to shed water, and roof overhangs prevent rain from reaching trouble-prone areas of the building envelope where there are many junctions or envelope penetrations. These all help the building envelope perform properly during the full extent of its designed service life. c

a section of the building envelope: flash - ing is inserted in the stucco cladding at each floor level to drain the wall cavity behind.

The NYH project was designed by Bas Smith, MAIBC and David Poiron, MAIBC, while David was an intern architect at Bas Smith Architect Inc. in Victoria. David now runs his own architectural firm, Da - vid Poiron Architect Inc. in Nanaimo.

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the elders duplex | Chisasibi, Québec

o n the shores of James Bay, just inside the delta of the La Grande River, lies the Cree community of Chisasibi. Once a seasonal camp, then a trading post (Canniapiscau), and finally a small town with a population of 3,500, Chisasibi is the largest of the nine Cree villages in Northern Quebec.

In 1980 the village inhabitants were relocated from the island of Fort George. The endur- ing legacy of this relocation is overcrowding, and due to the rapid nature of the relocation, the site planning and building construction was substandard. The inhabitants have since suffered through season after season of sewer back-ups, mouldy wall cavities and build-up of thick crusts of ice within the ceiling plenum.

peter hargreaves

While the provincial and federal governments must continue to fulfill their obligations, within the community seeds of local innova- tion are germinating. The housing shortage crisis in this community is most acute for the elderly. In response, the local housing ad- ministration requested proposals for housing prototypes suitable for elderly and physically challenged individuals, cared for by a live-in family member. One prototype was developed which can be adapted to fit specific site conditions and orientations. The prototype represents a permanent architecture that respects the traditions of the First Nations people. The architecture attempts to assuage the very difficult climatic conditions of the far north. The building is constructed in a manner that lessens the very high cost of construction in northern communities. Tradition The building may be oriented in accordance with the street layout, however the plan always allows for an entrance facing east, ac- cording to tradition. The entry hall/mudroom of each home is a high, well lit, naturally ventilated space that can be used for tradi- tional cooking, craft, equipment repair and drying of skins and meat. Each entry hall has a centrally placed wood-burning stove that distributes heat to the entire unit. The teepee is still very much a part of the

colour shows ‘two’ houses

typical floor plan showing the division of uses

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architectural reality of this community. The experience of entering the teepee by crouch- ing and then standing in the high conical interior is one of compression and expan- sion. In the living units, this phenomenon is echoed in the procession from outside to inside, and between the living spaces within. This (feeling of) expansion and compression delineates the public from private realms. The plans avoid the use of corridors. The central hall, between washroom, kitchen, and bedrooms is a multi-functional space for laundry, gallery and auxiliary kitchen space. Frost Bite The buildings hug the ground on their northern façades, and rise on the south to pull from the sun all available energy. The building section uses the aerodynamics of a wing. The low pressure created by turbulence on the leeward edge of the ridge promotes the evacuation of air from the roof cavity. Lack of ventilation in the roof cavity is a primary failure of the first generation of houses built in the northern climes. These houses are heated using electric radi- ant floor heating providing heat directly to the body and warming the lower strata of the interior volume. An engineered float- ing hardwood floor provides both visual and physical warmth to the interior. The woodburning stove is an auxiliary heat source which serves an important tradition in the everyday lives of the Cree. The wall and ceiling compositions are de- signed to provide a thermal resistance of R-38 and R-60 respectively, and the perimeter of the building has an eight-foot horizontal skirt of six inch rigid insulation. This perimeter skirt provides frost protection to the slab by slowing down heat loss generated in the slab (radiant heating), and from natural isotherms rising from the Earth. The exercise of developing the elevations, with the help of the building section, was pri- marily driven by the need to maximize solar gain and promote natural ventilation, while reducing heat-loss and winter glare.

the high south exposed verandah (Un- der construction)

Typical wall section

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the north face during the installation of the roof membrane

the west façade during construction

Technique Frost-protected foundations, a proven tech- nology commonly used in northern Scandi- navia, were used here for two reasons. With the rapid movement of groundwater in this region this type of foundation avoids trapping ground water against foundation walls which causes hydrostatic pressure and ultimately water penetration into the basement cavity. Avoiding water infiltration and the inevitable mould reduces the risk of what one local health official identified as the major cause of respiratory problems in the majority of children growing up in the community. Secondly, the slab-on-grade uses less mate- rial than the methods currently employed for foundation construction in this community. The cost of construction in northern commu- nities is between 1.7 and 2.25 times greater than the cost of construction in Montreal. Re- search is underway examining the feasibility of using fabric formwork to further eliminate waste and the need for expensive plywood formwork. The wall and roof components were assem- bled in Victoriaville and shipped to the site, ensuring the reduction of waste, tight quality control and the use of a local workforce that assembles the parts on site. For the first building, members from the wall manufac- turer were on hand to teach the methods of

assembly. In winter conditions, an added benefit to prefabricated walls and roof is that a fully insulated shell may be assembled in a matter of days. Basements, useless spaces for northern site conditions, have been eliminated. The hope is that these principles will be applied to other housing types within the community. On a broad scale, the current layout of houses is a simplistic importation of patterns from southern communities. By borrowing the logic of old traditions for site planning, morphology, materials and technique, a new breed of housing might develop. The confines of the climate in this region will help enforce an architecture that is sustainable for the long term, and in ac- cordance with the very noble civilisation that it shelters. c

Elders Duplex Prototype Client: Cree Nation of Chisasibi Louie Kanatawat, Director of Housing Architect: box architectures Isabelle Champagne, Peter Hargraves, Roger

Shepherd, Patricia Sarrazin-Sullivan Engineers: Conseil Groupe Stavibel Contractors: CheeBee Construction Fermco Industries Inc. (Prefabrication) Soil Consultant: Monterval Inc.

Peter Hargraves graduated with a Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon in 2000. He began working with box architectures one year after moving to Montreal in 2001. The ‘Northern Department’ of box architectures led by Isa- belle Champagne is focused on research and development of sustainable, site sensitive archi- tectural responses to the social needs of the northern com- munities. The architecture is a result of direct dialogue with the people who know the site best, in this case the people of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi.

study model of prototype for alternate orientation using the same plan

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casa dual | mazatlan

ludens

2 x 1 una casa de retiro donde el cliente buscaba la comodidad de s casa en el df sin caer en una casa demasiado urana asi se generan dos volumenes volumen 1: solido, rigido, funcional volumen 2: organico, efimero, informal un juego donde los dos volumenes se invaden

Ivan Hernandez is a member of ludens , Mexico City. www.ludens.com.mex

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Thoughtful design and dozens of innovative green technologies results in a smaller impact on the environment of Banff National Park, a healthier indoor environment for occupants and lower op- erating costs for owners.

bison courtyand

the cost of being green | Banff Alberta Bison Courtyand + Cave Avenue Homes christie maclaren

cave avenue

i t is often thought that green design and materials are more expensive than conven- tional building methods, and are used chiefly because they are earth-friendly and might pay for themselves, somewhere much further down the road, in lower energy costs. Peter Poole of ARCTOS in Banff, and two as- sociates—architect Allison Ewing of William McDonough + Partners in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Brian Scott, director of technol- ogy and research at the Communitas Group in Edmonton—propose through two projects in Banff that green design can be cost- neutral, or even cheaper than conventional building. They identify three categories of green build- ing features – with three different economic outcomes.

Arctos & Bird Management is currently in construction with two multi-resi- dential projects in the Banff townsite designed by noted environmental ar- chitectural firm William McDonough + Partners of Charlottesville, Virginia. The projects are new, architecturally, in Banff because of the strong built forms and environmental design. They are also innovative legally, be- cause Arctos & Bird has worked with the federal government to adapt the national park Leasehold & License of Occupation Regulations to allow for home ownership cooperatives, arguably a superior type of multi-residential property ownership than condominiums for the national parks.

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1. Materials or technologies that are pricier than conventional ones, and likely won’t produce a return on investment within a reasonable length of time, but are used chiefly for the good of the natural or human environment. Some key features of Bison Courtyard and Cave Avenue Homes fall into this category. Each development has an enormous cistern and plumbing that collects rainwater for use in toilets and for on site irrigation. The build- ings will take less water from the municipal system, which gets it from the Bow River, so it means less pressure on the river. The cisterns will only pay for themselves in the very long haul, if municipal water and sewage costs were to rise substantially. ‘We think it’s the right thing to do’ says Poole ‘because the environmental constraint is the capacity of the Bow River’ to give water and receive sewage. For the same reason, Arctos & Bird has installed ultra-low-flush Caroma toilets from Australia, which are almost double the cost ($150-$200 more) of a conventional toilet, but which use a fraction of the water (3 to 6 litres, compared with 26 litres per flush). They are also making use of more costly composting toilets, and have installed a large industrial composter in the Bison Courtyard which will create rich soil for on-site landscaping. On Cave Avenue, the huge triple- or qua- druple-glazed ventilated (to prevent moisture buildup) windows in the residential units are made by VisionWall . They cost 50 to 75 percent more than conventional double- glazed, airtight windows but they won’t need replacing after 10 or 20 years; over the life of the building, they will pay for themselves. Both Banff projects use certified lumber from British Columbia for exterior cladding and other uses, at a premium of 10 to 25 per cent over conventional lumber. The payback is purely environmental; the fine-grain cedar is harvested sustainably and not from clear- cuts, which diminish forest biodiversity and can harm watersheds.

2. Green features or technologies that are cost-neu- tral: they cost virtually the same as conventional features and are also better for the environment. Interiors use low-VOC paint—paint that emits fewer volatile organic compounds— which improves indoor air quality. Envi- ronmentally friendly paints are now widely available and competitive in cost with conven- tional paints. At Bison Courtyard, heating and cooling equipment and commercial appliances use natural gas, not electricity, after analysis indicated this will result in a bigger reduction in greenhouse gases. The overall cost is about the same as conventional mechanical equip- ment and it will help Arctos & Bird toward its goal of a 20 percent cut in greenhouse gases over previous uses of the site despite a 10,000 ft 2 increase in floor space. The project’s retaining wall, exterior columns and landscaping all use rundlestone from the Bow Valley and supplied by a local quarry. It costs no more than comparable products, but the environment benefits because it isn’t trucked from afar. 3. Green products or technologies that are cheaper to purchase than conventional ones, and features integral to the building’s design that result in lower operating costs. Bison Courtyard uses concrete with a higher fly-ash content than usual. Cheaper than conventional concrete, it’s also more environ- mentally friendly and stronger. Retail spaces in the project are no more than 20 feet deep, with windows at each end. This reduces the need for electrical lights and heat during the day, and allows for the use of lower-wattage bulbs on overcast days. Similarly, windows in the residential units are placed to make the maximum use of available daylight, based on each unit’s orientation. In Cave Avenue, each open-concept unit is heated with a single gas fireplace and fan, eliminating the need for, and cost of, a fur- nace and ductwork. c

Christie McLaren is a freelance writer and editor specializing in the environment and natural resources. She lives in Canmore, Alberta.

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