WHW at BuildGreen Atlantic 2011

WHW Architects was pleased to be a Gold Sponsor again this year of the annual BuildGreen Atlantic Conference May 4th and 5th.  The conference was a success, and we had a great time!  Check out the slideshow of our innovative display - which was a challenge to the conference delegates to investigate and explore new approaches to green building design in Atlantic Canada.  The display featured a special project in our office, for a solar-powered, electric-vehicle recharging station that will be built in Halifax.

WHW Participates in Annual BuildGreen Atlantic Conference

WHW is a Gold Sponsor again this year at the annual BuildGreen Atlantic Conference May 4th and 5th and is also participating in two of the education sessions. WHW chairman John Crace will be co-presenting “Atlantic Buildings 2030 – Roadmap for a Zero Carbon Future” with Alex Pavlovski of Green Power Labs and Aaron Caldwell of Enermodal. Stacey Hughes and Jane Abbott are co-presenting “High Performance Schools in Nova Scotia – A work in Progress”. WHW invites all its friends to join us at BGA. It all kicks off with a presentation by Sadhu Johnston at the McCain building, Dalhousie, on Wednesday evening. Reception 6:30, keynote address 7:30. Sadhu is helping the City of Vancouver reach its goal of “Greenest City in the World” by 2020.

WHW Photo Club!

WHW has formed a photography club! The idea is to share ideas, ask questions, practice new techniques and significantly accelerate the learning curve toward higher artistic and technical levels.

The club meets on the first Friday of each month to learn about cameras, composition, and the craft of photography – and to share the results of their fun “photo-assignment” (an informal contest of lenses), that provides focus for the club’s activities and discussions. The club’s April meeting featured a presentation by our own Robert Turner, who showed the large-format camera he built, explained it’s workings, and demonstrated it’s amazing features.

March’s photo assignment was to take photos around the office. View some of the images below. The assignment for April is to find those elusive signs of Spring – this time outside the office. Keep an eye out for those friendly WHW photographers who are out to capture the perfect image of the new season!

WHW visits the Data Cave

Spring has finally arrived in Halifax - and what better way to celebrate the change of seasons than a visit to the Institute of Computational Astrophysics, at Saint Mary's University.  This month, teams of WHW architects, computer modelers, and program staff have been visiting Saint Mary's to learn about their Data Cave facility, an 3D, interactive, full-immersion computer simulator operated as part of the Atlantic Computational Excellence Network (ACEnet).  This advanced facility is used by scientists and researchers throughout Atlantic Canada to model the behaviour of everything from star clusters and galaxies, to molecules and sub-atomic particles. 

The use of computers in architecture is quickly moving beyond simple physical design and presentation work, to include parametric modeling techniques such as BIM (building information modelling).  The idea is to allow architects and design teams to become more productive, and allow clients to integrate their long-term operating decisions with the physical structure of their buildings.  It's better design making better buildings.

During our visit to Saint Mary's, we had a chance to look into the future at how technologies and facilities such as the Data Cave might be used to visualize dynamic energy distribution, air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, and other hard to conceptualize qualties that can make-or-break a great building. Our visit to the ACEnet facility at Saint Mary's University was hosted by Professor Robert Deupree, of the Department of Astronomy and Physics, and Director of the Institute for Computational Astrophysics.

Environments on Aging

On March 20 Tina Smith attended a 3 day conference in sunny Altanta, Georgia on Environments for Aging.  The conference was hosted by several organizations Vendome Group, Long-Term Living and HEALTHCARE DESIGN magazines, The Center for Health Design and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). 

The conference program addressed challenges of designing and caring for the aging population.  Key points of interest included culture change, new ways of thinking with the future of aging baby boomers, innovative design for dementia and persons with physical disabilities, sustainability and my favourite – the Elder-Centric Village™ Movement, a model for senior living and urban renewal.

There is a continued stigma occurring where our seniors are expected to retire into age-qualified, introverted communities for the remaining years of their lives.   Our urban centers are becoming less hospitable for persons with disabilities and our developing communities continue to support a ‘big box’ style of living with basic necessities that are not easily accessible, communities that lack diversity or age-friendly home design and reduced opportunity for ‘soft’ social integration in the form of  ‘walk-friendly’ amenities such as family-owned groceries, cafes, parks, etc.   Such occurrences continue to segregate our elder communities.   Furthermore, our senior facilities as well in their formality lack a certain ‘curb appeal’ that may welcome community interaction.

We are witnessing a culture change and our more senior community members are requesting change.  Our ‘new age’ senior population will be more active, will desire luxury, autonomy, choice and interaction, and will be very concerned with wellness and well-being.  These will not be the last years – but the best years.  It was an exciting conference for anyone interested in this topic.  I was also very happy to see in attendance Owner/Operators from our local community and hope that we have all returned home feeling inspired for what positive change can occur for the future of senior living in Nova Scotia.

The following are projects showcased at the event:

What's Happening with the Bandstand?

The Public Gardens Bandstand was featured on CBC's Information Morning on March 17th.  Click here to listen to a podcast of Don Connelly's interview with Lyndon Watkins as he explains why the refurbished iconic Bandstand is the re-creation of a dream.  The grand opening of the 'reborn' bandstand will be held on the Victoria Day weekend in May, a suitable 192nd birthday celebration for Queen Victoria.  The bandstand was originally built to mark 50 years of her reign.

Did You Know ....

... The air traffic control tower at Halifax Stanfield International Airport was referred to as the “jewel” of Canada’s air traffic control system by NAV Canada when it opened in the summer of 1997. It was the first project of its kind for WHW, and despite that, the design pushed the envelope of control tower design in Canada. The Project won a Lieutenant Governors Design Award in 1997. Pilots arriving at the Halifax Airport still refer to it as the “Stanley Cup”…a reference to its distinctive form.