Sessions – Festival 2019! Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Sessions

Sunday, October 27
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE22: The ABCs of Modular and Prefabricated Construction	When: Sunday, October 27 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Queens Quay Presenter: Malcolm Hachborn, M.Sc., P. Eng., FCPCI - President, M. E. Hachborn Engineering Accelerated Building Construction (ABC) is a new way to approach project planning, design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. It seeks to give a higher priority to pre-construction processes and systems to minimize the mobility impacts for on-site construction. The presentation will demonstrate how ABC can be used to deliver projects in a safe, time-saving, and cost-effective manner that optimizes labour and material resources while nearly eliminating waste. Advancements in ABC project management have allowed ABC to achieve time savings of more than 30 percent – and up to 50 percent in some cases – in comparison to traditional methods of construction.
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE02 – Comprehensive Density: Driving the Future of Community and Campus Recreation Hubs	Date: Sunday, October 27 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenter: Ted Watson, OAA, Architect AIBC, AAA, NSAA, SAA Int’l., Assoc. AIA, MRAIC, SCUP, LEED AP Comprehensive Density refers to facilities that combine wellness components into dense, overlapping, and often vertically arranged planning forms with the intent of maximizing value and the user experience, now and into the future. Learn about the recent history and density convergence of community and campus recreation centres. Explore current and future trends through global project examples with a clear and powerful mandate to further maximize density in social, spatial, and programmatic ways that lead to wellness in all its forms.
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE01 – Equity and Inclusion Drive Design Excellence	Date: Sunday, October 27 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Frontenac Ballroom Presenters: Jennifer Marshall, Architect AIBC, FRAIC Melissa Higgs, Architect AIBC, FRAIC This session will explore equity and inclusion across practice, in the design process, and in the places we create to bring about excellence in the built environment. The following questions will be explored through presentation, group exercise, and discussion. Practice: How can a more inclusive work environment lead to greater success? Process: How can a more inclusive design process result in more responsive environments? Place: What does inclusive space look like and how do we get there?

Monday, October 28
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE03 – Underground expansion below Toronto's Union Station: "Canada's largest heritage railway transportation hub"	Date: Monday, October 28 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Frontenac Ballroom Presenters: Silvio Baldassarra, FRAIC, OAA, AAA, AANB, MAIBC, MAA Hassan Saffarini, P.Eng, PhD, PMP, LEEP AP Built in the Beaux-Arts style, Toronto Union Station opened in 1927. In 1995, Union Station was designated a National Historic Site, and in 2000, it was purchased by the City of Toronto. The City of Toronto engaged NORR Architects & Engineers in 2007 to set a new vision for Union Station, including: 1. Expansion and enhancement of the largest transportation processor in Canada, with 65 million passengers per year, expected to grow to 130 million by 2031. 2. Restoration and renovation of this National Historic Site, the most important Beaux- Arts railway station in Canada. 3. Creation of a destination commercial retail hub, based on similar hubs such as Grand Central Station in New York. NORR’s “dig down” solution provided the needed transportation capacity and added 114,000 square feet through an innovative below-grade structural solution, without in any way affecting the heritage value of Union Station. See also: T12 - Union Station Revitalization Project
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE04 – An Architectural Conversation of Old and New: Queen Richmond Centre West	Date: Monday, October 28 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenters: Peter Kurkjian, OAA, LEED AP Carlos de Oliveira, MASc, PEng. Dermot Sweeny, OAA AIBC MRAIC Queen Richmond Centre West is a bold example of the architectural conversation between old and new, propelling Toronto into the future while staying connected to its history. The talk will describe various aspects of 134 Peter Street, including: - the ingenuity required to preserve its industrial heritage while creating a space that is an active extension into the public realm; - the challenges to finding a structural and architectural solution for a new 11-storey office building above the epochal "delta frames," complete with steel castings; and - the sustainable features of the building that have made this a LEED® Gold certified project. See also: T07 - Queen Richmond Centre West by Sweeny&Co Architects

Tuesday, October 29
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE05 – Integrated Hybrid Systems: A Case Study of Low Energy Building Design	Date: Tuesday, October 29 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Frontenac Ballroom Presenters: Barry Sampson, OAA FRAIC AIA Erik Olsen, PE Jesse Dormody, OAA MRAIC Baird Sampson Neuert architects and Transsolar KlimaEngineering will present a case study of the Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study and Research Building at York University. With a building-wide natural ventilation system driven by one of the largest solar chimneys in Canada, the project integrates climate-responsive passive and low-energy active systems in a highly efficient ‘hybrid’ approach. The facility operates with very low energy use intensity, has significantly reduced carbon emissions, and provides a healthy and comfortable interior environment for occupants. See also: T14 - Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study and Research Building, Schulich School of Business, York University
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE06 – The Making of a Library, the Shaping of a City	Date: Tuesday, October 29 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenters: Rob Adamson, MRAIC Paul Polson, FRAIC Kate Thompson, MRAIC Named one of the World's Most Futuristic Libraries by Architectural Digest, Calgary's New Central Library is revolutionizing modern libraries with its forward-thinking design, quality architecture, and strong sense of placemaking. As Calgary’s largest public investment since the 1988 Olympics, the library signals the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the city, one centred on the innovation of knowledge and culture. This session will focus on how the design vision for the library unfolded, and on the unique project delivery method, with the client, builder, and architect working as one team.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE07 – Through Other Eyes: How People with Vision Loss See Your Buildings	Date: Tuesday, October 29 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Bay Room Presenters: Bob Topping, OAA, MRAIC, Architect David Lepofsky, LLB, Lawyer, Professor and Advocate for Persons with Disabilities The session will explore how persons with vision loss interact with buildings and landscapes. Through case studies and stories of lived experience, the presenters will identify successful design strategies for enhancing the accessibility of the built environment for persons who are blind or have other types of vision loss. Issues to be addressed from the user's perspective include: How do I find the front door? How do I navigate my way to a room or element within a building? How do I use illumination-, textural- and luminance-contrast to assist with wayfinding? What contributes to my enjoyment of buildings and landscapes?
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE20 – Back to School: Learning, Practicing and Teaching Architecture	Date: Tuesday, October 29 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Queens Quay Moderator: Alexandre Hamlyn, MRAIC Panelists: LeeAnn Croft, MSAA MRAIC Tom Emodi, FRAIC NSAA LEED®AP Vincent Hui, BES MArch MBA MRAIC Meghan Lamb, M.Arch, B.E.D.S., B.A. Urban Planning This panel-based session, hosted by the RAIC Emerging Practitioners committee, will bring together professionals from both the academic and professional practice sides of architecture. Architects, educators, interns, and students will explore the divides and overlaps between these two ends of the continuum of the discipline and will suggest opportunities for further sharing of resources and knowledge between them. The session will focus on what academia’s theoretical ideas can bring to day-to-day practice, as well as what the pragmatism of making buildings can bring to the world of scholarship. It will reflect on ways to improve dialogue between academia and professional practice to the benefit of both.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE08 – Impact Design - A Human Centric Design Approach	Date: Tuesday, October 29 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenter: Magdalena Kurylowicz Impact design closes the design loop with intentionality. It is an intuitive and perceptual process, where the ultimate goal is the role of the built environment - being it permits and aids the person within the space to actualize their own potentialities. The approach is collaborative, empathetic and heavy on research, feedback and rapid prototyping. Most importantly, the approach emphasizes the qualitative and quantitative impact a design solution can have. This session aims to explore various impact metrics and critical design strategies, some of which include environmental psychology, sympathetic interior design + architecture, mental health + accessibility design strategies and sensorial perception/emotional design. It will showcase various innovative research strategies, as well as focus on successful implementation in the world of design.

Wednesday, October 30
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE12 - The Next Green – Scandinavian Innovation in Sustainable Design	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Metropolitan Centre Presenter: Heather Dubbeldam, FRAIC Countries and municipalities are setting more aggressive goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy demands in new buildings in order to mitigate climate change. This represents a prime opportunity for architects to apply their skills and experience to lead the charge. However, sustainable high-performance and low-energy building is often considered solely a technological discipline. In reality, real low energy results are achieved through the design and form of the building, and this can be a generator for design innovation. Dubbeldam Architecture + Design’s Prix de Rome research project, “The Next Green – Innovation in Sustainable Design,” explores how Scandinavian countries lead in innovative sustainable design without compromising design excellence, thereby achieving better environmental and socially sustainable outcomes in their buildings.
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE11 - A Space for Progress: Transforming Your Studio to Meet Industry Realities	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Metropolitan East Presenters: Ellen Bensky, Partner Steve Nonis, MRAIC, Partner Advancement in architecture is radical, rapid, and revolutionary, driving the need to reflect on whether studio spaces reflect current realities. Participants will learn about the need to invest and adapt, fostering a culture of forward-thinking possibilities. Speakers will share the process, requirements, and philosophy of re-imagining space to reflect an unwavering commitment to continual learning, paired with client and staff experience. The aim is to challenge whether studios best serve staff, clients, and the shift resulting from digitization. Of particular focus will be “The Lab,” an area dedicated and conducive to technologically innovative learning.
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE10 – Performance-Driven Design: A Future of Energy Models Informing Key Design Decisions	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenters: Jenny McMinn, MRAIC Managing Director Craig McIntyre, P.Eng Jason Manikel As owner’s requirements and building codes are progressively demanding higher performing buildings, architects will see building design increasingly reliant upon energy modeling results. Most design-stage models are not created with the intention of predicting actual energy use. However, seeing energy conservation design translated into real-world energy savings is imperative to combat climate change. With unprecedented access to anonymized energy models and metered data for over 100 buildings, this team analyzed how buildings use energy in reality and how this differs from model predictions. Their work aimed to support or demystify conventional wisdom and the design assumptions commonly used in the industry.
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CE09 – From Getting Places to Placemaking: Transit in Two Canadian cities	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Location: Frontenac Ballroom Presenters: Lisa D'Abbondanza, MRAIC, Associate Director Practice Lead, Architecture Jennifer Ujimoto, Senior Architect, Transit Design How do architects fit into the equation of delivering great mobility projects that enable livable, prosperous, and resilient cities? The architects for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the Mississauga BRT will discuss their projects in context. They will compare the development of transit in Toronto – an archetypal North American city – to transit development in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto that is now Canada’s fastest growing community. The team will reflect on the complexity of planning and designing infrastructure, whether solving immediate needs or predicting future demands.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE15 - Typology: Multi-unit Residential	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Metropolitan Centre Presenters: Sasa Radulovic, FRAIC Johanna Hurme. FRAIC In the field of architecture, the multi-family housing typology has the most impact on the lives of “ordinary people” going about their everyday lives. With the condo boom taking hold across the country, the number of residential units passing across an architect’s desk is unprecedented. As a result of the typology’s inherent repetition and potentially banal programme – as well as the private sector’s pursuit of profit at the expense of quality and livability – the margin in which architecture can operate is incredibly narrow. It seems important that as architects we respond to the challenges of this typology with the rigour it deserves.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE14 - Implementing a Digital Practice: Looking Beyond BIM Management	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Metropolitan East Presenters: Ellen Bensky, Partner Steve Nonis, MRAIC, Partner The ever changing landscape that drives the architecture industry calls for new ways of structuring and organizing workforces. Beyond BIM management, learn how a firm leveraged staff, creating a full-time Digital Practice Department to respond to the demands of staying relevant. With a mindset to embrace change, the team was based on distinct pillars: The Practice, Research and Development, Education, and Community Outreach. From these core tenets, the magnitude of what is required to integrate automation and technology emerged. Attendees will hear how this departmental approach creates a stable, dedicated environment that encourages growth.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE13 - The Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Body of Knowledge Guiding the Design of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS)	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenter: Alain Fournier, Architect, OAQ, OAA, ALBNL, NWTAA, FRAIC Following a unique request by lkaluktutiak residents (Cambridge Bay), Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (referred to as IQ, or "what has always been known by the Inuit") was applied to the design of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in their community. This has been a ground-breaking endeavor for both the Nunavummiut and the architects. The Inuit took on the responsibility, with the architects, of shaping their built environment. Key IQ concepts and values were brought to bear on the design process: environmental stewardship, collaborative relationships, problem-solving resourcefulness, and skills and knowledge acquisition.This holistic approach led to unexpected expressions of identity, buy-in, and pride.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM CE19 - Indigenous Integration	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Location: Queens Quay Presenters: Brian Porter, OAA NCARB MRAIC Matthew Hickey, OAA RAIC LEED AP Eladia Smoke, OAA LEED®AP MRAIC M.Arch. B.Env.Des In June 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released a summary of its findings along with 94 calls to action regarding reconciliation between Canadian and Indigenous peoples. In parallel to this, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada created its Indigenous Task Force in 2016. This task force is comprised of experienced Indigenous educators and practicing Indigenous architects as well as mainstream members that have a keen interest in all matters Indigenous. In this session, Ontario-based members of the RAIC Indigenous Task Force will present a series of case studies that speak to community consultation and culturally appropriate design solutions.
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM CE21: Training for Mass Timber Construction: The Benefits of Collaboration	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Location: Frontenac Ballroom Presenter: Mike Yorke, President, Local 27 Carpenters &Allied Workers In 2014, Ontario amended its provincial building code to allow the construction of wood buildings up to six storeys. At that time, the College of Carpenters and the union was already in dialogue with contractors, engineers, and architects on the role of Local 27 carpenters in contributing to this new type of building. The College of Carpenters and Allied Trades was the first Training Delivery Agent to invest in the construction of a permanent six-storey wood-framed model and incorporate the changes to the building code into its apprenticeship curriculum. This willingness to adapt, to keep pace with, and meet the specific needs of industry partners by the skilled labour sector is paramount to the success of the mass timber initiative. This presentation will outline the joint efforts of the Carpenters Local 27, various industry partners and, the College of Carpenters to focus on training to identify and close the skilled trades gap in mass timber. It will also look at what we see on the horizon with strategic training to supply a highly skilled mass timber workforce.
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM CE18 - Designing for Future Mobility: Developing a Framework for the Livable Future City	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM Location: Metropolitan Centre Presenter: Aaron Knorr, Registered Architect (PA), LEED AP We are experiencing a technologically-driven shift in urban mobility that is transforming the way we move and live in cities. This presentation and discussion will address the impacts of autonomous, networked, shared, and electrified vehicles on architecture and urban design. Attendees will learn about rapid changes in urban mobility and how to apply a values-based approach that supports sustainable, equitable, and people-first communities. A series of principles and present-day design opportunities, informed by this research, will empower designers to make informed decisions that anticipate future disruptions while shaping a more livable and sustainable future city.
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM CE17 - Building for a Net Zero Carbon Future: A Case Study of Mount Dennis Childcare	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM Location: Metropolitan East Presenters: Sheena Sharp, FRAIC Susan Lewin, FRAIC Lisa King, Senior Policy Planner This seminar will explore a design approach used to achieve Net Zero Carbon Design, using the City of Toronto’s Mount Dennis Childcare Net Zero facility as a case study. The team used Passive House principles, the Toronto Green Standard, and the CaGBC Zero Carbon Building Standard as guides to develop this 19,000 sq. ft. envelope-driven building. The city imposed additional constraints: that it be designed for resiliency and that there be no on-site greenhouse gas emissions. The project uses envelope enhancements, timber structure, geothermal, and Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T). It will be the largest child care centre in Toronto's system, supporting the Reggio Emilia philosophy.
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM CE16 - Leading the Change towards Ultra-Low Energy and Passive House Buildings	Date: Wednesday, October 30 Time: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM Location: Metropolitan West Presenter: Marine Sanchez – Energy Analyst and Passive House Specialist High-performance, ultra-low energy buildings are coming to national and provincial codes, with Passive House buildings required in Vancouver and Toronto by 2030. Low-energy new-build and retrofits are key to meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets and building climate change resiliency. Canadian practices will become leaders in this effort. The design process for high performance buildings is fundamentally different and will take some adjustment. Required changes will be explored through case studies of large Passive House buildings (student residences, residential towers). Insights will equip Canadian practices with tools to integrate high performance into their core work and be ready for the future.