A LIVING BUILDING THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS

We are pleased to present an excerpt from the book Generation Green, written by ILFI’s own Michael Berrisford, about the development of the childcare centre at UniverCity, a sustainable community near Vancouver, B.C. 

“It was valuable to have little, young designers helping out.” 

JAY LIN 
Architect, HCMA

Any project with a design charrette involving preschoolers is extraordinary. Appreciating that the Living Building Challenge calls for an exceedingly holistic approach, the design team cast their net well beyond the radius of sustainable design norms to include workshops starring 3- to 5-year-olds from a neighboring [Simon Fraser University] Childcare facility, plus their families, educators and members of the design team. While engaging future occupants of a building was nothing particularly progressive, listening to, and valuing the wishes of preschoolers, certainly was. And while it has become increasingly commonplace for design teams to solicit the input of stakeholders, the fledgling insights coming from these all-ages charrettes would shape the Centre in tangible and profound ways. The design team listened intently to what the children desired for their ideal play area and several experiential and imaginative themes were revealed that involved climbing, jumping, and playing with elemental materials such as wood, water and sand.

Play and discovery is serious work. The fresh insights of the children and those of the educators astonished HCMA [the project’s architecture team]. Shared perceptions of bright, airy, voluminous space, (“climb up high”) and play elements such as the magnificent two-storey silver slide, (“I like long slides —this one’s long”, “I like this slide-it goes a little curve” and “fire breathing dragon!”), are some of the thoughts that informed the design of the Centre’s community spaces and complemented the educational programming. It was the happy job of the designers to ponder the inspirations articulated by the children (verbally, and in drawings, sketches, and models) and translate those sometimes whimsical, sometimes physical, ideas into the design.

CLIMB UP HIGH

Karen Marler recognized that some of the most powerful information for the architectural team came from yet another outside source — the care providers. HCMA actively solicited input and SFU Childcare Society leadership eagerly brought forth the elegant concepts of Transparency, Light, and Community. Patricia Frouws asked that the educators who worked with the children be consulted about the practical aspects of the facility. Faced with opportunity to weigh in on an essentially blank  slate, purposeful details meshed with holistic design in the common area layout, sightlines to washrooms, play areas, and the configuration of dynamic indoor amenities and organically-inspired outdoor space. The Centre’s loft-like mezzanine, double-height community space and expansive glazing are indoor examples where HCMA fastidiously merged the ideas of workshop participants with their own constructs, embedding sound practicalities within the refined design of the Living Building. HCMA heeded the children’s intuitive wishes and the educator’s hands-on insights, bringing opportunities for delight and discovery to the Centre—folding play and education elegantly into the overall design.

Generation Green is available for purchase from our Ecotone Bookstore, as well as many other fascinating titles including our newest release, Building Community. From now until January 31, get 20 percent off your Ecotone purchase using the code INSPIRATION20.

Cover photo courtesy of SFU Creative Services