How the Vancouver Winter Olympics site proved that consultants are not at the mercy of their clients.
Roger Bayley, Founder, Merrick Architecture was lucky enough to be involved in a project that made a difference. The project was Vancouver’s Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek: Millennium Water. Working on government initiated or public projects can be characterised by unproductive debate, controversy, bureaucracy and stifling financial and traditionalist constraints. Not this one. This one, with Bayley’s and many other inspired consultants’ advice, pushed boundaries of what can be possible in terms of innovation and sustainability in a large scale development. This project is proof that all architects, engineers, contractors and everyone else with expertise in making urban spaces need to make difference is an open mind.
Roger Bayley, professional engineer and founding partner of Merrick Architecture, stepped into the role of design manager, responsible for coordinating a consultant team of roughly 150 people. Here is an example of how in this role Bayley was able to impact the development. At an early stage Bayley was faced with a design brief that forbid the use of water for irrigation. Now Bayley points out that would have really limited the landscaping options during the three warm dry months of Vancouver’s summer. So he began a process of negotiation that would keep within the water usage and reusage targets without acrificing the verdant environment that would ensure the development’s popularity. As Graham McGarvin, VIA Architecture said “We wanted to change the entire way that urban planning was done.” And they were in a position to do so. Everyone on the project learnt so much that Bayley decided to produce a book. It is available for free subscription online at www.thechallengeseries.ca
Great things happened in this project because of the combined will and force of the team, says Bayley. The “intent” then fostered a commitment amongst all the consultants to work towards that intent. One of the first ways that that common committment cemented was through being locked up together for two days. But in fairly nice surroundings, sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Association. Right at the beginning a two day integrated design process kick-off meeting brought together around 100 consultants, stakeholders and interest groups to discuss issues relating to sustainable design. After going through the overall goals and brief people split into groups to discuss particular areas of interest. Diversity and passion of opinion characterised the groups’ make up. “There were people in the groups who thought air-conditioning was immoral” says Bayley. But living, working and eating together for two days both empowered and energised participants giving a “general sense of collaboration not just within the consulting team or developer but with the city of Vancouver”.
One failing however, and it was a significant failing, said Bayley, was that all the middle management participants went back to their offices with fully engaged and constructive states of mind to be faced by their strict and staid principals. Next time senior management will also need to participate. For example one idea generated during the charette was to create a street that had no gutters separating pavement and road but rather drained in the middle. The engineers required that’s just not how it’s done. This slowed the process, because in order for the consultant to educate the client they first need to believe in the solution themselves.
Private sectorBayley got involved in the project after being part of a team, headed by first time green developer, Millenium, that won the RFP to develop the site after Vancouver had won the bid for the Olympics. As a prime location private developers had been wanting to get their hands on this waterfront site for some time. Now the government offered up the site on the condition that it not only conform to stringent environmental standards but that it would also incorporate the temporary use as an Olympic facility, retain heritage buildings and include a significant proportion of mid range and public housing. In some respects the constraints were bound to foster innovation. Bayley says, the “developers needed financially rewarding options, we couldn’t just say, ‘we need a rainwater collection system, here’s the bill’”. In this environment all parties have to be flexible. And governments and developers need to recognise their own contribution. A developer will typically say no to things such as thicker walls (that provide much enhanced thermal protection) or shading (for reduced air conditioning) because it will encroach on the salable area, and the financial returns. But when the design team is able to explain this to a receptive regulator then, floor area restrictions can be waived. In this case the City granted exclusions to ensure passive design requirements were met.
In order to push through an idea or to inspire a different level of thinking means knowing where to start. And having just that little bit more knowledge combined with a talent for lateral thinking will make the difference. For example, there was a determination that the city would be zero net energy. So the team were pushed to find energy any where they could. Then they realised, said Bayley that they were sitting on a great renewable pool of heat energy – the residents sewerage. By moving water from the houses past the sewage, next to, never mixed with, and then on through another heat exchanger the residents have very low carbon hot water.
Educating for the future
Some of the genius of this development comes through not just the education of the architect, developer and the City about what is possible for this development but through the little touches that will also educate and engage the occupants. For example Hinge Park is a wet land stormwater treatment plant, it doesn’t look like one at all and if you didn’t know you would not guess. It is a place for “kids to play in the mud – like we used to” says Bayley. In addition to serving the needs of the designers, city and communitee it serves needs of educators with educational displays explaining this innovative solution to an engineering requirement in the park itself.
The impact this project had on the lives of the people working on it was significant. They learnt, and sometimes the hard way, how they are contributing to a community. They are educators in many senses however. Looking beyond their own staff Millenium have also provided training to innercity jobseekers in related industries. And now through www.thechallengeseries.ca website, set up by Bayley and sponsored by a raft of project participants they are sharing their process, battles and innovations with the world. Lets hope this inspires an other generation of green building stake holders to educate and share honestly their own trials, tribulations and successes.
