Tuesday, September 27, 2011

VANDUSEN VISITOR CENTRE

"We are hoping that the public see that the most beautiful architecture is one that is in complete harmony with nature."
Peter Busby
ESPAÑOL


The VanDusen Botanical Garden's Visitor Center is a building that stands out for its dynamic and suggestive architectural form as well as for achieving a close communion with nature, using sophisticated technology for both purposes. The gentle undulating shape of the building seeks to integrate itself with the context of the Botanical Garden that houses it, elegantly designed in wood and glass.


The project is the work of the renowned Canadian Office Will Perkins + Canada, in collaboration with the famous landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander . She and Peter Busby, senior partner of Perkins + Will, have a long history designing sustainable projects.

A few weeks before its inauguration, we had the privilege of accessing to this unique building. We will be sharing some aspects of its construction in this post.

LOCATION

The building is located at the southeast end of the VanDusen Botanical Garden, near the entrance area and across the Livingstone pond.


To access the Center, the visitor crosses a wooden bridge that uses the same technology as the beams of the ceilings. The bridge leads to a large entrance plaza.


ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPTS

The first thing that catches the attention of the building is the absence of straight lines in its composition. According to Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the design took its inspiration from the petals of an orchid native to British Columbia, whom she found in the book "The Alphabet of Plants" by Karl Blossfelt.

West Elevation
South Elevation
North Elevation
East Elevation. Images courtesy of Perkins + Will.

The building is organized around a central space and a number of "petals" are arranged from it, housing the various functions of the visitor center.


Outside, the idea is that the building's profile will flow organically and in harmony with the rest of the garden, in an abstract composition simulating the rugged relief of the mountains of Vancouver. However, the composition is very light as the use of overhangs and large glass panels suggests the image of floating roofs .


A glass cone stands as a vertical counterpoint to the predominantly horizontal composition of the building.


The smooth exterior-interior relationship takes place in two ways:
  • From Outside-in, using the roofs of the Center as green areas which will house native species of flora and fauna, that will join the rest of the botanical garden. Moreover, a roof section "lands" in the garden, allowing fluidity and communication between the two areas.


  • From the inside out, through the use of windows, that offer visitors framed views of the garden, particularly of the pond.

Inside, the oblong building is organized through a central courtyard around which the functions are distributed in two areas, traversed by a central street that links them across.

General plan.

These two areas are specialized in an service area to the east (a cafe, food preparation and storage) and an academic area to the west (library, classrooms, display areas and a shop).

View of the central circulation

In the center stands, dominated by a glass cone, a 15 meters high central atrium, that greets visitors with a generous entrance hall, along with the reception and curator's office.


In addition, the building is linked to large areas of expansion that spread like a succession of plazas that provide access to the garden.

Detail of the entrance plaza.

CONCEPTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

In addition to its aesthetics, the building takes the lead in green design, using a variety of techniques to minimize its environmental impact. The centre has been designed to achieve the standard Living Building Challenge 2.0 , Cascadia Green Building Council and LEED Platinum. To this end, the proposal faces three main issues: energy management, type and origin of materials .

Energy Conservation

VanDusen Center proposes technology of minimal use to reduce or eliminate energy consumption. This will be achieved through renewable resources by using solar panels and water pipes. Then the energy is stored underground and then re-used for heating and electricity consumption, for example.
The design also promotes environmentally friendly use of energy, by providing natural ventilation during the summer as well as capturing plenty of natural light and reducing energy consumption for artificial lighting. In addition, an efficient system will provide heating and cooling for the building using only one quarter of the energy consumed in traditional heating systems.


Water management

All water for consumption of the building will be self-sufficient, ie not use the City Water Service. The water will be collected from rain and subsequently recycled (I should note that Vancouver is a very rainy).
The "gray water" (used in toilets) will be treated on site using filtration equipment and reused in the same building. The "black water" (the toilets, kitchens, etc..) will be treated and discharged on garden ponds.


Green Roof

Appropriate species planted on the green roof will help reduce the ambient temperatures in summer and will provide a cool roof instead of a "heat island" associated with most asphalt roofs. The green roof is an extension of the garden landscape and serve as a habitat for flora and fauna.



Visitors can see and learn about the techniques that were used to built this roof.


BUILDING PROCESS

The complicated geometry of the wooden curved roof represented a major constructive challenge. Since none of the pieces on the petal components were equal, the design was carried out with the aid of computer programs, particularly Rhinoceros, a software specialized in industrial design through the use of NURBS, and Grasshopper, a plug-in for Rhinoceros which adds parametric capabilities.


There was a continuous dialogue between designers and modelers, so that the ideas in the paper could get built. One change involved the variation in the orientation of the wood, allowing considerable savings in the roof's budget and the execution time.


Subsequent to modeling, the pieces were pre-fabricated in a separate workshop, using beams made up of sheets of wood glued to each other, worked on quasi-rectangular sections to be assembled forming a curve, and then stitched together with a crane on site. The process is similar to the roof of the Richmond Olympic Oval, which is also discussed in this moleskine.


One of the most striking aspects is the use of "earth concrete" walls , which have less impact than the traditional concrete walls. Basically they are made of compacted earth containing steel reinforcements inside.


The ceilings contain a number of insulating layers that prevent water or the roots to affect the wooden structure.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

The firm Sharp & Diamond carried ou the landscape design, blending with a delicate balance the contemporary style of the center with the existing surroundings. The terraces and the pond located in front of the Center establish a liminal transition between the new and the existing landscapes.



The following video shows more details of the construction few weeks before the building-s completion .



***
It is my guess and hope that this small center will become an international benchmark for environmental standards and the effort to reduce buildings' impact on the environment, producing more energy than it is consumed. In fact, this is Canada's first "living building", so many people expect that this will be an important step towards Vancouver's dream of becoming the "greenest city" by 2020.

SEE ALSO:

- WOOD IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE.

With Santiago Diaz, a Peruvian architect who was in charge of some of the 3D modeling and who kindly guided me throughout the Centre. Without his help, this post wouldn't have been possible.

Monday, September 26, 2011

VANDUSEN BOTANICAL GARDEN, VANCOUVER


VanDusen pond. Photo courtesy of Robin Thom .

ESPAÑOL

Botanical gardens, unlike the aesthetic gardens or parks, are living museums, where the flora is scientifically organized and didactically displayed. The VanDusen, besides being the most important botanical garden of its kind in Western Canada, is a place for meeting and celebration for Vancouverites, a space dedicated to nature education and a field for experimentation on sustainable building technology.


This entry on the VanDusen Botanical Garden is divided into two parts: this post is about the garden itself, its history and landscape components, as well as some works of art displayed here. The next post will be reviewing the impressive and state-of-the-art Visitor Centre, that we got to visit before its official opening.

Waiting for you. Photo courtesy of Januz .
BACKGROUND

Who would have thought that until 1910 this site was just a field full of shrubs, that belonged to the Canadian Pacific Railway company . However, from 1911 to 1960 the land was leased to the Shaughnessy Golf Club. Later, the railway company tried to develop the place, but faced opposition from the neighbors who wanted a botanical garden for the city to be built in this location. Thus in 1966 the land was purchased by the City of Vancouver, the British Columbia Government and especially thanks to a donation from the tycoon WJ VanDusen, after whom the botanical garden was named.

Korean pavilion

The garden was built between 1971-75 and several professionals participated in its design. The Floral Hall and the Garden Pavilion were projects by Underwood, McKinley, Wilson & Smith, with the architect Herb Wilson. The Forest Centre was in charge of Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners , with Paul Merrick as main architect. The Visitor Centre is a project of Perkins + Will.

In full autumn colors. Photo courtesy of eyesplash .

LOCATION

The VanDusen is located in a rectangular plot of 22 ha. that follows the predominant east-west orientation of Vancouver's urban grid.

Distribution of the garden. Click photo to enlarge

In a plot of sloped topography, the garden displays 255.000 plants of 75000 types from 6 continents in certain areas, either by geographical origin or grouped by species (like in the Rose Garden, for example.)

We used to have this plant in my garden . We called it "Texao".

A crane and a tortoise in lotus pond. In Asia this would be have had a philosophical meaning.

The design combines picturesque large landscaped areas of lawn surrounded by forests with a succession of ponds, around which small thematic gardens are arranged. Some of them include Sino-Himalayan, South American, North Canadian, South African, Japanese, Mediterranean and many other species. Each garden varies according to the season, therefore it is always a different experience to visit it throughout the year.

Summer Colors.
Autumn Colors in the Cypress Pond . Photo courtesy of Harris Hui .

The garden during the Festival of Lights, Winter.

Only the area near the entrance, particularly the rose garden, has a geometric layout, resembling a mini European garden.

Entrance to the rose garden. Photo courtesy of Gingercat .

The rest has been designed to recreate a natural setting, leading the visitor by subsequent effects of contemplation and surprise, channeling and widening the space in order to achieve more spectacular views.

Livingstone Pond. In the background you can see the Visitor Center under construction.
The waterfall.

In addition to its educational nature, the garden has a social and also recreational roles (judging by the numerous events that take place here, including many weddings, despite the rainy weather of Vancouver). A fun experience is to walk through the labyrinth, in whose center stands a pine tree.


ART IN THE GARDEN

Perhaps the most interesting complement to the natural life are the works of art displayed in the garden, both the permanent and temporary installations. Among the sculptures that form part of the décor of the garden, ZimSculpt was showed during our visit, an exhibition by British artist Vivienne Croisette, based on Zimbabwean sculptures.


In the Christmas season the VanDusen Garden becomes a colorful venue during the 'Festival of Lights".

Festival of lights at Christmas.
Curious form of lighting bulb using recycled bottles.

Here the gardens are decorated with millions of lights, and acquire thematic names such as the "Forest of gingerbread," the "dancing lights around the lake", the "Shrine of desires" or the "Path of the cane candies. "


In some ways the festival reminded me of Kobe Luminarie in Japan .


In the next post will review the innovative VanDusen Garden's Visitor Centre .

The garden welcomes visitors of all ages.

SEE ALSO
JAPANESE GARDENS