Michael Heeney- The Transformative Power of Architcture

Michael’s session began with a discussion of the urban context of the city of Vancouver. The city is surrounded by water on three sides and so it only has one direction to grow. This produced a real estate market that is quite expensive in the downtown area, and reduces as you move away from the city center. Transit projects have attempted to connect Vancouver with its expanding metropolis, through to the adjacent area of Surrey.

This expansion was intended to create a new city center for Surrey. Unfortunately there was an opposite effect, and in fact visitorship to this area went down. The problem? Surrey had not invested in itself, so why should others?

Surrey began looking at ways of reinvesting in their own locale. A University in the downtown area proved to be a viable solution and would certainly bring more activity, life, and of course revenues. BTA was asked to assist in bringing this project to fruition, and did so in the Central City Tower at Simon Fraser University.

When they began analyzing the situation, BTA determined that there were a number of disparate parts to the city that were not working together to improve the urban context. One project in particular was an old shopping center owned by an insurance company. BTA convinced the owners to commit to improving this area based on the adjacency of the future University.

How could the latent energy of this shopping center be utilized to bring a new life to the Surrey city center? BTA’s solution was to produce a podium and tower project that cleverly intertwines itself both into the urban fabric as well as the adjacent shopping center. Of course the shopping center could not be closed during the construction of the new project, and so BTA had to find a creative solution to the construction process. They decided to approach the connecting element as a bridge, one that could be constructed as the commerce continued below.

Of course budgets were tight so BTA had to find creative solutions to the project approach. Using materials that might otherwise not be considered, they were able to deliver a spectacular project that was so fondly viewed by the city that they changed their official seal to reflect the design.

Michael next discussed the Arena Stage project in Washington DC. BTA was approached to submit on the project, along with over 100 other firms. When BTA decided they did not like those odds, they kindly declined the project opportunity. The client did not accept no for an answer and so accommodated the schedule BTA required to submit. BTA was shortlisted and eventual won the project commission.

Design work began wit an analysis of the site, which the client quickly apologized for. The location was seemingly disconnected from the rest of the city, but upon further analysis BTA was able to determine that there was actually a wealth of opportunity within a very close proximity to the site. The challenge became reconnecting this area of the city to the rest. The location was an obvious choice for extensive renewal. BTA convinced the mayor’s office that the Arena Stage could be the catalyst for this redevelopment and a mechanism for reestablishing the urban fabric across the site and beyond.

BTA’s challenge became incorporating existing context (there were a few existing buildings that needed to be addressed) with the new structure. Their solution was to wrap a portion of the site in a glass façade, acoustically isolating the buildings, while maintaining a visual connection to the site’s history.

One element that was completely new construction was a new black box theater, dubbed The Cradle. A spiraling circulation core organized the theater around a procession that both creates its own experience while simultaneously preparing the user for the experience to come within the theater itself.

Of course a round theater is less than ideal from an acoustic standpoint. “But we really liked the look of this.” So BTA started looking at weaving the shell with a lattice work of wood that would help to improve the performance of the space. Through rigorous testing BTA was able to identify a solution that was both effective as well as beautiful.

Imported wood columns from Canada were use to produce the first heavy timber structure in DC.

Finished roughly a year ago, the project has proven to be a positive addition to the city as well as a successful venue for the performances within.

The last project discussed was again back in Surrey, BC. BTA was hired to do a new library, one that was being produced with grants; and one that had to be both designed and built within a 15 month timeframe. The BTA solution is a highly articulated, stunning example of a concrete formed building that challenged the craft of the contractors. Peri forms out of Germany was brought on to assist in designing formwork that worked with the high design of the project façade. Completed on time and budget the final products is a stunning example of innovation in design.

BTA used social media to bring the community into the design of the interior layout and the overlapping of spaces. “With typical public outreach efforts you tend to get the same cast of characters.” Social media allowed a much more democratic and open forum for the area residents to share their thoughts and desires. The result was a program that included spaces that could be used by local small businesses, teen areas, and other locale specific spaces that work together to deliver a useful program for the users.

Very impressive work, very impressive firm. Thank you , Michael, for sharing your projects with us!