PFIZER CANADA INC. SIÈGE SOCIAL BY MENKÈS SHOONER DAGENAIS LETOURNEUX ARCHITECTES

The Pfizer Canada reconfiguration project makes a very clear statement. The architectural design focuses on promoting the corporate identity of the company located on the Trans-Canada Highway.

The strategy is to use the building space in a transparent and expeditious manner through the prominence of glass in the structure in order to open the corporate headquarters to the world. To ensure a corporate image that is solidly embedded in the site, we worked around the idea of blister packs. This important feature of bio-pharmaceutical production is used as the visual key for the completion of the building facade, walls and furnishings.

The alveolate structure has been transposed to create an elegant motif displaying a variety of textures that responds to the changing light. The screen openings of the facade reproduce both the scale and the texture of the local brick, which are enriched through a wide range of colors ranging from silver to gold. The blue of the Pfizer logo is also very visible and create a recurring theme; it occurs both on the external facade and in the core of the building.

A bond is created between the industrial park, the highway, the company and the building space. Vivid and contemporary, the facades give expression to the unity of the whole. Inside, the redefinition of the site offers brand new, healthy and inspiring work spaces leading the way to a greater economic impact while attracting utmost qualified employees.

Change in culture. The occupancy ratio between common areas and closed offices went from 44/56 to 85/15. Eight hundred and sixty individual work stations have been streamlined and opened up through innovative design to increase productivity and the comfort of users. They focus on intercommunication between employees and an enhanced approach to cooperation. The interconnections are tangible: work, relaxation and service areas have been designed to innovate and optimize the sharing of ideas.

All work stations are enclosed by lateral and transversal traffic corridors to ensure fluidity and ease of movement between groups. Physical departmental barriers have been removed in order to promote the social values of the company. Access points offer the possibility of modifying group working areas, particularly in terms of workloads.

Flexible and open work areas have been developed as well as private areas, glassed conference areas with a view over the gardens and the work rooms located on the periphery of the working areas. The result of this organization is a fluid ring of traffic. The full redefinition of work functions and qualities for employee work stations ensures that employees will discover new ways to live and work.

The construction materials used, such as clear and opaque glass, aluminum and wood, reflect ambient light to create texture. The distribution and arrangement of these primary materials also highlight the multiple functions of various spaces. The entrance way to the main building offers luminous integration to the new façades which act as curtain walls. Materials were chosen not only for quality and longevity, but also for their technical features and plasticity.

The design concept is based on the enhancement and the democratic access to natural light, in order to ensure that it illuminates each work station. The floor plan made possible the generous use of windows to ensure an abundance of natural light and views.

All work areas are bright and luminous. The closed offices and conference rooms have windows and are located in the central nucleus of the building in order to benefit as much as possible from borrowed light. Thanks to an open design, most work areas have optimal access to natural light.

Location: Kirkland, Québec, Canada

Architect: Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes

Project manager: Anik Shooner, architecte associée

Project Team: Jean-Pierre LeTourneux – architecte associé, Paolo Zasso, Julie Morin, Kristi Ante, Marlène Bourque, Marc-Antoine Chartier-Primeau, Mylène Deschênes, Shahinda Eldessouki, Pierre Gervais, Jean-François Jodoin, Vincent Lauzon, Josiane Mac, Isabel Noël, Annie Paradis, Harvens Piou, Gaétan Roy, Isabel Roy , Michel Tessier

Project leader: Anik Shooner, partner and architect

Principal designer: Jean-Pierre LeTourneux – partner and architect

Engineers: Bouthillette Parizeau et Associés, Marchand Houle et associés, SDK et Associés

Surface: 21 160 mq

Cost: 12,7 M$

Year: 2011

Client: Pfizer Canada inc.

FACEBOOK DATA CENTER BY SHEEHAN PARTNERS

While Facebook is the second most visited website in the world, its Prineville Data Center., in Oregon, is the first wholly owned and operated by the company. The new center is one of the most energy-efficient data centers ever built and the first LEED Gold certified Facebook building. Metal Sales was specified for the structure’s exterior walls and generator yard.

Facebook’s Prineville Data Center has a simple and minimalist design, similar in spirit to the social networking giant’swebsite. The building’s exterior is clad in nearly 50,000 square feet of Metal Sales T2630 wall panels, which perfectly complement its neutral-colored concrete and the surrounding landscape. The panels were also selected for their reliability and sustainability.

The outside of the building isn’t meant to be ‘showy’ – it is meant to be a clean and functional façade for the energy-efficient structure housing tens of thousands of Facebook’s servers, containing information for their 800 million users. One side of the structure is home to the generator yard, housing a row of generators that provide power to the facility if commercial power is interrupted.

Metal Sales panels create a screen wall that provides controlled access to the yard, and the panels have a custom perforated pattern to facilitate ventilation for the diesel-fueled generators. Given the specific requirements for the LEED Gold structure, quality materials were needed to meet performance and functionality expectations.

The project team chose Metal Sales because the panels could be customized to provide an exact amount of ventilation while maintaining security and aesthetics. Metal Sales worked with the project team to develop a panel with 52.94% open area for ventilation. Even with over 50% open space in the panel, the perforated T2630 panels still provided the structural integrity needed for the screen wall.

"I am impressed with Metal Sales' ability to customize a product that meets the specific requirements of the Facebook Data Center Project," said Jim Stedman, President of Stedman Sheetmetal, Inc. "The panels surrounding the generator yard had to meet strict specifications. Metal Sales was able to work with the design team to create a customized panel that satisfies these requirements."

Metal Sales provided approximately 15,000 square feet of customized T2630 perforated wall panels for the generator yard. The custom panels are made of 0.050 aluminum coated on each side with metallic silver PVDF (Kynar500®) paint. On the building’s exterior, Metal Sales supplied standard T2630 wall panels in 24-gauge steel with an Acrylic Coated Galvalume® finish. T2630 panels are exposed direct-fastened and provide 30-inch wide coverage.

Facebook’s first Prineville Data Center was completed spring 2011. Construction on a second identical Prineville Data Center began fall 2011. Facebook will have additional data centers in North Carolina and Sweden. Metal Sales has also been specified for the North Carolina data center that is currently under construction.

The project team of the Facebook Prineville Data Center included metal installer Stedman Sheetmetal, Inc., Redmond, OR; architect Neil Sheehan of Sheehan Partners, Chicago; contractor DPR Fortis Mission Critical, a joint venture of DPR Construction, Redwood City, CA, and Fortis Construction, Portland, OR.

“This enterprise data center in central Oregon is designed around a 164,000 square foot computer equipment room topped with an innovative 100,000 square foot mechanical equipment penthouse. A 23,000 square foot office area organized around an interior courtyard and parking court adjoins the computer equipment room. This project was recognized by ENR as 2011's "Best of the Best" and Editor's Choice.“

Location: Prineville, USA

Architects: Sheehan Partners

Area: 332,390 sq ft

Year: 2011

Photographs: Jonnu Singleton

DATACENTER BY BENTHEM CROUWEL ARCHITEKTEN

"The datacenter was officially opened, also known as AM3, is situated in the Amsterdam Science Park and includes an office and a data building. With no less than 150 networks it will be one of the leading network locations in Europe.

By taking its surroundings in consideration, being modern, functional, efficient, sustainable and open to its visitors and users, the datacenter will be exemplary within its branch. The datacenter will be one of the most sustainable buildings of its kind. The vast amount of heat that the machines in the datacenter emit, will be used very efficiently.

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building will use Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) in the ground to avoid mechanical cooling as much as possible. Excess heat shall be used to heat nearby buildings and will be available for other uses by third parties. A grass sedum vegetation roof will cover the datacenter.

This green roof acts as a water buffer and absorbs CO2, while it also is an additional insulation layer that will prevent the building from heating up. Driven by safety reasons all data floors and other components that are vital for the functioning of the building, are situated above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum.

Therefore the data building is lifted 4.2 meters above ground level, so all data is protected in case of flooding. The space in between is used for various logistic functions such as loading, unloading and storage. The office building comprises two mirroring and stacked L-shaped volumes.

The entrance and public functions are situated in the lower L-volume, which opens towards Science Park. The offices are situated in the upper L-volume. The space created between ground level and the upper L is surrounded by a glass front creating an atrium.

As a result the office building radiates transparency and openness when approached from the Science Park. An aerial walkway, that offers great views on the surrounding area, leads from the customer care rooms to the data rooms in the office building. The use of a double skin of neutral anodised aluminium wall cladding gives the data building a sense of depth.

The wall cladding of the office building will be darker in colour due to the black anodised aluminium used. By using light and dark blinds on the outside, the buildings get a distinctive character and fit in the development plan of the Amsterdam Science Park, because of their transparency." Description of Benthem Crouwel Architekte.

Location: Amsterdam, Holland

Architect: Benthem Crouwel Architekten

Area: 17.800 m²

Client: Equinix

Start construction: 2011

Completion: 2012

NORDEA BANK BY HENNING LARSEN

Nordea’s new office building in Ørestad North, Copenhagen, will house 1,800-2,200 employees and be ready for inauguration in 2016. To the south, the building is characterised by a sophisticated, sloping park landscape and to the north by an open ground floor and tile facades on the lower floors.

Nordea’s new building introduces a new medium scale in Ørestad – a street level connecting buildings and landscape. Stage one covering a total of 40,000 m2 consists of two light, sculptural buildings placed on a base. The architectural concept reflects the functionality of the buildings.

Thus, the effective office floors are all placed on top of the base, while the shared, outward functions are placed in the base. The building is organised as a city – offering quiet, more intimate places as well as squares and streets full of life and activity. The individual departments all offer both a quiet and active section.

This functional layout promotes collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing across departments and professional fields. The interaction between effective open plan offices and meeting places allows the individual employee to find the optimal working situation.

The building interacts with the city, opens up and invites for activity at different levels. It will be a place in the city that offers activity inside as well as outside.

The new Nordea office building should achieve the highest score in the international certification system in green building, LEED. LEED evaluates the building as a whole - from programme through effective treatment of water, energy, materials, indoor climate to design process.

Henning Larsen Architects applies a unique, holistic design method, developed by the company itself. Focus is on minimiming the energy consumption of the building. This is achieved by reducing the energy consumption, then optimisingthe technical solutions and finally integrating solutions for energy production in the buildings.  

The energy consumption of the new building has continuously been simulated through studies of volumes, materials, room heights, light and shadow, noise, wind and feasibility of indoor and outdoor spaces. Subsequently, the energy consumption has been further reduced by intelligent selection and use of efficient technologies.

With the applied methodology, the building will achieve a LEED Platinum certification, while at the same time offering an energy consumption of 41 kWh/m2/year without use of energy-producing installations.

Adding the solar cell system required according to LEED, the total energy consumption will be minimised to 18.8 kWh/m2/year, which is far below the new 2020 energy requirements according to Danish building regulations. This makes Nordea's new building a sustainable role model. Description of Henning Larsen Architects.

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Architect: Henning Larsen Architects

Landscape architect: :SLA

Workspace design: :Signal Arkitekter

Gross floor area: :40,000 m2

Client: :Nordea Properties

Year of construction: :2013 - 2016

Awards: :First prize in invited competition

PORT HOUSE BY ZAHA HADID

The Official Ceremony has been held to start the construction work on Port House, the new headquarters for Antwerp Port Authority on the Kattendijk dock. The new Antwerp Port Authority headquarters will house approximately 500 staff (currently working in separate buildings) in a single new location that comprises a former fire station and the new extension.

The design team from Zaha Hadid Architects proposed a very dynamic architecture that strikes up a dialogue with the Oosterweel road link, with the Lange Wapper bridge forming a backdrop to the New Port House. With its unique design, its facade architecture and its height of 46 metres, the new Port Authority will be an iconic building, visible from many different directions.

The concept is a free interpretation of a beam-shaped volume raised above the existing fire brigade building and supported on three sculptured concrete pillars housing the stairs and lifts. Two of the pillars are situated on the covered inner courtyard of the firehouse, while the third is located beside an external support point and consists of a panoramic lift shaft.

The new volume is oriented North-South parallel to the Kattendijk dock. The head of the building on the South side is a frame that looks towards the city and clearly marks the start of the port area. The outside walls are made up of glass triangles, some transparent and some reflecting. These do not all lie in the same plane but are rotated slightly with respect to one another, creating an attractive reflecting play of incoming light in a reference to Antwerp’s diamond industry.

The present firehouse will be kept free of building all around, so that the four outside walls will be fully respected. As for the arrangement of the inside spaces, consultations will be held with Flanders Real Estate Heritage and the Monuments department of the City of Antwerp to determine whether open-plan offices (as laid down in the schedule of requirements) are possible, either partly of throughout.

The inner courtyard will be roofed over at the height of the second story so as to create an air-conditioned inside space. This central entrance hall will be considered as a semi-public space, with various enquiry desks (Personnel department, Harbourmaster’s Office, Planning Permission & Environment Permit office and Port Dues payment desk) integrated in the inside wall portals.

A sculptural, sloping roof unites an underground lobby with the covered inner court. Access to the underground car park is an important aspect of the overall concept, with the loading & unloading bays and the refuse handling facilities also located here. The car park has space for 300 or so cars and consists of a single underground level.

The design of the square can be arranged so that daylight is allowed to enter. The above-ground layout forms part of a design project that is being carried out in consultation with the city departments responsible, with the main imperative being to “preserve the visual quality of the outside spaces in the Het Eilandje area.

 

Location: Antwerp, Belgium

Architect: Zaha Hadid architects

Area: 12.800 mq. (groos) – 16.400 mq. (site)

Client: Antwerp Port Authority

Year: 2008 (project)