Double Skin Facades - Canadian Examples - Manitoba Hydro

Manitoba Hydro Headquarters - 2008 Scheduled Completion
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Approx. 695,000 sf
Architect: KPMB

This is probably the most interesting North American high performance project under way. Coupled with the Transsolar Energietecknik GMBH of Stuttgart, Germany, this project pushes the technical design aspects of a high performance project beyond any ssen in the US to date. There is an excellent supply of information available both on Manitoba Hydro's website, and on consulting engineer's AEI's web site. This Leed Gold project is a great example of whole building environmental design.



AEI's site shows wall sections, which include the extension of the floor slab to create the cavity for the double skin. This is a technique I have been interested in, but we will have to see how the performance plays out with the possibility of thermal transfer through the slab.

We will also wait to see if some of the solar control automation suffers from some of the same fate that the Occidental building suffered from.


There are some excellent Power Point shows that can be found here:
Canadian Standards Association Conference 2007

and here:

Manitoba Hydro's PR
This is a pretty nice flash presentation by KPMB partner Bruce Kawabara.

Thanks to our friend Danny, who's building the curtain wall, on this one.

Double Skin Facades - Canadian Examples - Telus

Telus William Farrell Building - (Original Construction 1947) Renovation 2000
Vancouver, BC
Approx. 130,000 sf
Architect: Busby + Associates

Two things distinguish this project. This was the first double skin wall constructed in Canada and it is a renovation of a building that originally constructed in 1947. As part of a larger sustainable strategy, in lieu of tear down and rebuilding, the architects chose to reuse and enhance the efficiency of the existing structure. Once again the theme of glazing as an aesthetic choice dominated the decision making process. The addition of the second skin effectively transforms the vintage facade into a contemporary icon.

Terry Boake's site has some good photos of the building. An interesting Underfloor Air study can be found at Berkley's site. Advanced Buildings.org has a good summary of the project and systems. And some good diagrams of how the wall operates were found here :

Double Skin Facades - US Examples - Seattle Justice Center

The Seattle Justice Center was completed in 2002. Designed by NBBJ Seattle, this is the second US example of a naturally vented double skin facade. This project attained LEED Silver rating. The LBNL Report has a complete power point by NBBJ architect Kerry Heegedus. This is a pretty good summary of the process required to get this type of facade built. The key points that Hegedus makes are that they were dealing with an "educated" client.

"Our mayor, former mayor, Paul Schell, was formerly the dean of architecture at the University of Washington. One of our clients was an architect, which also helped. In terms of design and aesthetics...." - Kerry Hegedus, LBNL Workshop.

This seems to be one of the more important points that allowed this project to happen. The other thing to note is the intersection of the concept of "transparency" of government.