Sechelt Health + Social Development Centre
The Sechelt Health and Social Development Centre incorporated a number of sustainable design strategies to achieve a high degree of occupant comfort, provide healthy interior environment and reduce operating costs.
For example, the building section was designed to maximize natural light into the building while minimizing the amount of electrical lighting and maintaining task performance lighting levels. This initiative combined with other key strategies reduced the overall building energy consumption.
Furthermore, to minimize overheating of the interior in the summer and maximize the penetration of natural light in the winter, the building was orientated 15-20 degrees off the east-west axis.
All the walled offices were placed on the outside of the floor plan and feature glazed walls on the corridor side to allow natural light into the interior and allow exterior views, even from interior open office areas.
All office windows include operable lites to increase natural cooling and improve indoor air quality. Chemical and solvent based finishes were avoided wherever possible. Materials were left exposed when possible to reduce the amount of VOC off-gassing. During the Spring and Fall seasons, natural conditioning will be employed, reducing the overall energy consumption and minimizing the size and spread of the HVAC system. The high shading coefficient obtained through the section and façade design, the building’s orientation as well as the use of shading trees improve the indoor environmental quality significantly during the summer.
Wherever possible, rapidly replenishing natural resources were used. With respect to the client’s architectural traditions, wood was used considerably throughout the project as structure, cladding and finish material. The use of engineered wood rather than heavy timber products eliminated the need for old-growth timber. The building was also proportioned and designed to reduce the amount of materials that wasted during the construction process.
