RC110 JanFeb 2024 - Magazine - Page 17
One of those was Canadian construction services giant EllisDon.
Within months of the 2014 Ontario budget announcement, the Mississauga-based builder began assembling a collaborative team led by
EllisDon senior VP David Klassen to develop a bid for the nascent
Toronto courthouse project.
From the get-go, a key player in that e昀昀ort was Toronto-based
NORR, an employee-owned architectural/engineering 昀椀rm with more
than 800 architects, engineers, planners, and interior designers working across 12 market sectors—including justice—from o昀케ces in four
countries. NORR notably has decades of experience in the design and
delivery of courthouses, police facilities, detention, and correctional
centers and other P3 judicial building projects in Ontario.
Together, Klassen and NORR chairman Silvio Baldassara, an architect who has designed and managed dozens of large and complex
construction projects over his 45-year career travelled to Paris to meet
with the folks at Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW).
RPBW, which designed the Shard skyscraper in London and
the Whitney Museum of Modern Art in New York City, had just
wrapped up its design work on the new Paris Courthouse. Opened
in 2018, the 160-meter-tall tower is made of three superimposed
parallelepipeds that both sit on and hover over an integrated
ground-level pedestal.
According to Grieg, a St. Rupert, B.C. native and
University of British Columbia-trained architect,
who joined RPBW as a project architect on the Paris Courthouse (he is now an associate and project
leader at the studio), Klassen and Baldassara were
hoping to tap into RPBW’s design experience from
the massive Paris project.
“The Toronto project was very sensitive and
high visibility,” said Grieg. “They thought it could
be an opportunity to inject more dynamics into the
bidding process.”
He said their timing was perfect because RPBW was on the lookout
for potential opportunities. “We thought the Toronto project would be
a great 昀椀t for us,” said Grieg. “It was well crafted, international, and
not 昀氀ashy or pretentious. The DBFM (Design Build Finance Maintain)
program type was good too. So, we put a team together for the competitive process.”
It took a year for the EllisDon team to create and submit a proposal
for the Toronto courthouse project after IO started the competition
in October 2016. One of two retained proposals, it was declared the
winner in February 2018. Construction on the new Toronto courthouse
got underway eight months later.
The team’s winning bid was based on a 30-year deal—a contractual
structure that Grieg said impacted every aspect of the project, from
the selection of building materials like cold-resistant wall claddings
and windows for Toronto’s northern climate to the design and details
needed to achieve optimum performance levels and allow easier
maintenance.
“The vision is much longer term on the life of the building,” he
said. “The interesting thing is that, from the start, we’re engaged at a
partnership level with the building and maintenance.”
The design concept too was elaborated with one eye on functionality—notably access, dignity, and independence—and another on the
look and suitability of a monument building that would respect and
add to the surrounding cluster of civic and legal landmarks in the
heart of downtown Toronto.
“It’s a very complex design that must consider di昀昀erent trajectories for three types of users: people, the judiciary, and prisoners,”
Greig said. “All three are independent and can’t and don’t cross one
another. That’s unique, like airports. But all three must arrive together
in the courtrooms. Security concerns and 昀氀ow all must work to make
that happen.”
In addition to creating spaces that were welcoming and digni昀椀ed,
Greig said the building was designed in relation to its surroundings.
“People don’t usually go to a courthouse to celebrate, it’s usually for a
di昀케cult life experience.
“The site was a parking lot, and the building would be a missing
piece in Toronto’s downtown civic centre,” said Grieg. “It’s located
right behind Osgoode Hall, which was built in the 1830s and is a
National Heritage site, and next to the Superior Court building, which
was built in the 1950s.
“It’s the last element of that three-building sequence. It’s really the
昀椀nishing touch of the Judicial District. It gives context and continuity,”
said Grieg.
Openness, together with city views and optimal natural lighting,
was also the driver behind the design of the 13-storey glassed tower
above the atrium. Though mostly opaque and insulated, the glass
has a two-panel system that is 40 per cent transparent, allowing it to
constantly interact with the sky and provide both a sense of scale and
changing vistas for passers-by.
“By integrating most Ontario Court of Justice criminal proceedings
into one courthouse, we’re supporting equal access to court services
that are currently dispersed across multiple court locations.”
RENEWCANADA.NET
“One layer is a steel embossed panel that looks like corrugated metal from a distance (and) the glass comes in front of that, and a visual
relationship happens,” said Grieg. “It’s an interesting process that creates a ‘shadow box’ of metal behind the glass at 100 metres of depth.
It gives the project an interesting depth and changes in appearance at
di昀昀erent times of day.”
Another feature of the new Toronto courthouse is the integration
of the latest technology in courtrooms. “Courthouses are evolving for
more 昀氀uidity and improvements and adoption of emerging technologies like video conferencing, which is a huge advancement,” said Grieg.
Several top o昀케cials from groups associated with the courthouse
project expressed satisfaction with both the building process and the
昀椀nished product at the o昀케cial opening ceremony.
Scott Hunter, vice president, operations at EllisDon, said he was
both amazed and proud of the work done by the hundreds of building
professionals and trades people who were involved in the construction of the new Toronto Courthouse.
“The size of the project speaks for itself,” said Hunter. “On paper
every detail is buildable. But when you realize that all the 昀氀oors,
walls, ceilings and their associated gaps and lines are in perfect alignment, the task becomes quite monumental.
“Add to that complexity the subtle but complex 昀椀nishes on all
surfaces, the architectural coordination of di昀昀users, speakers, antennae, cabinets and so on, and all the individual trades that needed to be
tightly coordinated to complete every square foot of wall within the
building,” he said.
“That complexity is not immediately obvious due to the subtle
nature of the design. But it becomes obvious when you consider the
logistics involved.”
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