The Edge, a 10 storey office building, built on a single 15m wide lot, features one of Canada’s largest solar walls.
Its 560 photovoltaic panels provide 80% of the building’s electrical load. The design incorporates both insulated triple-glazed and quadruple-glazed systems. The open floor plates are naturally lit by comfortable north windows, requiring no blinds and little artificial light during most of the year. The building features large thermally-separated balconies and solar screens to control sunlight.
The development contains private educational facilities throughout seven floors, and private office space on the top two levels. The ground floor engages the street with changing pop-up uses. Eighteen underground parking spaces are accessed through the condominium apartment parkade next door, eliminating the need for a disruptive ramp at ground level.
The solar wall provides sustainable benefit, saving 26 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere annually. With a payback period of only 5-8 years, the solar wall is highly feasible from a financial point of view.
The flexible interior floor plate accommodates open planning for up to 10 enclosed offices along the north wall. Minimalist interiors kept construction costs very low. Heat pumps and lighting serviced from the dropped ceiling along the core allow for an unobstructed exposed concrete ceiling, convenient for demising. Air ducts are supplied along the beams and electrical floor outlets are served by ducts within the poured concrete floor.
Size: 56,500 sq ft/ 5,250 sq m
Construction cost: $15.5 million (CAD)/ £8.96 million (GBP)
Completion date: November 2018
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.