The Pacific Wildlife Research Centre (PWRC) is located on Westham Island, Delta,British Columbia, and is on a site of 720 acres surrounded by inland water and dikes. Environment Canada (EC) acquired the property from the Reifel Family in1972 which currently houses 48 staff consisting of EC employees and research associates from Partners, NGO's and Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.
The subject project replaced an existing one storey structure with a new two storey building consisting of a main floor library and meeting rooms and a second storey with twenty new workstations for scientists, biologists, planners and technicians. The addition is visually distinct by designing the building using green features.
The new building utilizes a narrow depth office floor plate for superior daylighting and an efficient naturally ventilated space with opening windows. The window pattern and structural grid are generated from the planning module for workstations in the open office offering a direct connection between users and the sanctuary.
The problem
During summertime, the windows were not protected from the high solar heat levels causing discomfort in the workstations. For this project, the sunlight was elevated causing the radiation to hit the windows from an indirect angle to the building. Therefore, a different method of installation was required for some windows on the building.
The solution
To find a barrier to this solar orientation, Microlouvre Koolshade® was installed as vertical fins to block the east-west sunlight from entering the windows during peak heat gain periods in the summer. Microlouvre Koolshade® noticeably reduced overheating, controlled glare to the workstations and provided additional deterrence to bird strikes at the glazing.
Results
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Thermal comfort
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Reduced room temperature
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Controlled glare nuisance
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Optimised solar heat gain control
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Bird protection
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Made from +90% recycled copper scrap
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Highly sustainable
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100% recyclable
