The laurels continue for Halifax’s show-stopping new public library but for SNC-Lavalin’s local office, the story is equally one of satisfaction that their team was able to successfully transfer the architects’ spectacular design vision from drawings to the finished product.
The Halifax Central Library job, completed last December, was one of 20 projects honoured at the 2015 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards Gala. The awards are presented jointly by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-Canada (ACEC) and Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine.
SNC-Lavalin was given the Engineering a Better Canada Award in recognition of a project that best showcases how engineering enhances the social, economic or cultural quality of life of Canadians. The ACEC citation indicates that the project owner, Halifax Public Libraries, mandated that the project include "provision for a civic landmark and centrepiece for the Capital District that would showcase a rich resource centre for knowledge, learning and personal growth."
The Library also asked the project team to meet LEED Gold standards.
SNC-Lavalin was awarded the contract for structural and civil engineering. David Bulger, SNC-Lavalin’s manager of structural engineering for Atlantic Canada out of the Halifax office, started on the project in 2009. In 2010, the Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects was declared winner of a design competition with plans that incorporated "four rectangular shapes placed on top of one another and horizontally twisted to relate to the two diagonal directions that are dominant in the otherwise orthogonal grid of the city," explains its website. The design also aimed to take into account the historical axis between the Halifax Citadel and Halifax Harbour, reflect Halifax’s maritime heritage and also make the leap to the next stage in the evolution of libraries as important cultural hubs.
Bulger and his team knew they had their work cut out for them.
"With these ones where they draw public attention largely because of the shape of building, you have to work closely with the architects," said Bulger in a recent interview. "They like to push the envelope and we need to make sure everything works out on paper, so there is a lot of back and forth."
Schmidt Hammer Lassen took the role of design architect while Halifax’s Fowler Bauld and Mitchell served as prime consultant architect for the 15,000-square-metre structure.
"Keeping up to what the architect wanted was our biggest challenge," Bulger said. "There was a lot of shape and geometry to the building. We like to accommodate those guys any way we can but we still have to adhere to engineering requirements.
"A lot of times, we don’t have a full appreciation of what the architectural vision is going to be until after you get into the project. Sometimes it is damage control as you give them what they want and try to stick to a budget."
Similarly, attaining LEED Gold status was a continuing process, says Bulger. SNC-Lavalin did the structural and civil work while CBCL Ltd. was in charge of mechanical and electrical, and so both firms had their own responsibilities as they worked to compile LEED points.
Achieving LEED status comes with a cost, notes Bulger.
"It all takes effort, especially when you are talking LEED, they all come with a cost so we did have a LEED consultant as part of our team," explained Bulger. "Those guys kept us on the straight and narrow all through the process. We would talk about the LEED protocol and whether we are on track for Gold. You have a pretty good idea how you are doing throughout the project."
Every decision has an impact on achieving the desired LEED status, Bulger said. Structurally, materials have to come from nearby. Mechanical and electrical engineers monitor energy needs. Water usage protocols overseen by civil engineers dictate that the amount of water leaving the site cannot be any more after the build than before the project started.
"Some (responsibilities) are practical and come with very little cost and some of them are difficult to get depending on what kind of project you have."
Besides the ACEC award, the library also made the shortlist for the World Building of the Year award in the civics and community buildings category, at the World Architectural Festival, in Singapore Nov. 4-6.
Earlier, naysayers had questioned the need for a library in today’s digital world and there was talk that the price tag of $55-million (the final bill was $57.5 million) was too high, but today the feedback is vastly positive, says Bulger — there is often a lineup before opening with people looking to reserve their favourite spaces, he said.
"It definitely is one of those career-defining projects," said Bulger.
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