Sector: Lab/Research Facilities
Ontario Ministry of Health
Ontario Agency for Health Protection & Promotion (OAHPP)
(Sheila Basrur Centre)
Following the 2003 SARS outbreak, Public Health Ontario needed a site to bring together academic, clinical, public health and government experts on infection control and prevention. HH Angus was instrumental in providing a high quality, energy-saving workplace to meet LEED-CI Silver standards, key to highlighting PHO's commitment to sustainable practices.
A new 250kW natural gas-fired generator installed on the roof is the heart of the command centre. Its purpose is to exclusively back up the Electrical and Supplemental HVAC systems serving the command centre. As the area has unusual 416/240V service, special voltage requirements were engineered to facilitate both lighting and power equipment. Harmonic-type transformers provided clean, non-distorted power to two distribution panels, 80KVA UPS, receptacle, lighting panels and HVAC units. The 80KVA UPS unit provides 30 minutes of non-interrupted power to the command centre to allow the generator to start and reach full load capacity.
Since the original building did not meet LEED HVAC requirements, we provided detailed and well-thought-out designs to meet LEED criteria. High efficiency fixtures reduced the burden on city water supply and waste water systems. In addition, lighting was a major component for the LEED-CI Silver criteria, with glare and contrast ratio control, linear fluorescent direct/indirect lighting systems, LED downlights, and daylight harvesting.
Information technology infrastructure was key to the successful long-term functioning of this facility. The infrastructure included telecommunications rooms, conduits, cable support systems and structured cabling systems. The IT rooms house all of the building’s telecommunications fiber optics and copper backbone systems, horizontal cabling system and networking equipment, including telephone, data and video services. In the meeting spaces, the large display wall is intended for daily presentation requirements but, in the case of an emergency response scenario, the room will serve as a 24x7 mission critical war room.
SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Communications Design | Lighting Design
PROJECT FEATURES
Status: Completed 2009 | 40,000 ft2 | 250kW natural gas generator for emergency back up power | 416/240 volt service required special engineering for lighting and power | 80 KVA UPS
LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario
KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
250kW natural gas-fired generator | Achieving LEED requirements, particularly for HVAC and Lighting | IT infrastructure
SickKids
Peter Gilgan Centre for Research & Learning
“This investment in the Research and Learning Tower will help ensure that Canada remains a world leader in health research, and that we will continue to make discoveries that benefit children around the world.”
– Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology
HH Angus provided mechanical and electrical consulting engineering for this 740,000 ft2 high-rise research and educational facility. This building enhanced the overall campus of SickKids, which totals over 2,500,000 ft2. SickKids is a landmark hospital and renowned internationally as a world-class institution.
The facility has been certified LEED® Gold. Energy modeling indicated a significant improvement over the minimum energy performance required by the program. Systems were segregated to achieve significant thermal reuse within the facility. The option to integrate a waste heat recovery system from the neighbouring district heating provider was incorporated into the design to realize even greater energy efficiency in future.
The building services design supported the main objectives for the new facility:
- Consolidate the Research Institute into a cohesive unit
- Integrate research functions with the hospital
- Provide flexibility for future change
- Maximize functionality and efficiency
- Share support functions
- Utilize current technologies and infrastructure, including a plan for increased security for highly specialized spaces such as Containment Level 3
- Incorporate exemplary sustainable “Green” building design concepts and system
- Create a high-tech, cost-effective space for evolving state-of-the-art technologies
The interesting design challenges inherent in this high-rise lab building contributed to both the complexity and enjoyment of the design process, including a 1½ storey vivarium and 40,000 ft2 of educational space.
Quote source: SickKids
SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering | IT & Communication Design | Vertical Transportation | Lighting Design
PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 740,000 ft2 with 40,000 ft2 educational space | Status: Completed 2013
LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario
KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Complex systems design for a tight downtown urban space | 1.5 storey vivarium | LEED Gold Certified | Incorporated options to permit a future waste heat recovery system
University of Toronto
Leslie L. Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
Canada’s largest pharmacy school, this 167,000 ft2 teaching and research facility includes practice laboratories, research facilities, a resource centre, lecture theatres and offices for faculty, staff and graduate students. The building is 16 storeys (13 above and three below grade), and supports the academic, research and teaching needs of more than 1,300 people daily.
A ‘repeatable’ environment is fundamental in research facilities. By designing steady and stable environmental conditions, experiments can be repeated without data corruption.
Program space includes 23 labs for pharmaceutical research. Laboratory features include distribution of lab gases, on-site nitrogen generation, Type II Reverse Osmosis water, and a ganged fume hood system sized to accommodate 65 fume hoods, complete with variable volume control and glycol heat recovery systems.
Conservation measures were applied to the laboratory systems to minimize energy use while meeting stringent laboratory standards. Separate plumbing systems were designed to avoid contamination by lab waste and to collect rainwater for distribution to the Winter Garden.
Signature ‘floating’ pods anchor the lighting design for the building’s dramatic five-storey atrium. Theatre-inspired lighting is computer controlled by a dimming system that changes the evening lighting every 15 minutes. Rather than attach luminaires to the pods themselves, which would have compromised the architect’s vision, the dramatic lighting comes from 128 – 375 watt and 300 watt quartz halogen lamps attached to black theatre pipes mounted on the vertical mullions. The fixtures can be moved up or down and become part of the spatial experience.
A 12-storey central atrium brings sunlight deep into the core in other parts of the building. For the upper perimeter, a high window system enables less expensive, concealed wall-wash lighting. Echoing the geometry of the interior architecture, LEDs were fixed into the handrails of hallways and bridges for emergency lighting.
SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Lighting Design
PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 167,000 ft2 | Status: Completed 2006
LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario
KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
23 labs for pharmaceutical reserch | Practice laboratories, research facilities, resource centre, lecture theatres, and offices for faculty, staff and graduate students | Signature floating pods lighting design | Energy conservation measures implemented | 12 storey atrium
Designed for flexibility
As with all research centres, we design for future uses of the space. We plan for flexibility, to allow for future IT development, or to enable the space to be retrofitted quickly and cost-effectively.
Award-winning lighting
The Pharmacy Building has been honoured with numerous international awards and press coverage and, in 2009, the Toronto Star newspaper named the Leslie Dan lighted pods as one of “175 Reasons to Love Toronto”. At dusk, the pods mimic the setting sun, bursting with fiery reds and deep blues. Colours advance through a palette of hues, starting on one pod and flowing to the other.
Public Health Ontario Laboratories
MaRS Discovery District
“Every day, the entrepreneurs and innovators at MaRS work on ideas that will save lives, invent whole new industries and create jobs we can’t even imagine today.”
— Glen Murray, then-Minister of Research and Innovation
The MaRS* Discovery District combines a variety of companies, research disciplines and professional services, specifically promoting cross-institutional collaboration. The complex comprises approximately 1.5 million ft2.
HH Angus was engaged by Public Health Ontario to engineer its space in the MaRS Phase II building, in order to provide a new public health laboratory in Toronto. The project was a leasehold improvement of approximately 160,000 ft2 on the top four floors of the MaRS Phase II Tower in Toronto.
The project scope included CL-2 and CL-3 laboratories and associated support systems, as well as related office, administrative and support space.
The CL-2 and CL-3 labs were designed, constructed, commissioned and certified in accordance with the Health Canada Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines, as well as other authorities having jurisdiction. Merrick and Company was involved in the CL-3 architecture and engineering design.
SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Vertical Transportation Design | Lighting Design | Communications & Security
PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 160,000 ft2 | Status: Completed 2014
LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario
KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Implemented new laboratory design | CL-2 and CL-3 labs | Associated support systems and office space
Safer spaces, lower costs
HH Angus negotiated with the City of Toronto for low level exhaust and supply. Instead of 1cfm/ft2, we implemented .75cfm/ft2. This resulted in the delivery of a safer site at less cost, as well as lower operating costs.
Density equals design complexity
This project was a complicated fitout, due to the high density of scientific equipment and associated requirements for mechanical and electrical infrastructure; for example, the large number of fume hoods on site.
*MaRS refers to Medical and Related Sciences, the original mandate for the operation. When the founders wanted to further the commercial potential of research and science investment, the acronym came to represent the P3 development as a whole.
Quote source: MaRS Centre Phase 2 Set for Completion in Fall 2013
Queen’s University
School of Medicine
The Queen’s University School of Medicine is a state-of-the-art multifaceted facility. This project updates, consolidates, expands and relocates the teaching, research, administrative and student facilities, which had previously been scattered across several buildings. The greenfield project was built to ensure sustained teaching and research excellence.
The building is 128,260 ft2 on five levels, plus a mechanical penthouse, and consists of a teaching facility comprising medical teaching spaces, simulation labs and surgical/technical skills labs, autopsy, microbiology and biochemistry labs and support spaces, physiology/pharmacology and support spaces, anatomy and dissection labs, two teaching theatres, medical teaching facilities and study rooms.
The design of this leading-edge facility included a fitout to enable electronic mannequins in the simulation labs, and medical gas installations to permit students to perform simulated procedures. Mechanical specifications encompassed special exhaust equipment in the autopsy rooms to evacuate chemicals used in autopsy processes and body preservation, as well as a fitout for body storage.
SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering
PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 128,260 ft2 | Status: Completed 2011
LOCATION
Kingston, Ontario
KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Mechanical penthouse | Teaching facility comprising medical teaching spaces, distinctive labs and support spaces | Fitout to enable electronic mannequins and medical gas installations