hen David Price talks about diplomacy, he speaks from Whard-won experience. Ernest Manning High School, the $52.5-million, LEED-Silver project he project-managed on behalf of The City of Calgary, was the product of a perfect storm of opportunity. It involved a host of players, each with their own needs and goals. There was The City of Calgary, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE), the Province of Alberta, an aging high school, approximately 1,800 high school stu- dents, and a new light rapid transit (LRT) system that required parking space. For three years, Price was at the cen- process, community concerns, costs and tre, juggling diverse needs, a fluid design schedules. In the end, constructive plan- REUBEN KRABBE ning and a team of committed and resil- ient partners, or what he calls “the ability and willingness to consider the greater Ernest Manning High School community good” won out. This year, nearly 1,800 grades 10 to 12 students will inhabit spacious new by Mary Frances Hill classrooms in a school that’s a model in project was made possible by a unique The school’s deferred maintenance bill welcome 1,800 students, rather than he says. “The way they’re placed, you’d tri-partyenergy efficiency memo of and understanding sustainability. (MoU The) had risen to more than $3 million. the 1,500 that were planned for. think the lights were on.” between the Province of Alberta, The With the new school at 69th Street Cinnamon, who worked as the archi- Landscaping proved to be a challenge, City of Calgary and CBE. The original and 17th Ave. SW, in the recently devel- tect of Centennial High School in 2004, according to Kristina Meehan-Prins, an budget for the base building for 1,500 oped Springbank Hill neighbourhood urban landscape designer with Carson students was $60 million. and across from a recreation centre, a worth of advances in sustainable design. McCulloch Associates Ltd. The Calgary It began with talks in 2008. As part planned LRT station, a new parkade with “Thesays t mechanical he desig n benef systems ited f romare fbecoming ive yea r s’ Board of Education demanded it be low- of a new LRT line currently under con- 1,000 stalls, nearby colleges, homes and more sophisticated, and the ability to maintenance and sustainable, in keeping struction, the City needed the original condominiums, the community is set to control them is greater than it used to with a LEED Silver project. That meant site of the 45-year-old Ernest Manning become a vital social hub. be,” he says. “The industry is evolving. To Meehan-Prins and company had to design High School to accommodate an LRT sta- The project used Centennial High be successful, architects and engineers landscape that thrives without irrigation. tion and future transit-oriented devel- School, built in 2004 for $20 million, as have to rely on each other.” “Calgary is dry and during the summer opment. The timing was right: where the a template. Dialog architects and engi- Designers were also very conscious in months if you’re not irrigating, you’re City needed an LRT station and to create their use of materials manufactured in- limited to what you can do.” redevelopment opportunities, the CBE a move that opened up a whole new ini- province, such as masonry and durable In the end, the 21,000 square me- needed either expensive renovations or tiativeneers flipped and interest the Centennial in the science floor behind plan, brick from Medicine Hat. Flooring was a replacement school. effective daylighting. completed in recyclable Marmoleum trees, 80 native shrubs, prairie mead- In 2008, the Calgary Herald reported Students and staff will enjoy a dis- and stained concrete, according to Chris owtres and of outdoor native grassesspace was and filled perennials. with 80 that students regularly wore jackets to placement ventilation air system, bright Bardell, project manager with Stuart Ol- Meehan-Prins clustered trees, such as class in the winter months because the corridors and an internal street system son Dominion. purple-leaved Schubert chokecherry, heating system was stressed. Staff mem- to provide a contrast against the facade bers were sometimes forced to use gar- with a library and cafeteria on one side bring staff together in a central loca- rib metal panelling and brick. The clus- bage cans to catch leaks from the roof, and– or backbonethree school – to wings enhance on the student other. flow, The tion,“We and also though modified there the is floora ‘super plan lab’ to tering made a visual focal point, create a situation that led to the gym’s closure. open atrium allows for natural light. designed for study in the sciences, most a micro-climate of sorts, and grading Warm brick colours, block work, wood - created a passive irrigation system. panelling and lighting “make it a very ible,” says Cinnamon. Leveraging resources in this pub- LOCATION classrooms remained generic and flex 20 Springborough Boulevard pleasing space,” says Price. In 2004, when architects placed lic-public partnership resulted in an Calgary, Alberta Centennial High School’s windows to integrated school, parkade and LRT OWNER/DEVELOPER - the north, to catch passive, low light, within the community, says David Price. Government of Alberta, The City of Calgary, pletedThanks months to a earlyfluctuating and under market budget, and they did so more out of instinct and in “Everyone worked together and was Calgary Board of Education accordingbuilders’ efficiency, to Doug Cinnamon, the school a was principal com aware of each other’s mandates: the GENERAL CONTRACTOR with Dialog. Once again, timing was key. it, says Cinnamon, who worked on the City’s prime focus was scheduling, the Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. “Initial budgets were set at the height of Centennialthe absence project of any six scientific years modelago. “We for Province desired value for money and the ARCHITECT/STRUCTURAL/ the boom, and we got into a period of de- would intuitively put glazing where it CBE needed quality in terms of academic MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL/ INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTANT escalation, so when the building came in would work well, but today the science function-ality and building performance. Dialog it was well under budget, and took some of daylighting is getting stronger and The support, capability and leadership of BUILDING ENVELOPE CONSULTANT pressure off,” says Cinnamon. stronger.” the designers and builders was appreciat- Building Science & Architecture Ltd. Less pressure meant more freedom The result: Ernest Manning’s atrium ed. In a project like this, relationships are LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT to expand. Bids had come in at 20 per is bright with southern light, but con- vital, and you need a balance of political Carson McCulloch Associates Ltd. cent lower than expected before con- tains fewer windows than Centennial’s. wisdom, project expertise and a respect TOTAL BUILDING AREA 160,000 square feet struction began. Cinnamon credits the Bardell says he was struck most by the for others,” he says. “No matter what the MoU partners and Stuart Olson Domin- effect of daylighting in the building. issue is, there’s always an option. And if TOTAL CONSTRUCTION COST $52.5 million ion Construction with acting quickly to “The windows are placed strategically there doesn’t seem to be an option, you add a third wing, enabling the school to to allow more daylight in normal hours,” work together and create one.” n

Ernest Manning High School April 2011 /105