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We all know that buildings don't always turn out like the renderings. Last-minute changes and real-life materials can all cause discrepancies between the vision and reality of a project. In our Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.
Residential architecture is often informed and confined by the demands of its inhabitants. Balconies, large windows, and efficient living spaces are among the most common traits of condominium development, with these characteristics being incorporated into modern residential projects across Edmonton. In the case of institutional architecture, the exterior and interior design take on drastically different scales, massing and facade treatment.
The recently opened Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering at the University of Alberta had the challenge of housing 28,500 square metres of educational, research and conference space; its exterior design and form clearly follows its function, and there's no mistaking the building for a residential highrise.
The 14-storey building represents all disciplines in the School of Engineering and serves as the home base for approximately 1,700 professors, students and staff. The eighth floor conference space, meeting rooms, servery and gathering space sits below the ninth floor offices of the Dean of Engineering. Sandwiched between the Windsor Car Park and the Chemicals and Materials Engineering building, the 16-metre-wide lot produced a massing that optimized space via upper levels that cantilever north and south over the neighbouring structures.
The DIALOG-designed building contains an elegant visual vocabulary on the inside, with an exposed structural steel system adding interest to what would otherwise be blank walls. Completed in fall 2015, the finished project closely matched the renderings that were provided before construction. The only discernible difference between the illustrations — showing the building from 116 Street NW — and what was ultimately built, is the pattern of the grey horizontal accents, and the formal name of the building emblazoned on the mechanical penthouse.
We will return in the near future with another comparison!
