Location: Peterborough, Ontario
OAA Awards 2017 Design Excellence Finalist
Connected directly to the existing main social and academic building, the Kawartha Trades and Technology Centre (KTTC) is a new addition to the Sutherland Campus, which seamlessly brings together theoretical teaching and applied learning in a dynamic, new environment that emphasizes program visibility, technology, collaborative learning and the simulation of real-world conditions of the state-of-the-art facility.
Diagram Credit: Perkins+Will Canada Inc.
The design's mandate is that the building help create an immersive teaching environment, by demonstrating best practices in construction and sustainability, and displaying the various building systems and components in exciting new ways. This is exemplified in the exposed systems throughout the workshop areas, which enable greater program flexibility and a direct interface between the building and curriculum.
Common Area / Photo Credit: Tom Arban
The initial planning stage of the project was carried out in tandem with the overall campus master plan development. This identified new synergies between the larger campus-wide spaces and building. For example, a courtyard, originally dedicated to the campus pub was re-allocated and re-imagined as a flexible event space and outdoor seating area shared between the KTTC and the main student commons. This has dramatically increased the use of the space and helped further integrate academic and student life functions of the campus.
View of Lower Lobby and Courtyard/ Photo Credit: Scott Norsworthy
A triple-height multidisciplinary project space called the ‘learning factory’ with an integrated teaching ‘cube’ provides the central focus of the building. A four-storey ‘teaching cube’ inserted within the larger space simulates the environment of a construction site allowing the various trades to work side-by-side at height within a series of open terraces.
Teaching Cube in the Learning Factory/ Photo Credit: Scott Norsworthy
The design of the KTTC was guided by a strong commitment to environmental sustainability. The Centre implements a range of integrated water, energy and resource conservation strategies. These are demonstrated both through the building’s passive approaches to siting, natural day-lighting, and storm water management, and through its active systems such as its high-efficiency lighting, SMART controls and integrated heat recovery systems. The building is targeting LEED Gold certification.
Sustainability metrics:
- 31% Total Site Energy Use Intensity Reduction
- 10% Total Lighting Power Density Reduction
- 55% Total Fixtures, Potable Water Reduction
- 70% Total Landscape, Potable Water Use Reduction
View from North Entry Plaza / Photo Credit: Scott Norsworhty
The didactic nature of the building facilitates new opportunities in the programs and teaching curriculum, providing students an active role in building operation monitoring. This didactic role is further reinforced through the provision of a fully accessible teaching terrace on the roof, which has been designed to be fit out with a green roof, wind turbines and PV array. This feature, in combination with the College’s strong commitment to sustainable policies of material purchasing and recycling, has helped further engender a culture of environmental awareness and stewardship among the students.