{"id":28627,"date":"2016-05-30T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T17:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/?p=28627"},"modified":"2016-05-30T20:44:05","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T03:44:05","slug":"false-creek-pink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2016\/05\/30\/false-creek-pink\/","title":{"rendered":"How False Creek Turned Pink"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/h5>\n

[Editor’s Note<\/strong>: As we, at Spacing Vancouver, have discussed i<\/a>n the past<\/a>, having intelligent urban lighting can transform a city. We are republishing this piece, written by Scot Hein and originally published in Price Tags<\/a>, towards continuing the conversation about the importance of having an urban lighting strategy.<\/em>]<\/p>\n

When is a district energy plant more than a district energy plant?<\/em><\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s reflect on the\u00a0Southeast False Creek Energy (SEFC) Centre<\/a>.\u00a0 Initially, the site for this new civic utility was to be located in the \u201cSawtooth Building\u201d which is located on the site of the former city works yard east of the Cambie Bridge.<\/p>\n

During initial design exploration for this location, city staff, along with Bruce Haden of Dialog<\/a>, became interested in the use of lighting effects to tell the \u201cstory of energy.\u201d The Light Columns<\/a> at the entry to Los Angeles LAX airport were seen as an interesting visual reference for what could be a public-art-like feature.\u00a0 As pre-design explorations continued, it became desirable to locate the new utility building under the south Cambie Bridgehead as this was \u201cfree land,\u201d and more importantly, this siting would not encumber future utility corridor locations for the Worksyard Neighbourhood, which would be the last to develop in Southeast False Creek.<\/p>\n

Also at this time, the City began to organize the ownership model, with the City itself being both a utility owner and development permit applicant.\u00a0 Planning staff insisted that the new building (approximately a third would be seen above grade) be as good as any building we might demand of the private sector.\u00a0 This meant hiring a skilled architect and public artist to execute the design with interest, especially as a \u201cteachable moment about district energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City, to its credit, engaged architect Walter Francl<\/a> along with <\/span>Stephanie Robb<\/a> for these respective roles.\u00a0 As the design process unfolded, it became evident that the building had an important urban design role to play in announcing its location as the intersection of the Cambie Promenade (from Cambie Village to False Creek), with the east-west pedestrian route between the existing community to the west along Spyglass and the future Worksyard Neighbourhood to be implemented as the last phase of SEFC.<\/p>\n

The ultimate siting, and shaping of the building became the early focus of the design process with Walter\/Stephanie offering the thoughtful triangular shape to creatively reconcile these urban design considerations.\u00a0 As various energy sources, including bio-mass, were being considered it became evident that the building must \u201cdo more\u201d, perhaps as a teachable moment in the urban landscape.\u00a0 A decision was taken to use sewer heat recovery, in lieu of bio-mass, given the immediate proximity to large trunk lines that facilitated the flow of warm raw sewage.\u00a0 The \u201cConfluence of Effluence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SEFC
Photography credit: Walter Francl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the technical work advanced, it also became necessary to introduce immediate and future boiler capacity that would emit clean steam as a strategy to augment sewer heat should this be necessary in colder times.\u00a0 The boilers would need vent stacks to discharge clean steam when called upon.\u00a0 This requirement generated the wonderful result of what some refer to as \u201cthe fingernails\u201d or the five one-meter- X three-meter-high LED panels that are clipped on to the top of each stack that rises above the south Cambie bridgehead on the east side.<\/p>\n

Stephanie was brought on board to execute this feature.\u00a0 Her early thinking generated what she referred to as the \u201cnail polish chart\u201d which reflected a variety of features and effects for breakfast, dinner and afterwards, at different times of the year.\u00a0 We were clearly having too much fun in those early days of the design process.<\/p>\n

\"fc-2\"<\/p>\n

Also at this time, we began to test mock-ups for the \u201cfingernails\u201d at different scales and under various conditions.\u00a0 This concluded with a mock-up in the field.\u00a0 I recall commenting to both Walter and Stephanie that summer evening that we are missing the mirrored disco ball and a funky background soundtrack (read George Clinton and Parliament or Barry White).<\/p>\n

The project was constructed on time and was awarded the AIBC Lieutenant-Governor of BC Gold Medal for Architecture in 2010<\/a>.\u00a0 This is the highest honour that our professional association recognizes. As a side note, \u00a0I understand that there were no cold showers (over 10,000 taken) during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n

This is where the story begins.<\/em><\/h4>\n

\"fc-4\"<\/p>\n

The LED panels were energized at occupancy with their colour and effects reflective of the real time consumptive habits for those on the system.\u00a0 The fingernails were our \u201cScarlet Letter\u201d for all Cambie Bridge motorists and pedestrians to see just how responsible, or not, those on the system were behaving.\u00a0 Overly consumptive \u2013 the panels trended to red.\u00a0 Dialed down \u2013 the panels trended to blue.\u00a0 This continues to be the default mode for the system.<\/p>\n

During design, we also discussed the possibility of taking the panels off-line in favor of a more specific colour\/effect.\u00a0 We always knew we could dial in orange for Halloween; red for Valentine\u2019s and Canada Day.\u00a0 On a whim, and with the assistance from project engineer Chris Baber, I e-mailed Gary Killacky who was one of the operating engineers on site along with Kieran McConnell. \u00a0 I asked him if he would not mind dialing up the five panels to \u201cpink\u201d to announce \u201cBreast Cancer Run for the Cure\u201d which was to occur that weekend.\u00a0 I wanted to attempt this programming change as my sister Melinda was recovering from her own challenges with breast cancer.\u00a0 This would be my little secret.<\/p>\n

Gary\u2019s initial response was \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cReally?\u201d\u00a0 And then a small miracle: Gary within about 10 minutes e-mailed me back to confirm that he had gone to the Run for the Cure Website, found the pink colour, had matched it to the Pantone Colour Website, and had made a matching lighting colour selection.\u00a0 The panels would be pink from Friday through Sunday. \u00a0(I am forever indebted to Gary and Chris for this kind act.\u00a0 We continue to have wonderfully creative, thoughtful engineers at Vancouver City Hall.)<\/p>\n

But this is where the story gets more interesting.<\/em><\/h4>\n

\"fc-7\"<\/p>\n

After a couple of years it occurred to me that we should not stop there.\u00a0 So I cold called Duncan Blomfield who was BC Place\u2019s Manager for Marketing and Communications, and could influence the lighting programming of the prismatic transom\u00a0that surrounds the entire stadium under the retractable roof, and simply asked him to match the Pantone colour as with the SEFC Energy Centre for that year\u2019s Run for the Cure Weekend.\u00a0 Duncan said, without hesitation or needing to run this up the flag pole, yes.<\/p>\n

With BC Place also pretty in pink, I phoned my friend at Science World, the wonderfully creative Kevin Kearns, along with Mila Cotic, who agreed immediately to do the same.\u00a0 Now with three significant, waterfront buildings glowing pink, we only needed to add the Olympic Plaza \u201cShip Ribs\u201d to complete the ensemble.\u00a0 I phoned Otto Kaufman in Engineering, who did so much heavy lifting behind the scenes on the OV file, \u00a0and he also agreed.\u00a0 So for two years we were able to enjoy what we, in the City\u2019s Urban Design Studio, would call \u201cPink False Creek.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Photography
Photography credit: Elena Doyle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I share this story at Gordon Price\u2019s insistence.\u00a0 It remains relevant towards a larger conversation about the value of an \u201cUrban Lighting strategy\u201d given our lack of seasonal light, and commanding reflective position on our waterfront.\u00a0 Perhaps this will generate a\u00a0discussion back at the hall.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Scot Hein<\/strong> is the University of British Columbia\u2019s Urban Designer.\u00a0 Prior to this work he was the Senior Urban Designer for the City of Vancouver and led the city\u2019s high profile <\/em>Urban Design Studio for 10 years of his 20 year career. \u00a0His work included the urban design and implementation of new plans for the city\u2019s West End, Downtown East Side, Cambie Corridor and Mount Pleasant.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s Note: As we, at Spacing Vancouver, have discussed in the past, having intelligent urban lighting can transform a city. We are republishing this piece, written by Scot Hein and originally published in Price Tags, towards continuing the conversation about the importance of having an urban lighting strategy.] When is a district energy plant moreContinue reading “How False Creek Turned Pink”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11233,25,11235,11237],"tags":[2285,519,33,859,1659,623],"class_list":["post-28627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-infrastructure","category-urban-design","category-waterfront","tag-bc-place-stadium","tag-false-creek","tag-public-art","tag-science-world","tag-south-east-false-creek","tag-urban-lighting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow False Creek Turned Pink - 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