Located at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus (UBCO) in Kelowna, the Interdisciplinary Collaboration & Innovation (ICI) Building (x̌əl sic snpax̌nwixʷtn) is currently being constructed to facilitate essential research and academic programming.
The purpose of this building is to provide space to bring UBCO’s social sciences, natural sciences, humanities, creative field and professional disciplines together in an environment that inspires innovation and collaboration. The building will be approximately 146,000 square feet and include 200 and 100 seat lecture theatres. The interior of the building provides students with numerous research and knowledge creation spaces. This includes numerous open workstations, offices, labs and research facilities.
Williams Engineering (WE) is providing the building envelope consulting engineering services for the UBCO ICI Building. Close collaboration between WE and the design team is essential for a seamless design process, beginning at the 30% construction drawing stage. At this stage, building envelope systems are selected by the architect with consultation from WE’s building science team on performance, durability, and constructability. At the 60% design stage, WE worked with the designers and architect to evaluate the detail designs and provide feedback to reduce any need for revisions occurring later in the design process. WE will conduct a final review of the architectural design prior to the drawing package submission. Throughout the construction process, WE will provide thorough site reviews of all building envelope elements. These elements include foundation waterproofing and water management systems in addition to exterior wall, window, and roofing systems. Air, moisture, and thermal barriers are examined in detail due to the critical nature of these building envelope components.
At the beginning of the construction phase, our team reviewed and marked up the building envelope specification sections and evaluated alternate system approaches as requested by the design team. This was done to ensure alignment with performance, durability, and constructability goals. Lastly, our construction administration services include reviewing building envelope shop drawings for system suitability and constructability.
Designed to achieve LEED Gold Certification, the ICI Building prioritizes reduced carbon emissions and takes a building envelope first approach. This approach allows the design team to focus on selecting highly efficient, low maintenance equipment, designing sustainable building systems, and reducing energy loads wherever possible. The new ICI Building will fill the need for additional research facilities at UBCO while providing space that celebrates collaboration to inspire sophisticated solutions to real world challenges.
Our team is supporting UBC’s sustainability, durability, and energy performance goals throughout the project lifecycle. Upon completion, this facility will bring together students, faculty and staff for learning, engagement and collaboration. We recognize that inclusive design begins with respect for people, land, and culture. By contributing to this project, we are actively living our core value that diverse perspectives create diverse solutions (DPDS). This value is illustrated each day by our commitment to fully promoting diversity, equity and inclusion principles with our teammates, in the infrastructure we design, and with the communities we work alongside.
For more information about this project, visit: https://ok.ubc.ca/xelsicsnpaxnwixwtn/
