HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING

Transcription

1 HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING DESIGN BRIEF AND PLANNING RATIONALE June 30, 2015 Montgomery Sisam / NXL / Bryden Martel Architects 1066 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4T3 Voice: Electronic: bryden@brydenmartel.on.ca

2 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION SITE CONTEXT DESIGN STATEMENT PLANNING RATIONALE INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW STATEMENT SUMMARY... 11

3 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University INTRODUCTION Carleton University proposes to substantially expand their health sciences educational facilities with the construction of a new health sciences building. The building is to be located in the sector designated in the Campus Master Plan of 2010 as the Academic West Campus in which the science faculties are located. The proposed development fits well within the planning concepts and strategies of the Master Plan. This Planning Rationale has been prepared on behalf of Carleton University to support an application for Site Plan Control for development of this major facility and to demonstrate how the proposed development is in conformance with the following: Carleton University Master Plan City of Ottawa Official Plan City of Ottawa Zoning By-Law 2.0 SITE CONTEXT 2.1 Site Location The site is located deep within the Campus on Campus Avenue. The site is bordered on the north by an existing surface parking lot with the School of Architecture building beyond. On the east by Campus avenue and the existing raised light rail single track. The recently constructed River Building is to the south and on the west starting at the north end is the University Centre, a major surface pedestrian link to the Quad and the Steacie Science Building.

4 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University Site Description There are no existing buildings on the site and the majority of the site is currently used as a surface parking lot. The site slopes gently downward to the south. Existing young trees are planted parallel to Campus Avenue and the embankment of the raised light rail track adjacent to Campus Avenue is heavily vegetated with informal growth. The site is adjacent to one of the primary ground surface pathways that traverse the Campus. This pathway generally links the east Academic Campus to the West Academic Campus and furthermore supports pedestrian movement to and from the light rail station located nearby on Campus Avenue. A picturesque feature of this pathway is the significant meandering rise that it has as it runs from the forecourt of the University Centre up toward the Quad and the buildings surrounding the Quad.

5 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University Existing Land Use Designations City of Ottawa Official Plan The site is located within the General Urban Area as shown on Schedule B - Urban Policy Plan. Instituional uses such as post secondary educational facilities are permitted within this designation. In accordance with Annex 5 of the Official Plan, the site does not fall within a Community Design Plan or Policy Plan area Secondary Plans and Site Specific Policies There are no Secondary Plans or Site Specific Policies that apply to this site Zoning By-Law The subject property is zoned I2A F(1.5) which is a Major Institutional Zone with no height limit. The purpose of the I2-Major Institutional Zone is to: Ensure that major institutional uses such as hospitals, colleges and universities are located at appropriate locations within areas designated as General Urban Area, Central Area and Mixed Use Centre in the Official Plan Ensure that these large scale, high traffic generating institutions locate only on large parcels of land, with direct access to an arterial road and near rapid transit stations Impose regulations which ensure that the size and intensity of these uses is compatible with adjacent uses Permit minor institutional uses and provide for a range of ancillary service uses. Post secondary educational facilities are a permitted use within the provisions of the Zoning By-Law for the I2A Major Institutional Zone. The zone regulations require minimum front, minimum side, minimum rear, minimum corner and a minimum interior side yard setbacks all of 7.5 metres. There is no restriction on lot coverage. 3.0 DESIGN STATEMENT 3.1 Design Proposal This new academic facility will house the departments of Neuroscience and Health Sciences in a 7 storey building of 11,102 square metres, research/teaching labs, and faculty offices on levels 2 to 7, as well as a large lecture theatre on the ground floor. Located on Campus Avenue, the building accepts the orthogonal geometry of the buildings that form the West Academic Campus. The compact footprint of this proposal responds to the Carleton University Campus Master Plan, the context, the site and the internal functional requirements in a number of ways.

6 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University 4 The Master Plan envisages the location of major academic facilities in a compact arrangement in the Academic Campus so that they are co-related within a walking distance of 10 minutes duration. The development of this Health Sciences building on what is referred to in the Master Plan as the Campus Entry Quad fits the priority basis on which the Master Plan sees future growth occurring. The building will contribute to the spatial reinforcement of the Campus Entry Quad. Furthermore the site is relatively unconstrained which is an asset for the financial aspects of the development.

7 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University 5 The general internal functional organization fo the building has the main entrance and ground floor lobby, as well as lobbies on each floor located to the north, animating the future Entry Quad and the approach from Campus Avenue. Workspace and office space are located to the east, providing views to the East Campus and the Rideau River. A utilities service rack is located to the west, minimizing the worst solar heat gain and providing an opportunity for the facade to terminate the axis of the green link through the campus. Laboratory spaces are located adjacent to the utilities service rack to provide direct linkages between the two. At the ground floor, a one and a half storey porch creates a pedestrian scale and connects the public functions of the building with the Campus fabric. At the north, the porch serves as a pedestrian link from Campus Avenue to the system of green pedestrian walks and Main Quad. At the east, the porch provides north south pedestrian link towards the River Building. At the west a glazed link provides a pedestrian connection to the Steacie Building and the tunnel system. In support of Carleton s Campus Master Plan to create an environmental responsible and sustainable campus, this building will be designed as an energy efficient building and will incorporate intelligent building features. The project will be designed to achieve Green Globe certification and is on target to obtain a level of 5 Green Globes. Views of the proposed new facility follow:

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10 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University PLANNING RATIONALE 4.1 Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 All decisions affecting land use planning are required by the Planning Act, 1990, s. 3(a) to be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement. This development proposal conforms to requirements of the Provincial Policy Statement by: efficient use of infrastructures and public services that are available or planned within the settlement area of the City of Ottawa s urban boundary; utilizing existing municipal water supply, sanitary and storm sewers; promoting a healthy active community through on-site development of pedestrian and cycling pathways; protecting public health and safety through investigation of existing condition of the site and review of its past uses to ensure no natural or human-made hazards are present. 4.2 City of Ottawa Official Plan The site is located within the General Urban Area as shown on Schedule B - Urban Policy Plan. Post secondary education facilities are permitted within this designation. In accordance with Annex 5 of the Official Plan, the site does not fall within a Community Design Plan or Policy Plan area. 4.3 City of Ottawa Zoning By-Law As noted in Section 2 above, the site is zoned I2A F(1.5). Post secondary educational facilities are a permitted use within the provisions of the Zoning By-Law for the I2A Major Institutional Zone. There is no height restriction and the zone regulations require all yards to be at least 7.5 metres from property lines. In this instance the entire Campus is the property of Carleton University and the proposed new facility is not adjacent to any property lines. Required setbacks do not apply to this development.. Part 4 of the Zoning By-Law stipulates parking and loading provisions. This new educational facility generates a zoning mandated requirement for 50 additional parking spaces. The facility will eliminate 84 existing parking spaces and thus the net new requirement is 134 additional spaces. The overall Campus wide provision of parking spaces is currently 4,637 spaces and the overall Campus parking requirement pursuant to the zoning bylaw requirement with the net additional spaces required for this development is 3,591. The zoning requirements for parking spaces are therefore well met. Two loading spaces have been provided. The By-Law requires two loading spaces for buildings between 5,000 square metres and 9,999 square metres. The gross floor area of the proposed building as calculated in accordance with the Zoning By-Law is 6,550 square metres.

11 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University 9 The Zoning By-Law requires 1 bicycle parking space per 250 square metres in area for a post secondary educational facility. Therefore, the minimum number of bicycle spaces required is 27 and this additional number is well covered by the overall Campus provisions for bicycle spaces. The development as proposed conforms to the requirements of the City of Ottawa Zoning By-Law. 5.0 INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW STATEMENT 5.1 Overview of Technical Studies Technical studies that have been completed as required for the Site Plan Control Application are included in the submission package and their conclusions are briefly summarized below. Each one is in support of the proposed development. 5.2 Geotechnical Investigation The Geotechnical Investigation was prepared by Paterson Group Inc. and is dated March 12, The subject site is considered satisfactory for the proposed development. The building will be founded on conventional spread footings extended to the dense glacial till deposits underlying the site. A bearing resistance at SLS of 250 kpa and a factored bearing resistance value at ULS of 400 kpa are identified by the Paterson Group. Shear wave velocity testing was completed confirming that the Seismic Site Classification is C. Underlying soils on the site are not susceptible to liquefaction. 5.3 Phase I - Environmental Site Assessment The above report was prepared by Golder Associates. and is dated June The purpose of the environmental assessment was to research the past and current use of the site and adjacent properties and identify any environmental concerns with th potential to have negatively impacted the subject property. No environmental concerns were identified with respect to the history of the subject site or neighbouring lands. No concerns were identified with the current use of the site or the neighbouring lands. Based on these findings, a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment was not deemed to be required. 5.4 Transportation Brief A Transportation Brief was prepared by AECOM and is dated June In summary, the development proposed will have little impact on future traffic conditions in the area. It was estimated that the building will generate 76 vehicle trips in the morning peak hour and 74 vehicle trips in the afternoon peak hour. The new vehicle trips will access the University at the intersections of Bronson Avenue with University Avenue and Colonel By Drive with University Avenue.

12 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University Servicing and Stormwater Management Report The Servicing and Stormwater Management Report for this development outlines site servicing criteria and civil engineering calculations pertaining to the servicing of the new 7 storey academic building to be located on the west side of Campus Drive, in the southern section of the Carleton University Campus. The format of the report is based on the development servicing study checklist found in section 4 of the City of Ottawa's Servicing Study Guidelines for Development Applications, November The building will be located on an existing parking lot, and will be serviced from the campus utility networks. Existing grading and servicing conditions are shown on drawings accompanying the report as are the proposed servicing and grading for the building site. Another drawing provides the locations for removals of existing utilities, and sediment and erosion control requirements. The proposed drainage system consists of eight flow control roof drains, connected to a 300 mm diameter storm service discharging to the existing 300 mm storm sewer on the west side of the proposed building. The required storage to mitigate the area of impact is provided using ponding at the roof top level. The report concludes that the proposed development can meet all required servicing constraints and associated requirements. 5.6 Transportation Noise and Vibration Assessment Gradient Wind Engineering Inc. has prepared a transportation noise and vibration study for the proposed Health Sciences building and it is dated June The building will rise approximately 37 metres above the adjacent natural grade. The major source of transportation noise is the O-Train LRT line to the east. The assessment is based on : Theoretical noise prediction methods that conform to the Ministry of the Environment and City of Ottawa requirements. Noise level criteria as specified by the City of Ottawa Environmental Noise Control Guidelines (ENCG). Future railway traffic volumes based on projections form the Trillium Line Extension Planning and Environmental Assessment Study. Architectural drawings provided for the development. The results of the analysis indicate that noise levels will range between 31 and 54 dba during thedaytime period (07:00-23:00) and between 25 and 48 dba during the nighttime period (23:00-07:00). Thehighest noise level, 54 dba, occurs along the east façade, which is nearest and most exposed to the O-Train LRT. Outdoor noise levels are below the ENCG objective noise level of 55 dba. As such, no noise control measures or mitigation are required. Minimum building construction in all areas is required to satisfy the Ontario Building Code. The highest vibrations levels were measured at ground level along the Campus Avenue sidewalk, at a distance of 35 metres from the railway. The measured levels were found to be 0.09 mm/s RMS (71 dbv). Therefore, vibrations from the O-Train LRT will not be perceptible beyond a distance of approximately 35 meters from the railway along this section of the track. Since vibration levels are low, ground-borne noise is also expected to be low.

13 Health Sciences Building, Carleton University Tree Conservation The approach to tree conservation is show on the landscape drawing that was prepared by MMM Group. 6.0 SUMMARY The proposal for Site Plan Control complies with the policies of the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005, the City of Ottawa Official Plan, the City of Ottawa Zoning By-Law. The proposed development is therefore recommended for the site. Prepared by David J. Bryden B. Sc., B.Arch., OAA, OAQ, MRAIC