Our vision for what has become the Tides Renewal Centre, was to create office space in the downtown eastside where a synergy of ideas and action towards social and environmental change is possible. Penner & Associates responded with determination to evolving programmatic requirements, multiple stakeholders and a funky heritage building. The end result being interiors that look and feel great! The environment enables capacity building not only for Tides Canada and Renewal, but also smaller enterprises and organizations.
Penner & Associates led an extensive team of consultants, achieving a rigorous sustainability agenda, beyond the LEED Canada-CI Gold certification the project is attempting. Their creativity in translating a complex program into a beautiful expression, and their attention and diligence to managing the project and budget was outstanding! —Joel Solomon, President & CEO | Renewal Partners Company
project overview
The Tides Renewal Centre is the result of an extensive interior fit-up in the restored and historically significant Flack Block—a landmark at the corner opposite Victory Square in downtown Vancouver.
Renewal, Renewal2 Investment Fund, Endswell Foundation and Tides Canada are the anchor tenants. These organizations reside in the centre along with other like-minded enterprises, entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations.
objectives
- Provide shared amenity spaces such as meeting rooms, kitchen cafes, bicycle storage and shower/change rooms
- Demonstrate sustainable building practices
- Feature the heritage characteristics of the building
- Maximize daylight and views
concept
The design contrasts the heritage character of the building with the clean, minimalist glazed office fronts. This transparent plane retains an internal connection to the exposed brick perimeter walls and brings daylight into the central open areas.
The guiding metaphor is the radiating undulations from tossing a pebble into water. Inspired by the compounding beneficial effects resulting from the different organizations’ activities, the ripple effect is demonstrated in the circular dropped ceiling and curved front of the 4th floor reception desk.
Lighting plays an integral part in the design—on opaque surfaces to reveal form and to graze texture, and through translucent and clear materials to de-materialize surfaces. Combinations of direct/indirect luminaires light up the ceiling to provide glare-free lighting for computer use.
The colour scheme employs a neutral palette featuring the natural colours of brick, aluminum, Douglas fir and stainless steel. It is balanced by warm white walls to maximize the reflection of daylight, and grounded by a charcoal carpet tile—representing a connection to the earth.
A different spectral hue is used as accent on each floor, giving a distinctive character. The rainbow spectrum symbolizes change and hope. The intent is to inspire the people working at the centre to continue in their efforts towards a brighter future.
LEED® Canada-CI certification candidate
In an effort to achieve a high level of certification, numerous credits are being attempted in all categories—Sustainable Sites, Energy & Atmosphere, Water Efficiency, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation & Design Process.
collaborators: Dominion Fairmile Construction; Katherine Metz (feng shui); Martin Tessler (photographer); McSquared System Design Group (acoustic/audio visual); Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture; Stantec Consulting (mechanical/electrical); Tides Renewal (client); WMS (commissioning)
