Academic: Post-Secondary

U of C - MacKimmie Complex Redevelopment

Project Details

U of C - MacKimmie Complex Redevelopment


Location

Calgary, AB, Canada

Owner/Client

University of Calgary

Completion

2019 - Tower; 2022 - Link & Block

Role

Electrical Engineering Consulting Services & Specialty Lighting Design

Sustainability

CaGBc Zero Carbon Building Standard (ZCB-Design v1)

Awards
  • 2022 Consulting Engineers of Alberta (CEA) - Award of Excellence in Building Engineering - Institutional
  • 2021 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards (CCEA & ACEC) - Award of Excellence, Buildings
  • 2021 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards (CCEA & ACEC) - Tree for Life Award

The MacKimmie Complex Redevelopment project entails a comprehensive renovation and expansion of the existing Library Tower, full demolition and reconstruction of the adjacent Link and Block facility, and complete revitalization/redevelopment of the surrounding landscape area known as Swanmall.  The new MacKimmie complex (the old having been previously underutilized) will serve to revitalize the campus community whilst providing the University new administration space and high performance and collaborative learning facilities. The project was awarded the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) Net Zero Carbon Standard; the first in Alberta and the largest project in Canada to receive this certification.

Unique to this project is the deployment of a full IP-based lighting control system, dually utilized for control of building and landscape lighting, as well as building plug load; ingenuity in line with the project’s Net Zero mandate.  Additionally, this mandate directly supported the incorporation of three systems of photovoltaics inherent in the design of the Tower, Link/Block and the Block curtain wall system. Both the Tower and Block buildings are equipped with roof top, fixed tilt, horizontal solar arrays (design combined output of 500kW DC (STC) and simulated annual production over 500MWh) and the block façade, will be equipped with glazing integrated, semitransparent crystalline silicon based cells (design combined output of 100kW DC (STC) and simulated annual production of over 75MWh).

The telecommunications systems infrastructure will also be the first of their kind on campus, as the MacKimmie Complex will consist of a full Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) solution.  Telecommunications services are distributed from two new campus head-end Optical Line Terminals (OLT) throughout a raised access floor system and grid of Optical Network Terminals (ONT’s), via fiber optical cabling (at all levels of network architecture) direct to user, providing local gigabit upstream and downstream capability.   Adoption of the GPON solution also allowed a minimization of communications active equipment requirements throughout the complex which in turn, drastically lessened the floor by floor cooling requirement (from a heating and ventilation standpoint), another step towards achieving the project’s Net Zero goal.

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