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PM#40069240 www.building.ca

February/March 2012

CDN $4.95

PLUS:Reinventing public consultation

Commemorating the War of 1812

Commercial leasing remedies

RefiningCityHalls

1952 - 201260th Anniversary
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Contents

FeaturesLets Talk/The tricky, often painful realm of public consulta-tion is changing from a have-to-do to a want-to-do, and

those not pushing its boundaries may be doing a disserviceto the communities they govern or seek to build within.By Andrew Sobchak|PAGE 14

Refined Wine in Old and New Bottles/Three new cityhalls in southern Ontario are all quite different yetcombine local awareness with attachment to simplicityof form and expression.By Rhys Phillips|PAGE 18

Inside the Past/To commemorate the War of 1812bicentennial, Reich+Petch Architects helped theSt. Lawrence Parks Commission and others enhancethe on-site immersive experiences of their historicmonuments and forts.By Tyler Davie|PAGE 25

Fast, Cheap(er) and Out of In Control/There were no ties,but lots of tablets and laptops and non-stop discussionsabout the cloud, infinite computing, mobile devices and

collaboration at Autodesk University 2011 in Las Vegas.By Peter Sobchak|PAGE 27

DepartmentsEditors Notes|PAGE 5 Upfront|PAGE 7

Market Watch|PAGE 10 Legal|PAGE 12

Infosource|PAGE 29 Viewpoint|PAGE 30

Above: Northeast view of Hamilton City Hall. Photo byJesse Colin Jackson.

Cover:Vaughan Civic Centre clock tower. Photo by Maris Mezulis.
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www.building.ca4 BUILDINGFebruary/March 2012

Life after the back cover

whats on BUILDING.ca

Potential Impact of Climate

Change on the Building EnvelopeThere are early signs appearing of what

is commonly referred to as the effect of

climate change on new and existing

buildings. Brian Burton, an R&D specialist

and a certified CGSB/ICPI Construction

Inspector, explains how any significant

change in weather patterns will almost

certainly require a modification to themanner in which we design, construct,

manage and maintain buildings.

PR 101, pt. 4: What to say when

you have nothing (new) to sayIn his ongoing series of columns providing PR

tips for design-related firms, David Lasker,

president of David Lasker Communications

and associate editor of Canadian Interiors,

explains how to drum up interest when

theres nothing new or world-record-setting

to write about.

Where is the conserve in

Harpers Conservatives?Attitudes have changed, and Canadian

leaders need to keep up.

Prime Minister Harpers1960s piano tunes may

be timeless, but hissingle-minded approach

to developing newenergy supply is long

out of fashion.

Read

Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter,

full of fresh news, stories, videos,

slideshows and more, only available

on our website.

Follow

AttendLight+Building 2012/ April 15-20 / Frankfurt, Germany

Coverings 2012/ April 17-20 / Orlando, Florida

15th Annual Sustainable Building Symposium/ May 3 / Calgary

ULI Real Estate Summit at the Spring Council Forum/ May 8-10 / Charlotte, North Carolina

ExploreTake a closer look at the new architectural and design features of the

Hamilton City Hall and Milton Town Hall, both by +VG Architects.

Jeff Murdock,vice-president of

Building Insight

Technologies Inc.
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February/March 2012 BUILDING 5www.building.ca

1952was the year Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Vincent Massey wassworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada, andthe U.S. detonated the worlds first hydrogen bomb. The Baby Boomer

generation was emerging, and it was a time when most Westerners considered themselves tobe prospering. Average Canadian workers earned just under $60 a week, most families owneda car and a telephone, and house builders were frantically trying to keep up with the surg-ing demand. There were about 150,000 marriages during 1951. Immigration stood at thehighest point since before World War I, probably including 35,000 family units among the170,000 newcomers, said editor Edward C. Smith in the March 1952 edition of the brandnew Canadian Builder, the granddaddy to this magazine.

1952 was the year Canadian Builderhit full stride. This robust black-and white producedby Holliday Publishing Limited out of Montral would go on to cover all aspects of the Ca-nadian construction and real estate development industries, and bear witness to the radicallyevolving face of this country.

And of course evolution happened to the magazine as well. It has changed owners, head-quarters, and even names over its 60 years: Canadian Builderbecame Canadian Building, andeventually settled on Building. As I am sure Smith and many of the subsequent editors of thismagazine have said in one way or another, the only constant is change. So it should be nosurprise that Buildingis undergoing some changes as well. The most obvious will be a sleeknew look between the covers, executed by the deft hands of Stephen Ferrie. And in honour

of our 60th anniversary, for 2012 the Viewpoint department will be featuring key figures inCanadian real estate development that have lived, worked, and witnessed the progression ofour industry during the lifetime of this magazine. Our first is Harold Shipp, chairman of Mis-sissauga, Ont.-based Shipp Corporation, who began building and selling houses as a teenagerin 1945, and is still going strong.

Some of our biggest advancements wont be seen on the printed pages, however. As every-one alive today should attest, medias biggest undiscovered country is the hyper-active worldof the Internet. While Buildinghas had a website for years, in 2012 our online content willbe super-charged with various media including photos, videos and sound bites in addition tofresh news and stories only available on our website and weekly e-newsletter. Early 2012 alsosaw the launch of our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in order todo as Jeff Jarvis, author of the 2009 bestseller What Would Google Dosuggests: elegantly or-

ganize what already happens in our workplaces, shopping malls, at home, over the phone andeverywhere else in our lives people talk to people. Simply put, social media facilitates theseconversations, and we want to have a conversation with you, our reader.

A lot has happened over the past 60 years, and looking forward, theres going to be evenmore to talk about.

,.

Audit Bureau of Circulations

Proud

member of

EditorPeter Sobchak

Art DirectorStephen Ferrie

Legal EditorJeffrey W. Lem

ContributorsSheri Craig, Tyler Davie,

Rhys Phillips, Andrew SobchakCirculation ManagerBeata Olechnowicz

Tel: (416) 442-5600 ext 3543

Reader ServicesLiz Callaghan

Advertising SalesGreg Paliouras

Tel: (416) 510-6808

Email: [email protected]

Senior PublisherTom Arkell

Vice President, PublishingBusiness Information Group (BIG)Alex Papanou

President,Business Information Group (BIG)Bruce Creighton

Peter Sobchak Editor

AND COUNTING

60

Volume62 Number1
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SAVING energymakes sensebusinesssense.

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A mark of the Province of Ontario protected under Canadian trade-mark law. Used under licence.

OMOfficial Marks of the Ontario Power Authority.

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UPFRONT

EllisDon to build newRyerson University StudentLearning Centre

MISSISSAUGA EllisDon has beenchosen by Ryerson University as theConstruction Manager to build its new

Student Learning Centre in downtownToronto. The 155,463-sq.-ft., eight-storey building at the corner of Yongeand Gould Streets includes an impressiveglass faade and will be a significantcontributor to the revitalization of thecitys core. Ground is expected to bebroken on the $112-million project earlynext year and construction is expected tobe completed by winter 2014.

The Student Learning Centre willbe a truly transformative space where

our students can collaborate, create andinnovate, said Sheldon Levy, presidentof Ryerson University. Were delightedto partner with EllisDon, one of Canadasleading construction firms, to build thiscentre. They were chosen because oftheir extensive building experience in theeducation sector, the quality of their teamand the commitment that they have shownto Ryerson on this complex project.

The building will be a stunningaddition to the city and the university

campus, providing students with a variety

of space for individual and group study.Along with the glass faade, there will bean elevated plaza, a bridge connecting tothe existing Library and academic, studyand collaborative spaces. The groundfloor will feature prominent commercialretail space facing outwards onto Yonge

Street. International architecturalteam Zeidler Partnership Architects ofToronto, and Snhetta of Oslo, Norway,designed the building and unveiled therenderings to the Ryerson communitylast April. With the investment of $45million from the province, and the talentand expertise of our partners EllisDonand our fine team of architects, thisbuilding will make a bold statement onYonge Street and help to rejuvenate theheart of this city, said Julia Hanigsberg,

vice president, Administration andFinance, Ryerson University.

CaGBCs streamlined LEEDCanada certification planaims to shorten the process

OTTAWA The Canada GreenBuilding Council (CaGBC) hasmade changes to the LEED Canadacertification process that it hopes willstreamline certification to less than

six months. To better meet the large

market demand for LEED certificationin Canada, the CaGBC has alreadyincreased internal staff to address themajority of backlogged projects and

delayed Credit Interpretation Requests(CIRs). In addition, the CaGBC hiredfour new review teams, bringing the totalto six teams who are now working tocertify projects.

Based on recommendations madeby a taskforce established in June 2011,changes to the certification processinclude: shortening the three-stagecertification pathway to two stages forLEED Canada NC 1.0 and LEEDCanada CS 1.0 projects; investing intechnology infrastructure to improvethe administration of certification; andintroducing a design review process.LEED Canada NC 2009 and LEEDCanada CS 2009 projects will have theoption of submitting design-stage creditsand prerequisites immediately followingdesign. The design review will allowissues to be addressed while the relevantparties are still engaged. It will alsoprovide teams with greater clarity as tothe likely outcome of certification, andallow for adjustments to be made before

final certification.Delays in certification also stem from

the failure of applicant teams to respondto certification reviews in a timely manner.To streamline LEED certification, theCaGBC will be introducing measures tohelp encourage quicker response timesfrom applicant teams.

To assist applicant teams seekingcertification, CaGBC offers a Speed upYour LEED Certification: Getting it Rightthe First Time interactive workshop that

discusses the more complex documentationrequirements. Additionally, early in 2012CaGBC will offer an on-demand onlinesession addressing the process associatedwith certification.

Canadian ConstructionAssociation applauds federalinfrastructure announcement

OTTAWAThe Canadian ConstructionAssociation (CCA), a national non-

residential construction association

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UPFRONT

representing over 17,000 members in astructure of some 70 local and provincialconstruction associations, welcomed thefederal governments strategy to develop a

successor program for the current BuildingCanada Plan. This will ensure that therewill be no federal funding gaps when theexisting Building Canada Plan expires inMarch of 2014, said Michael Atkinson,president of CCA.

CCA members have long advocated afederal leadership role in the developmentof a long-term national plan for themanagement and renewal of Canadasaging infrastructure. The introduction ofthe Building Canada Plan was welcomedby the Canadian construction industry.[The] announcement reconfirms thisgovernments intent to remain a long-term funding partner in the developmentand management of infrastructure acrossCanada, said Atkinson.

Grosvenor Americas acquiresoffice/retail building inCalgary

CALGARY Grosvenor Americas hasacquired 1520 Fourth Street in CalgarysBeltline district through Avison YoungCommercial Real Estate. This 10-storey,106,000-sq.-ft. office building includes24,000 square feet of retail space and a34,000-sq.-ft. surface parking lot that canbe developed in the future. This bringsGrosvenor Americas total acquisitionsin 2011 to four.

1520 Fourth Street was built in 1974and was acquired in 2005 by Great WestLife, which invested over $2.3 millionin capital improvements. GrosvenorAmericas plans to spend approximately$1 million more for additional upgrades.

The property is located at theintersection of 4thStreet, a main arterial

leading into the city centre from thesouth, and 17th Avenue, the Beltlinesmain commercial corridor. It is just eightblocks from the central business district,

with extensive public transportationoptions. The building is more than 90 percent leased, with office tenants includinggovernment, accounting, oilfield services,education, and several restaurants.

Despite Canadian and global economicuncertainty, Calgarys economy andcommercial real estate market are thriving,with more than 86,000 jobs created inCalgary in 2011 (according to StatisticsCanada). Calgarys unemployment rateof 5.4 per cent is well below the nationalunemployment rate of 7.4 per cent.

HOOPP plans major office,retail development on 33-acre property

TORONTO The Healthcare ofOntario Pension Plan (HOOPP) hasacquired a 33-acre property near PearsonInternational Airport, and is planning todevelop more than 1.1 million square feetof office space, and 75,000 square feet ofcommercial space. The news comes on the

heels of HOOPP receiving LEED CanadaGold certification status for its AeroCentreV development, located nearby.

The project will be a plus for Mississaugaarea businesses, says Lisa Lafave, HOOPPssenior portfolio manager. The projectwill cater to what businesses in the areahave been seeking for many years high-performance work environments withaccess to amenities and efficient publictransportation connecting to the subwaysystem. HOOPP will work to high LEED

standards on the new development, aimingfor another Gold certification.

International ULIredevelopment competitionselects Weston Village forrevitalization grant

TORONTO Urban Land Institute(ULI) Toronto District Council, inpartnership with Metrolinx and theCity of Toronto, have announced

that their joint submission titled John

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Street Revitalization/Streetscape Planwas selected as part of an internationalcompetition for ULIs Urban InnovationFund. The grant of $23,750, when

matched by partner organizations, willinject between $75,000 and $85,000to kick-start urban development andrenewal of Weston Village, an area inneed of revitalization.

Weston Village is a neighbourhoodbounded by Weston Road and LawrenceAvenue in the citys west end. As the areahas been experiencing new immigrantgrowth, it has been challenged with alack of private-sector development andrevitalization that has benefited otherToronto neighbourhoods.

Selected for its early success and thehigh quality of proposed projects, theJohn Street Revitalization/StreetscapePlan calls for the transformation of JohnStreet from a secondary commercialstreet into a vibrant avenue. Specifically,it provides for a venue for Westonspopular farmers market; an improvedenvironment for existing and future retail,restaurant and caf opportunities; and astreetscape link between the commercialcore and the heritage neighbourhood of

Weston Village.As a result of the grant, the required

budget to commence the regenerationplan has been met. Metrolinx, WestonRoad Business Improvement Area anda number of City of Toronto Divisionshave committed to either match thegrant financially or provide in-kindcontributions.

The John Street Plan is one of thequick-start initiatives identified duringthe Weston 2021 Technical Assistance

Panel (TAP) conducted by ULI TorontosDistrict Council, together with its twopublic-sector partners, the City of Torontoand Metrolinx. As part of a greater Cityof Toronto Weston 2021, the ULI TAPprogram was developed to bring togetherthe finest industry expertise to determinehow to best leverage the upcomingMetrolinx transportation hub and startthe revitalization of a neighbourhood inneed. Planned to begin operation in 2015,the Metrolinx Air Rail Link train service is

designed to pass through the Weston Road

area on route between downtown Torontoand Pearson International Airport.

As part of ULIs 75th AnniversaryUrban Innovation Fund program, 30grants totalling $500,000 have beenawarded to Urban Land Institute districtand national councils. ULI contributedfunds as grants to local ULI projects thatrecognize or launch innovative public-private partnerships that will advancethe responsible use of land in buildinghealthy, thriving communities worldwideover the next 75 years. The $500,000provided by the ULI Foundation is the

largest amount ever contributed by theFoundation to support a single fundinground. This special one-year programtakes the place of ULIs CommunityAction Grant program, which willresume in 2013.

Safdie Architects to designmixed-use complex inChongqing, China

BOSTONSafdie Architects has been

chosen to design a 10 million square

foot mixed-use complex for a historicallysignificant site at the confluence of theYangtze and Jialing rivers, in the inlandChinese city of Chongqing. The project,

which was also announced in Singaporeand Hong Kong by developmentpartners CapitaLand, CapitaMalls Asia,and Singbridge, will feature residentialand office space as well as retail andcultural facilities, a service residence,a hotel, restaurants and clubs, a park,gardens, and hubs for land and watertransportation, including ferry dockingand landscaped boardwalks.

The design for this gateway site, byinternational architect Moshe Safdie,is inspired by the image of sailing shipson the river, and is intended to serve as asymbol of both Chongqings noble pastas a trading center and its fast-growingfuture as one of Chinas largest and mostimportant modern cities. The outercurving glass faades of the projects sixtowers, placed in a prow-like arc, willface the water to the north, while deckedhanging gardens and a generous publicpark will link the complex to the cityimmediately to the south.

As a whole, the complex will consist of

four residential towers and two central,identical towers that will house a serviceresidence, a hotel, private residences, andoffice space and that will be linked midwayby a distinctive garden bridge, containingwithin it the hotel lobby and restaurants.

All four residential towers terrace tothe south, forming a continuous greenfaade toward the city. Beneath thepark, the project will also feature fourlevels of shopping gallerias, as well as aconference center, theaters, and other

cultural spaces.The project, which is expected to have

a total development cost of about $3.1billion, will front upon what was once theforemost of Chongqings traditional citygates, where officials received imperialdecrees from the Emperor. As the citysinitial dock area on the Yangtze, thelocation also represents the great traditionof the shipping highway, which has stokedthis major inland citys developmentfrom its beginning and now drives its

contemporary evolution.

UPFRONT

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MARKET WATCH

Real estate sentiment dropsto lowest level since late 2009;respondents reportingmodest improvement in

market conditionsTORONTOResults from the FourthQuarter 2011 REALpac / FPL CanadianReal Estate Sentiment Survey, producedby the Real Property Association of Can-ada (REALpac) and FPL Advisory Group,indicate that the fourth quarter of 2011brought a material change in views onthe health of the real estate sector. Theoverall real estate sentiment index hasdropped to its lowest level since late 2009and respondents are reporting a mod-est improvement in market conditionsbut few (30 per cent) expect any furtherimprovement in 2012. However, it is im-portant to note that the Sentiment Indexmeasures the market trajectory and isscored from 0-100, meaning scores above50 reflect positive trends and score below50 reflect negative trends. 2011 Q4 wasthe ninth straight quarter in which the In-dex was above 50.

In Q4, the Current Index dropped to64 (from 71) and the Future Index fell to

55 (from 61) reflecting respondent per-

spectives that market conditions, whilestill positive, are not expected to improvematerially in 2012. Notably, many re-spondents felt that while the Canadian

market has weathered recent events in theU.S. and EU they are not immune fromglobal economic events.

When the Overall Sentiment Index forCanada is compared to that of the UnitedStates, there remain similarities, thoughthe Canadian Current Index reflectsslightly stronger fundamentals while theFuture Index is slightly lower than its U.S.peer. The Overall U.S. Sentiment Indexregistered a 59 in Q4 (down from 69 inQ3 and 77 in the second quarter), reflect-ing a continued decline.

As the indices have dropped, inter-viewees also reported a sense of cautionin the marketplace. As one intervieweenoted, There is certainly more perceivedrisk today in world financial markets. Thefallout from that uncertainty is a slowerpace of transaction activity, more dif-ficulty in obtaining new financing, andhesitancy on the part of users. To me thatimplies slower growth in strong pricemarkets. Another felt the market condi-tions were worse for small players. Gen-

eral market conditions are tough, espe-

cially for smaller players. There is lots ofcaution out there and it is definitely not abull view.

Asset Prices

Real estate asset values have continuedto trend upwards, with a vast majorityof respondents (90 per cent) reportingincreased asset values over the past year.However, most (58 per cent) expect flatpricing going forward and an increasinggroup (now 18 per cent) is expecting asmall decline in asset values. However,one respondent noted an increasing bi-furcation between top tier and second tierassets: Good quality, institutional gradepricing is still on the rise and we are stillexperiencing some cap rate compression;however, with regard to the second tierassets, the market is not as deep.

Debt Markets

Availability of debt capital continues tobe widely available, although several re-spondents noted that a tightening ofunderwriting standards has continuedto limit LTV ratios. As one respondentnoted, Because most of our [residentialand multi-family] stuff is CMHC insured,

[debt availability] is a slam dunk, I dont

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MARKET WATCH

see this changing; however, the CMHCis being more conservative with theirunderwriting. Now you can only get 70per cent financing whereas you used to be

able to get 75 per cent in certain markets.Respondents were slightly less positivethan they were about 2011 Q3 in terms ofoverall availability, 42 per cent (versus 46per cent in Q3) felt debt availability wassomewhat better than a year ago. Most re-spondents (65 per cent) expect conditionsto remain the same over 2012.

Equity Markets

Although slightly less positive than Q3,the equity market still appeared to bestrong in Q4, with little room for im-provement over 2012. However, as withasset pricing we are seeing a bifurcationof availability; smaller firms are havingslightly more trouble accessing capital

when compared to large REITs with thelarge amount of capital on hand that isnecessary to purchase the top tier institu-tional grade assets. Albeit at slightly high-er discounts, capital raising has continuedin the REIT sector, as one intervieweenoted; Canadian REITs are still doingcapital raising; the discount has increased

somewhat, but we are still seeing reason-able fund flows. In Q4, respondents werealmost equally split on expectations offuture equity availability, with the major-ity (55 per cent) expecting conditions toremain the same over 2012.

The Q4 2011 survey captured thethoughts of 50 leading real estate execu-tives, including CEOs, presidents, boardmembers, and other leading executivesfrom a broad set of real estate sectors in-cluding owners and asset managers, finan-

cial services providers, and building oper-ators and related service providers. Surveyrespondents represent income producingreal estate including office buildings, re-tail shopping centres, industrial buildings,hotels, multi-family residential (apart-ment buildings), and seniors residences.

This quarterly economic survey servesas a gauge of senior real estate executivesconfidence in financial and real estatemarkets in Canada. The REALpac/FPLCanadian Real Estate Sentiment Survey

measures executives current and future

outlook in three areas including over-all real estate conditions, real estate asset

values, and availability of capital. ThreeSentiment Indices comprise the survey

including a Current Conditions, FutureConditions and Overall Conditions Index.

National housing startspredicted to decline in2012 due to deterioratingeconomic conditions

TORONTOSubdued economic growthwill take the sizzle out of Canadian hous-ing starts in 2012, according to the Oc-tober 2011 Housing Forecast issued by

Altus Group. Deteriorating global eco-nomic conditions leading to lower Cana-dian growth expectations will constrainhousing demand across the country, withonly Alberta expected to see an increase inhousing starts.

Based on recent data, the Canadianhousing sector is performing at a veryhigh level, with elevated housing starts,steady prices, and steady resale markets.Interest rates are also no longer expectedto increase over the next year, said AltusGroup chief economist Peter Norman.

But at the same time a number of riskfactors are emerging, especially deterio-rating economic conditions and tightermortgage rules. Canadians can expectlower levels of housing construction inmost areas of the country [in 2012].

Apartment starts continue to drive

housing market

2011 saw an increase in Canada-widehousing starts over 2010, with apartmentstarts off-setting lower single-family

homes, particularly in British Columbia,Ontario and Nova Scotia. However, in2012, apartment starts will begin to fallback and single-family starts will contin-ue to moderate, creating an overall drop.

The report also found that inventoriesof existing homes have declined in mostmarkets over the past year, resulting inless competition for new home starts.

Key factors impacting housing

starts by region

Altus Group looked at regional trends

across the country for the coming year:Alberta saw job conditions and inter-provincial migration rise sharply in 2011(at the expense of Ontario and British

Columbia), which will positively impacthousing demand in 2012.However other areas of the country

will experience lower starts, includingAtlantic Canada, where migration willcontinue to be impacted by the weakeconomy, which will hamper new housingdemand. In Atlantic Canada, althoughNewfoundland continues to fire on allcylinders, sharply deteriorating job levelsin Nova Scotia and New Brunswick haveled to much weaker migration and already

weakening conditions in the housing sec-tor, said Norman.

In Montral, higher inventories andunits under construction will limit apart-ment starts, and in Regina and Saskatoonnew home inventories are slightly elevat-ed and will limit starts.

Other areas of the country are expectedto see pockets of modest growth. Condo-minium apartment sales remain elevatedin Toronto, albeit strongly influenced byinvestor purchases, but deteriorating mi-gration, weakening job growth and other

factors will see a softer housing marketwith modestly lower housing starts forapartments and single family homes inOntario next year, Norman forecasts.

In Manitoba, despite some marketsoftening, strong levels of migration willcontinue to fuel housing demand. In Brit-ish Columbia the transition rules for theremoval of the HST on housing have yetto be announced, but will likely causedelays for home buyers of higher-endhomes.

House prices remain stable

The report also found that increases in newhouse prices remain stable across the coun-try and are in line with the general inflationrate in most provinces, aside from Alberta

where there is little change, and British Co-lumbia where they are declining.

Existing home sales posted a modestuptick. Prices for building products in-cluding brick, gypsum and lumber remainsoft. Asphalt prices continue to be influ-

enced by higher crude oil prices.

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LEGAL

I

n Canadian commercial leasing,the entire universe of what a land-lord can or cannot do to a default-ing tenant was summed up in a

single decision of the Supreme Court ofCanada in 1971. In that seminal case,

Highway Properties Ltd. v. Kelly, Douglas &Co. Ltd., Canadas highest court affirmedthat a commercial landlord had at itsdisposal three historic remedies: i) theycould do nothing to the lease, even if thetenant threatens to abandon the premises,and instead periodically sue the tenant ininstallment litigation; ii) the landlord

could terminate the tenancy (i.e. re-enterthe premises and evict the tenant); iii)the landlord could re-let the premises onbehalf of the tenant (and then sue fromtime to time for any deficiencies in rent).

These three remedies arose as a naturalconsequence of a lease being a historicform of conveyance of real estate. The

Highway Properties case did not establishthese traditional conveyancing remedies,they were rather a long-standing reflec-tion of the common law. All Highway

Properties actually did was reaffirm theavailability of the three conveyancingremedies and introduce the now infamousfourth remedy -- the right on the part ofthe landlord to sue the tenant, on notice,for consequential damages arising fromthe premature loss of the lease.

Prior to the introduction of the fourthremedy in Highway Properties, landlordscould still always get their leased premisesback through an eviction; however, thatsame landlord could not then also pursue

a claim against the evicted tenant for the

full measure of damages incurred by thelandlord as a result of the tenants default.For instance, if the unexpired lease termwas significant and the rent payable waswell over the market rent, then a landlordwould want damages for loss of profitrather than just getting the premises back.Likewise, if the tenant had been an an-chor tenant whos business function wasto attract other businesses to the land-lords site, simply getting the keys back tothe leased premises would be cold com-fort in light of the economic damage thatthe landlord might face as a consequence

of an anchor tenants default.Highway Properties revolutionized

commercial leasing by giving landlordsthe supplemental right to also sue anyabandoning tenant for all of the conse-quential damages in addition to the re-turn of the leased premises to the land-lord. The addition of this right has led tothe characterization of commercial leasesas a hybrid of both contract and convey-ancing law (since the landlord did nothave to terminate and sue for consequen-

tial damages and could always rely onthe old school conveyancing remedies most notably to do nothing to the leaseand just sue for arrears of rent).

Although this hybrid characterizationof a commercial lease has been a centraltenet of Canadian landlord and tenantlaw sinceHighway Properties, it is far froma universally accepted way of looking atcommercial leases. By rough count, whileapproximately half of the U.S. states stillcling to aHighway Properties type of hy-

brid characterization, the remaining

states have adopted a more uni-dimen-sional characterization of a commerciallease, preferring to view it a subspecies ofcommercial contract. Under this mod-ern or contract approach, landlordsretain the right to sue for consequentialdamages but lose the right to sit back anddo nothing after a tenant has attemptedto repudiate the lease under pure con-tract theory, once the lease is repudiated,the contract is broken and the innocentcounterparty immediately attracts a dutyto mitigate its damages.

There has been a consistent torrent

of academic commentary on this subjectin Canada sinceHighway Properties, withmost academics favouring a conversionfrom the hybrid model posed inHigh-way Propertiesto the pure contract ap-proach now adopted in many U.S. states.That said, to this authors knowledge, nocourt or legislature in Canada has actu-ally overturnedHighway Properties(nor isit apparent to this author how any courtother than another panel of the SupremeCourt of Canada could do so!).

There is, however, one case from Brit-ish Columbia that purported to reversethe hybrid characterization called forin Highway Properties. This 2005 B.C.case, Evergreen Building Ltd. v. IBI Lease-holds Ltd., was widely touted as a HighwayProperties killer, the case that would shedthe Canadian law of commercial leaseremedies of its cumbersome conveyanc-ing roots and propel the law, once and forall, into the modern era of pure contractremedies, and that is precisely what the

British Columbia Court of Appeal ap-

Lease Remedies Come

Full CircleBy Jeffrey W. Lem

Canadian commercial leasing has, for the past four decades, been dominatedby a single case,Highway Properties v Kelly Douglas. Notwithstanding a con-stant clamouring for a more progressive and modern treatment ofcommercial leasing, the Ontario Court of Appeal has gone full circle byre-affirming the old school remedies endorsed inHighway Properties.

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LEGAL

peared to do (although in a very indirect,convoluted way). Evergreenwas, however,granted leave to appeal to the SupremeCourt of Canada, and the stage seemed

set for a showdown overHighway Proper-ties. Alas, the parties in Evergreen settledbefore the Supreme Court of Canadacould revisit the issue, leaving many leas-ing lawyers wondering whether the Brit-ish Columbia Court of Appeals take inEvergreenis now the new normal.

Practitioners, at least in Ontario, needwonder no further. WhileEvergreenwasnever binding in Ontario, the recentOntario Court of Appeal decision in Re:TNG Acquisitions Inc., seems to have laidto rest, at least for the time being, the na-ture of a commercial lease under Ontariolaw. Madam Justice Gillese, writing fora unanimous panel that included LaskinJ. (Jr.), reaffirmed the characterizationof the commercial lease as a hybrid ordual instrument that is both a convey-ance and a contract, upholding the char-acterization that the senior Justice Laskin

espoused in Highway Properties some 40years prior.

In TNG, the tenant had attempted torepudiate the lease, but the landlord had

elected to do nothing in response (as wasits right under the conveyancing remediesendorsed in Highway Properties), only tofind its tenant retaliating with bankrupt-cy, and the trustee-in-bankruptcy sub-sequently disclaiming the lease, leavingthe landlord with nothing more than apreferred claim under the Bankruptcy andInsolvency Act. In an almost counterintui-tive strategy, it was the landlord (not thetenant), that argued in TNGthatHighwayProperties was a dead doctrine and thatthe modern commercial lease had to beinterpreted as a species of pure contractinstead. Strategically, the landlord waslikely better off financially in the tenantsbankruptcy as a creditor with an unse-cured claim for damages from a breachedlease, rather than as a landlord with a validlease and a preferred (but statute-limited)claim; therefore, it was necessary for the

landlord to argue that the lease, as a purecontract, would have been automaticallyterminated upon repudiation by the ten-ant, all without requiring an election on

the part of the landlord.By endorsing the effectiveness of thehistoric conveyancing remedies (mostnotably, the right to do nothing after atenant purports to repudiate a commer-cial lease), even when faced with a land-lord that is pleading that it does not wantthe benefit of such a remedy, the Courtof Appeal in TNG has fended off, yetagain, another attempt to erode one ofthe most fundamental tenets of Canadiancommercial leasing law. Yes, commercialleasing lawyers are a geeky lot. Long liveHighway Properties!

Jeffrey W. Lem is a partner in the Toronto/

Markham offices of Miller Thomson LLP, a national

law firm with 11 offices across Canada. Jeffrey is

Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a

Specialist in Real Estate and can be reached at jlem@

millerthomson.com.

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When anyone mentions the phrase pub-lic consultation, a well-worn stereo-type comes to mind of disenfranchisedmiddle-agers crowding into a low-slung, grey and uninspiring Commit-

tee Room, lining up to a microphone for three short minutesin which to recommend action or, more commonly, complainabout inadequacies with regards to process, funding, regula-tions and a myriad of other bellyaches. As the madding crowdstruggles to be heard, at the front of the room sit a growingly-

exasperated committee tasked with gleaning some useful feed-

back. In the end, neither side feels anything truly useful camefrom the confrontation.

This clichd scenario was played out in exact detail on De-cember 7, 2011 in Meeting #BU19.1 in Toronto City Hall,as 350 pre-registered citizenry attempted to comment on the2012 Capital & Operating Budget during what was expectedto be a 12-hour marathon public consultation meeting. Notsurprisingly, no one was happy.

Although this particular meeting was to discuss city bud-gets, it should appear frustratingly familiar to anyone in the

real estate development industry. I dont think its a revelation

The tricky, often painful realm ofpublic consultation is changing

from a have-to-do to awant-to-do, and those notpushing its boundaries

may be doing a disserviceto the communitiesthey govern or seek

to build within.

By Andrew Sobchak

Let'sTalk

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to say that most citizens are underwhelmed with the way localgovernments consult with them about development applica-

tions opines Kent Munro, assistant director of planning forthe City of Vancouver. The old style, the Tuesday eveningtown hall meeting in the school gym is well past its best-beforedate. Lacking convenience and a competitive edge over theother demands in peoples lives, most everyone would agreethat public consultation especially in the development world needs a makeover.

Five days after the debacle at Toronto City Hall, just such amakeover was taking place, as David Dilks, president of LuraConsulting, was helping Waterfront Toronto facilitate theirfirst of three evening Port Lands development public con-sultation sessions. The event attracted over 500 people to thebright and airy Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library,and an additional 100 through webcasting and social media,to discuss the development strategy for the 400-ha. industrialarea perched on the shore of Lake Ontario.

With stakeholder presentations and small group break-outsessions facilitated by lead volunteers, attendees were promptedfor their questions and werent shy about voicing opinions inan atmosphere that felt like a community trying to positivelyaddress a challenge. Its remarkable, Dilks would say later inan interview. The meeting brought together a great brain trustand the process made everyone feel useful.

Public consultation takes many forms and practitionersacross Canada, like Dilks, agree there is no single formula for

success. However they would agree that there are frameworks,and operating within one can turn the former Dark Ages ofpublic relations into a new frontier of opportunity. For thedevelopment industry, public consultation has failed for gen-erations because it was perceived as both a costly endeavourand a management and political nightmare where control isoften lost. Now, enterprising practitioners are digging deep totap into the hidden resource of the public conscience, knowingthe ingredients of success lie buried within it.

Framework over Formula: A place to startIn his 2011 book Creativity in Public Relations, Andy Green be-

lieves a successful public consultation framework simply re-quires assembling the right audience, sincerely listening, anddemonstrating you have listened. Michelle Chalifoux, PublicEngagement Program Manager at the City of Edmonton, tendsto agree. You have to be clear in scope and communication, val-ue and consider input from all perspectives and report back. Tellthe public what youve heard and what you plan to do with it.

In 2006, the City of Edmonton formalized their frameworkwith City Policy C513 and created the Public InvolvementOffice (PIO) whose mandate is to share best practices with andguide all other City departments. In doing so, they have trans-ferred the burden of public consultation from the shoulders

of those who may have no expertise in the field onto those of

experienced professionals who can add creativity where need-ed. In 2012, the PIO is working to extend the framework toinclude public engagement even when it is not part of a formalprocess. Its going to be exciting, Chalifoux smiles.

Those government agencies without an internal Public In-volvement Office often turn to the International Associationfor Public Participation (IAP2) for inspiration. The 10-year-oldorganization had its first Canadian affiliate registered in 2011and offers resources and tools to members looking to bring theindustry from a tired past to a brighter future. Their cafeteria-style menu suggests consultation techniques for a wide range ofincreasing public impact levels from information to empower-ment, and each can be applied to a specific audience.

Get the Right PeopleSpeaking with the right people in the first place is how KentMunro defines success. Our focus is more people and a betterrepresentative sample of broader geographies. To be blunt, ourmeetings historically have tended to attract disproportionatenumbers of affluent, white, retired people and are not repre-sentative of the communities they were designed to engage,he says. By developing mechanics to better assemble consulta-tive groups, including participants from typically hard to reachdemographics, he feels the City can use any number of en-gagement tools, from social media to web-enhanced dialogues

to old-fashioned face-to-face meetings.For Peter MacLeod, president of Toronto-based public

consultation firm MASS LBP, one of the fundamental flaws ofpublic consultation over the last few decades has been that itwasnt public at all. For the most part, he suggests, publicconsultation has been just open consultation, largely not rep-resenting the public well. Simply throwing open the doors toCity Hall or an open house may look good if your metrics areonly guest-book registrants, but may not be very constructivefor community building.

MacLeod feels a better approach is connecting on a deeperlevel with smaller groups. Inspired by the organization of citi-

zen assemblies in British Columbia and Ontario, MASS LBP

PublicConsultation

It seemslocal governments

havenot brought the public

engagement process for

development applications into

the 21st century.

Kent Munro

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engages participants through civic lotteries, sending out in-vites to a target audience and forming what MacLeod termsCitizen Reference Panels of only the most committed. Re-

cently we had thousands of people from all over Ontario will-ing to convene in a windowless room at York University for 16weekly sessions to discuss electoral reform, notes MacLeod.People care, they just need to be engaged in the right way.

Typical response rates for MASS LBP invitations are fourto seven per cent, and they generally use only three criteriato discretize respondents: gender, geography and age. Every-thing else comes out in the wash, says MacLeod. Recent proj-ects have included Metrolinxs The Big Move and a commu-nity engagement strategy for Toronto Community Housing,but MacLeod sees using this approach in the land develop-ment industry as natural. There are immense opportunitiesbeing missed with existing strategies and were looking for-ward to helping fill in those information gaps, he says.

Measuring SuccessFor the Public Involvement Office at the City of Edmontonusing a framework makes sense. Out of this structure, appliedover numerous consultation initiatives, specific and quantifiablemetrics can be harvested and compared to determine relativesuccess. Ultimately we want the process to excite input fromthe public that we can then use in a meaningful way to impactwhatever plan we are developing, notes Chalifoux. But we alsouse quantitative metrics to assess success of our programs.

One of the key ways Chalifoux collects this data is through

participant surveys. On their ongoing Southeast to West LRTline project, which started preliminary engineering in Septem-ber 2011, they discovered some encouraging trends: 40 to 75per cent of meeting participants were previously engaged inthe process; 70 per cent of participants indicated a better un-derstanding of the project because of their attendance; and thesatisfaction in the consultation process was 20 per cent higherthan the satisfaction with the plan. This was indication thateven though not everyone agreed with the decisions, they weremore satisfied with the opportunity to contribute, says Chali-foux. For the City of Edmonton, this defines success.

Social Media: No Silver BulletMuch of the public believe that having a social media icon atthe bottom of a consultation website means they are engaged,but the truth is so few people know how to effectively use so-cial media they bog down the consultation process with use-less information. Right now, social media can be useful forengaging youth or generating bulk input, but when consensusbuilding is required, it tends to fall short, notes Dilks.

MacLeod believes effective public consultation will neverstray too far from face-to-face engagement. Some social mediatools can help improve outreach, reduce confrontation or makecontributions to discourse more convenient for some, but hard

public decisions require more than people in pyjamas, he notes.

Twitter is an echo chamber. Social media can complement pub-lic engagement but is not public engagement on its own.

Although social media can make communication muchmore personal and direct, in Vancouver, Munro favours web-based tools over social media platforms. Real-time info shar-ing has great promise, he notes, citing successes with the TalkVancouver-Shannon Mews pilot project as leading to changeson the Citys homepage.

In early 2011, Vancouver-based Perkins + Will Architectssubmitted a rezoning application for the historic ShannonMews, a four hectare block at the corner of Granville Streetand 57th Avenue, instigating some controversy. The develop-ment plan included replacing 162 existing townhouses with735 condominium units in an array of seven buildings rang-

ing from three to 10 storeys in height (pictured above). Theapplication and subsequent debate prompted the City to re-visit their public consultation strategy and pursue digital toolsto engage the public in a multi-stage, multilingual discussionabout the application. Using a predesigned content manage-ment platform called EngagementHQ, the City launched TalkVancouver, where they host online discussions, post videocontent and manage events regarding the Shannon Mews ap-plication, which was subsequently approved in July, 2011. TheTalk Vancouver project has blossomed to include forums onhousing, transportation and the 2012 Budget and Capital Plan.

Land Development vs. ConsultationPublic consultation seems to work best when there is no cleardirection, desire or strategy: more precisely when options re-main on the table, and for Dilks, this is a problem. For privatebodies seeking one answer essentially a seal of approval public consultation wont work. The results will be the samethrough minimum or maximum engagement. This formatcreates confrontation and a dynamic to discourse that explainsthe failure of public consultation in the past.

The perception is that communities battle the private sec-tor with government bodies refereeing in between, but withchanges in approach and all parties understanding the value

of public consultation, this perspective can evolve. In Van-

PublicConsultation

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couver, notes Munro, developers enthusiastically participatewhen the process is fair and timely. In urban land develop-ment, the private sector is just as interested in building theright solutions as the communities are to receive them.

In my opinion, investing in community is the best form ofpublic consultation, says Frank Giannone, president of Mis-sissauga-based FRAM Building Group. In 1998, FRAM pur-chased a 10.5-ha. lakefront property in Port Credit, Ont. froma developer who previously submitted a development applica-tion. It was too dense and no one bought into the concept,Giannone explains of the plan. Fighting all the way, it eventu-ally went to the Ontario Municipal Board. The OMB advisedthe parties that if it was to make a formal ruling there would bepoison pills in it for everyone. Subsequently, the developerwithdrew the application and sold the property to FRAM.

Knowing the ire of all stakeholders had been raised, Gian-none realized if he was going to make this development projectwork, he had to make it right. He not only started collaboratingwith municipal authorities and the Port Credit Village ResidentsAssociation on the design, but started investing in the commu-nity by becoming a lead sponsor for local events and creatinga foundation to support them long after project completion.Investing in the community opened the channels for dialoguenaturally. Residents knew we were here to stay, actually caredabout the neighbourhood and wanted to chat, notes Giannone.Sure, as a developer, money is always important, but my met-rics of success are seeing more people on the streets of PortCredit and more people at the community events.

14 years, six independent projects and eight awards later,

FRAM is constructing the final phase in the development -- a22-storey, LEED candidate condominium. As FRAM moves to-ward project completion in Port Credit, the Residents Associa-tion reports an unprecedented level of community animation,and Giannone looks to take his hard-learned lessons to Calgary.

In that city and in collaboration with the Calgary Munici-pal Land Corporation, FRAM+Slokker Developments is help-ing revitalize the 49-acre derelict East Village where they willbe developing four parcels and 600,000 square feet of mixed

use and multi-family space. The first parcel is the aptly named

FIRST, an 18-storey condominium tower overlooking theBow River, which will introduce 191 homes (pictured above).In total, all four parcels will bring 800 new units to the com-munity, with occupancy expected in 2013.

Were just going to try and keep up, chuckles Giannonewhen asked about the projects plans for community engage-ment and social media presence, acknowledging Calgarys hy-per-active nature when it comes to public engagement, instigat-ed by a forward-thinking mayor. For example, in 2011 MayorNaheed Nenshi initiated a web-enabled public consultationthat allowed all Calgarians to submit mock city budgets. Thisdata was compiled and used to make real decisions on actualallocations of City funds.

Although FRAM has realized many soft benefits with their

style of community engagements, Lura Consultings DavidDilks sees the incentives for private sector in the immediate fu-ture remaining rooted in the approvals process. Public engage-ment by a developer demonstrates due diligence. Going abovethe legislative requirement indicates you are a good player inthe community, too. Both are valued by regulatory bodies.

Because public consultation is immerging from a history offailure, especially in land development, there are significant op-portunities for innovation. Dilks believes those companies thattest new approaches or prompt governments to push the bound-aries stand to reap the most benefit. The more enlightened tendto improve the process, he notes. Inspiration for me in public

consultation comes in part from working with clients like thesewho have a progressive vision. For Waterfront Toronto, publicconsultation was a deliverable; they wanted to get it right.

Getting it right meant a three-pronged engagement strategyinvolving face-to-face meetings, stakeholder advisory groupsand social media/web-enabled consultations. On January 10,2012, Lura Consulting, in conjunction with project partners, re-leased the first draft summary of Decembers introductory ses-sion. With six common feedback themes, Dilks and WaterfrontToronto now know exactly where they fell short and where toapply more resources to ensure success. Building the right com-munity is the common metric of success for all parties and pub-

lic consultation is the lever to make it happen.

PublicConsultation

Investing in the communityopened

the channels for dialogue naturally.

Residents knewwe were here

to stay, actually cared about the

neighbourhoodandwanted to chat.

Frank Giannone

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T

he rapid urbanization of suburban communities,the re-emerging economic importance of thecity state and the increasingly frenetic drive

to be the next creative city has stimulatedconstruction of many new city halls in

Canada. Three recently-opened Ontario projects, includingthe restoration of Hamiltons 1958 town hall, a significantaddition to Miltons previously adapted historic courthouse,and the major first step in an ambitious new civic complex forVaughan are all quite different yet share a link with Canadaspost-war era of city hall building.

The importance of civic buildings has a long history. Assignificant urban centres emerged in the early years of EuropesMiddle Ages, city or town halls as a building type increasedin importance, reflecting the growing secular and economic

aspirations of the citizenry. Not incidentally, as the great urbantheorist Spiro Kostis noted, these new structures were oftenconstructed on the sites of Bishops palaces in the very heart of theemerging metropolis unlike nobles great halls which traditionallyoccupied the urban periphery. Colognes City Hall (1135), forexample, both symbolized the emergence of an elected body inplace of a hereditary aristocracy as well as functioning as a placeto conduct business. It was ironic that physical centrality wassubsequently appropriated by the divine right rulers, culminatingin the hyper-centrality of Baroque city planning.

The less royally-infested city states of Europes northernlowlands, however, continued to play a key role. In Belgium

the city halls of Brussels (with its 96 metre tower) and Leuven,

both built in the 15th century, remain imposing civic symbols.Once the Spanish yoke was discarded by the Netherlands inthe 17thcentury, civic buildings remained the most important

monuments symbolizing economic and at least limiteddemocratic ideals over royal and ecclesiastical rule.

As the nation state supplanted the city state, structuressymbolizing national political power grew in significance. But inthe latter part of the 19thcentury the industrial and mercantile elitesof many Ontario towns used public money to build speculativelygrand city halls as economic instruments. Perhaps the grandestof these is Kingstons marvellous neo-classical town hall (1844),with Colbourgs elegant Victoria Hall (1856) remaining the bestexample of trying to punch above your weight.

In the end, Confederation helped marginalize Canadian citiesand towns, a problem existing to this day, by making them mere

creatures of the provinces. A new modern age of City Hall design,however, was ushered in by Vancouver with its Depression eratower (1936) outside the historic city core. Built in just ninemonths, its comparatively stripped down, Moderne office toweraesthetic signalled a new search for a business-like image ratherthan the traditional mix of politics, culture and community.

This desire for a corporate business image found fullexpression in the post-war flurry of new civic centres thatembraced the so-called International style, a no-nonsense,stripped down and placeless modernism increasingly adoptedby corporate clients. Fortunately, the civic itch to embellishfrequently won out. Edmonton City Hall (1957, demolished

1992) has been termed fussy by architecture historian Harold

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Refined Wine inOld andNew BottlesThree new city halls in southern Ontario are all quite different yet combine local

awareness with attachment to simplicity of form and expression. By Rhys Phillips

Kalman for the sin of daring to use rich natural materials,robust forms, a frenetic roof line and bris soleils that gave thebuilding scale and texture. While Ottawas town hall (1958)

had a flatter but deftly patterned skin, its sense of floatingabove Green Island, its extruded raised council chamber andits wonderful twin Phoenix Rising fountains gave the buildingpresence. Of course the big surprise was Toronto, that rejectedproposed bland designs by local architects and instead handedthe job of rebranding the city to Finnish architect Viljo Revell,winner of a 1958 landmark international design competition.If St. Johns subsequent Brutalist city hall (1968) seemed adead-end, the suburban municipality of Scarborough turnedto a young Raymond Moriyama for a bold urban marker,perhaps also influenced by expressive Finnish modernism.

From 1980 to 2000, three seminal Canadian city halls re-

ignited a return to the traditional role of providing a definingcivic rather than corporate icon. Jones and Kirklands Post-Modernist Mississauga Hall (1987) gathered and compressedlocal farm forms and archetype shapes into an imposing pile thatwas to give this suburban wasteland a tangible anchor. KPMBsWaterloo City Hall opened six years later, but eschewed overthistorical references, using a rich pallet of materials on ananimated assembly of humanely scaled forms that carved out anew, defining civic presence in a growing but bland city centre.Bruce Kuwabara followed Waterloo with an equally lively butmore casual composition of forms for Richmond City to createagain a civic anchor, this time in a still emerging semi-urban

core. He also astutely crafted details and materials to reflect its

B.C. setting. In particular, the extensive use of exposed Douglasfir as structural elements pre-shadowed the rich use of nativewoods that has enriched recent west coast work.

It would appear, however, that the three recently completedprojects suggest there still remains a taste for civic presencedefined by refinement and restraint, but not blandness.

Hamilton: Born Again, a Modern MasterworkOf all the post-war International Style city halls, perhaps thefinest was Hamiltons. Debunking the myth that the publicsector stunts creativity, city architect Stanley Roscoe producedan elegant integration of bold, even playfully expressive formsthat included refining Edmontons V-shaped main volume byunbalancing the fold point. At the same time, he counteredwith a similar but symmetrical fold in the extruded and elevated

council chamber. Recessed glass and aluminum curtain wallson the front ensured a sense of depth as well as lightness.Importantly, and unlike in Ottawa, the glazing treatment onthe council chamber provided real and symbolic transparencywhile a geodesic dome skylight let natural light wash overthe proceedings. On the side faades, the light curtain wallcompeted with smooth white marble planes thus balancinglightness and transparency with solidity and firmness.

Roscoe had no problem using bold colour. Working with anartist, he created broad, brilliantly coloured Italian glass mosaicspandrels in abstract patterns. This was carried over into thebuildings stunning double height mezzanine floor in which a

floating cantilevered staircase with aluminum risers and teak wood

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details rose in front of a huge mural, just one of many throughoutthe buildings eight storeys. White and black marble and teakpaneling added further richness and detail. Equally important,the Modernist landscaping surrounding the civic complex

framed views and gave the building an enhanced presence in thedowntown core. As Dereck Drummond has written in praise ofModern Canadian city halls, the kind of public outdoor space sooften lacking in older town halls was created.

Despite the buildings quality, its need for renewal andmodernization by 2000 was almost its undoing. Only theestimated cost of a new building saved Roscoes masterwork,although the alternative was only finally put to rest in 2007when Mayor Fred Eisenbergers last ditch effort for a newbuilding failed. Even then controversy dogged the projectwith NORR Limited dismissed as the project architect ascosts rose. Garfield-Jones & Hanham Architects was hiredwith associate architects McCallum Sather Architects Inc.and +VG Architects as the heritage consultants. The last firmreplaced ERA Architects in 2008 after that firm resignedin protest over councils decision to rescind part of its ownheritage designation to permit the use of precast concretepanels instead of sourcing the original white marble or evenmid-priced limestone. While +VG principle Paul Sapounzielegantly defends the clients insistence on cheaper concrete asconsistent with the Venice Charter, there can be no questionthe decision was short-sighted and ficidiously provincial.

The challenge faced by the architect was to completelymodernize the 170,000-sq.-ft. building to a green standardwhile retaining and revitalizing the buildings many period

details. In addition to high performance insulation under thenew concrete curtain wall and 4,000 square feet of green roof,the building incorporates a high performance argon gas curtainwall, significant use of natural light, integrated sun shadesand connection to a district energy system. Not incidentally,almost half of the $74 million renovation budget was fundedby the Federal Gas Tax Fund that focuses on environmentallyfriendly municipal projects. It is expected the building will use35 per cent less energy.

But equally significant has been how much of the buildingsdetails have been retained. A key difficulty, says Sapounzi in atelephone interview, was so much of the technology used in the

late 1950s, such as the glass and aluminum curtain wall system,were in their prototype phase; adapting these to new standardsrequired careful work. An example is the thin aluminum doorsthat had to be adapted to take code compliant crash bars. Eachof the glass mosaic pieces was removed, numbered, cleanedand replaced while the original terrazzo floors were seamlesslypatched and polished. Only subtle changes were made to the finedetailing of the stairs and their balustrades. Because fluorescentlights were in their infancy when first incorporated, replacementshad to be handmade, he states. Finally, landscape architect WendyShearer restored the original formal landscaping that providesthe building with its fine sense of place in the city.

Navigating the difficult waters of taking apart a heritage

structure and reassembling its elements while also introducingprogrammatic adjustments (such as opening up the first floorfor customer service functions) was complex. Success wasachieved, says Sapounzi, by using an integrated team approach(ITA) that reduces risk for the client. American architect DonProwler defines this value-engineered process as requiring thedesign team and all affected stakeholders to work together

continuously, evaluating the design for cost, quality of life,


Cover story:Town Halls

Previous spread: Vaughan Civic Centre west elevation (Photo by

Maris Mezulis). Top: Views of Hamilton City Halls north elevation

from Main Street. Middle: The lobbys main cantilevered staircase,

looking west.Above: Council chambers west elevation view from

public seating. (Photos by Jesse Colin Jackson).

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future flexibility, efficiency, overall project impact, productivity,creativity and how the occupants will be enlivened. Underthe design/build leadership of ABE, a partnership of EllisDonand Black and McDonald, the project was finished on budget

and ahead of schedule.

Milton: Counterpointing Modernwith HeritageThe town of Milton is still a relatively modest city locatedjust east of the Niagara Escarpment. But it has grown rapidlyin recent years, ballooning to 75,000 residents, a tripling inless than three decades. Although in 1985 +VG had adaptedthe towns old courthouse (1854), a castle-like conceit repletewith an imposing stone-walled prison yard (1877), and addeda modest new wing, the 2006 mandate for a new 50,000 squarefoot, $18 million expansion required the firm to win an inviteddesign competition.

As design principal, Sapounzi expresses a strong fondnessfor Canadas earlier heroic interpretation of the InternationalStyle in which a toned-down emotional balance plays to aquintessential Canadian sensibility, a sort of quiet dignity. Asa centre of civic life, however, a city hall must include verytangible connections to a communitys scale and history aswell as the materials that help define a regions unique senseof place. He cites a deep respect for the work of Ron Thom,arguably Canadas greatest mid-20thcentury architect. In termsof its site, the new addition is located east of and behind theold adapted courthouse which presents its entrance faade toVictoria Park. Two sides are bound by modestly scaled historic

residences, but to the south across the street a large parkinglot isolates the new wing from Miltons urban business core.

Our concept was to strengthen city halls role as Miltonscivic heart with a modern addition that would respect thearchitectural heritage of the site through its forms, materials anda respect for the scale found in the local context, says Sapounzi.With the Courthouses formal entry opening onto a large park,Sapounzi took the opportunity to create a new, three-partentrance piazza that may eventually tie the civic complex moredirectly into Miltons downtown. The focus of the compositionis an imposing but very transparent double-height extrudedfrom the midpoint of the contemporary additions west side. On

the atriums west side, it links to the earlier 1984 wing as wellas the original heritage building, creating an open but shelteredforecourt, flanked on two sides by the stone wall of the old jailyard (now enclosing a garden) and the wall of the new block,also clad in the roughly-textured local limestone that forms thenearby Escarpment and Halton Hills.

This civic plaza faces toward the city core and leads to theatriums public entrance, framed by a monumental arch, ahigher order of the smaller arched openings of the historicalneighbour. The arch is surfaced in Prodemas Prodex panels, amaple wood composite material. Outside materials flow intothe atrium limestone, rich maple paneling, raw exposed steel

I-beams and clear glass panels and balustrades are awash with

Top, Middle, Above: Miltons new Town Hall preserves the architectural

heritage of the site and supports its traditional role as the civic

heart. Its forms, materials and scale take their cue from the local

context. (Photos by Jesse Colin Jackson).

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natural light so that surfaces have imposing depth and texture.So transparent is the atrium with its abundant structural glazing,the third civic space, a square on its other side leading out andinto the residential community, is visible from the front plaza.

In addition to the local limestone, says Sapounzi, the designdrew on two other themes. First, a water feature moves alongthe plaza next to the new limestone wall giving presence tonearby 16 Mile Creek, while second, the landscape surroundingthe new wing has been patterned based on aerial photographsof the regions farmland. These symbolic fields are planted withlocal and seasonally varied species. While the plaza and atriumare intended as civic typologies of tower and town square, thenew building has been well setback from the residential streetsand the proportions of its openings, micro-scaled to reflect thecharacter of the residential neighbourhood. At the same time,the amount of light drawn into the LEED Silver designedbuilding has produced comfortable work spaces well-liked bytheir occupants.

Vaughan: Refining the Civic PresenceAlthough Vaughans impressive new civic centre technicallyopened in 2011, it reflects KPMB Architects design competitionwinner dating back to 2004. Therefore, its elegant L-shapedassemblage of almost minimalist, low-scaled and interconnectedblocks totalling 280,000 square feet, marked by a slim 44.8metre clock tower, came only four years after the opening ofBruce Kuwabaras Richmond City Hall. His three city halls,he explains in a telephone interview, had different objectives.What he calls Waterloos mannered approach was designed to

establish a whole new set of modern architecture [composed] tocreate enduring urban public spaces while Richmond is a morecasual anchor that provides an interactive and locally referencedfocal point for a rapidly changing but still suburban community.It was also the firms first concerted effort with green design.

Vaughans LEED Gold certified City Hall, says Kuwabara,is more refined, a study of complex simplicity in whichthe complex is represented by an artful layering of stronglyrectilinear and elongated horizontal forms, save for thecounterpoint of the clock tower. Volume heights are trimmedto two or three stories as they approach the residentialneighbourhoods that border the site. The language, however,

appears at first sight to be very simple. Dominant planes oftransparent state-of-the-art glass curtain wall countered byvery solid but rich terracotta planes (sourced from a familyfirm in nearby Buffalo, New York) seem to reference post-warCanadian modernism, if not even original Bauhaus aesthetics.At closer inspection, a film of delicate sun screens providesadditional depth and texture as well as serving the functionalrole of reducing solar gain.

Like Edmonton, Hamilton and Ottawa, the councilchamber is prominently extruded and, like the last two,raised on columns. As in Hamilton, the chamber volume iscompletely transparent but with a sly twist. The concert hall-

like chamber is placed inside an interior saucer as if Torontos

Canadas most energy efficient

city and town hallsToronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) has revealed the top15 most energy efficient town/city halls in Canada. A result ofthe Town Hall Challenge, an offshoot of the Mayors MegawattChallenge and managed since 2003 by TRCA, the challenge callson municipalities across Canada to submit their town halls utilitydata. 60 municipal buildings participated, with the top 25 percent being identified and each participating municipality receivinga report on how their town hall ranked, its energy intensity persquare foot and how much could be saved if it met a target of 20ekWh per square foot.

City and town halls are at the heart of every municipality, andshould be their flagships of sustainability, said Brian Dundas,coordinator of the Mayors Megawatt Challenge Program for TRCA.A growing number of municipalities are leading the effort to lowerenergy use and cut emissions, however theres still work to bedone with several using as much as three times more energy persquare foot than other comparable facilities. If all buildings usingover 20 ekWh per square foot were to achieve the target of 20, theywould each save on average $118,000 per year in utility costs andassociated GHG emissions.

The 2010 Top 15 Town/City Halls:1.City Hall, Town of Ladysmith, B.C. 11.5 ekWh/sq.ft.

2.Town Hall, Town of Rothesay, NB 14.1 ekWh/sq. ft.

3.Civic Complex, City of Pickering, ON 15.0 ekWh.sq.ft.

4.City Hall Annex-Vancity, City of Vancouver, B.C. 17.2 ekWh.sq.ft.

5.City Hall, City of Fredericton, NB 17.3 ekWh.sq.ft.

6.City Hall, City of Castlegar, B.C. 18.0 ekWh.sq.ft.

7.City Hall, City of Hamilton, ON 19.9 ekWh.sq.ft.

8.Niagara Region Headquarters, Niagara Region, ON 20.9 ekWh.sq.ft.

9.Metro Hall, City of Toronto, ON 21.2 ekWh.sq.ft.

10.City Hall, City of St. Catharines, ON 21.3 ekWh.sq.ft.

11.City Hall, City of Richmond, B.C. 22.5 ekWh.sq.ft.

12.City Hall, City of Dieppe, NB 23.3 ekWh.sq.ft.

13.Municipal Hall, Resort Municipality of Whistler, B.C. 24.0 ekWh.sq.ft.

14.Civic Centre, City of Mississauga, ON 24.2 ekWh.sq.ft.

15.Administrative Centre, York Region, ON 24.9 ekWh.sq.ft.

The top 15 had an average building energy use of 19.7 ekWh

per square foot, about half had energy management plans, andmost do not have established energy targets, though some areincorporating them into plans, particularly those with FCMsPartners for Climate Protection. Most have green teams orcommittees to help with occupant awareness and better behaviourpractices, and many work with their local hydro utility companies.

The report also shows that the size of the municipality wasntimportant: some of the largest and smallest municipalities havebuildings in the top. When it comes to energy efficiency of abuilding, its age has little impact on its performance. Of the top 15,only four buildings were built in this century while five were builtbefore the 1970s.

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iconic council hall has been captured inside Hamiltonstransparent box. (Of note: Hamilton is Kuwabaras home townand his father worked on the original terrazzo floors; Kuwabaraeven worked for Roscoe in his early days.) Finally, similarto Ottawa, recessed glass on the first levels of the Vaughancomplex make weightier volumes seem almost to float.

Inside, the volumes are organized around one of fouratriums that along with the clock tower act as heat chimneysin the summer while also drawing natural light deep into thepublic and working spaces. Windows in both these spaces and

on perimeter walls can be manually opened under certain

conditions to maximize fresh air and provide some individualcontrol. The atriums also act as important gathering spots forboth employees and the public. The abundant use of glazingfound on the exterior has been liberally used inside, ensuring

the interior is open and very transparent. At the same time,white oak paneling, granite and Wiarton limestone, as wellas glass, reflective architectural concrete and flared concretecolumns ensures warmth and richness play off cool sleekness,all within a robust visible structure.

While the city hall is an accomplished achievement in itsown right, success of Kuwabaras civic vision will depend onthe frequently fickle whim of city politicians.

Vaughan, he states, is the ultimate suburb having morphedfrom a mere 30,000 souls 30 years ago to approaching a quarterof a million yet without producing an urban core. In 2003,when the council selected a site for the new civic complex, itrejected the most promising future urban option representedby the planned Vaughan Corporate Centre for the location ofthe existing city hall. Sorensen, Gravely, Lowes site selectionreport recommended the site only if council does not need[city hall] to be in a prominent or visible location and issatisfied with a minor mixed-use setting of local significance.Surrounded by new and older residential neighbourhoods, apark, railway tracks and a mixed-use entrance side along KeeleSt. of strip malls and ersatz low-rise condo buildings, the 27acre triangle site has limited urban potential.

In response, KPMB proposed a civic landscapewhoseorder of buildings [was] inspired by the clarity of Ontariotown planning where City Hall, Civic Square, Market and

Cenotaph define an identifiable civic precinct. To do so, thefirm broke the competition rules, says Kuwabara, proposinga grouping of discrete buildings with mostly undergroundparking instead of the proposed single structure and 900surface spots. Along with the U-shaped configuration of thecity hall and its attached wing that embrace a tight civic plazaat the sites broad west end, the winning plan includes stand-alone library and office buildings flanking a broad esplanade.The last incorporates a reflecting pool/skating rink and publicgardens with a partially submerged garden pavilion facing theeastern site entrance. To acknowledge the citys agriculturalheritage, the architects write, this civic campus is laid out

according to a series of east-west bands that reference the linearpattern of land cultivation that once characterized the region.Success as a fully functioning public focus in the absence ofa supporting urban fabric will depend on the political will torealize Kuwabaras elegant and integrated vision.

The best architecture today is Modern in the sense thatit seeks to reflect the age in which it is built. But there is ahealthy eclectic regionalism to this Modernism that avoidsfalling into the sophomoric and narrow zeitgeist rhetoricof so much of mid-20th century work. This does not negate,however, the validity of well crafted, very refined design workthat combines local awareness with attachment to simplicity of

form and expression.www.building.ca24 BUILDINGFebruary/March 2012


Top: Each wing of the new Vaughan Civic Centre features a central

atrium to draw daylight into the building, and connecting stairs to

reduce elevator use (Photo by Maris Mezulis). Above: The dramatic

10-storey clock tower will act as a solar chimney, drawing in fresh

air into the structure to reduce reliance on its mechanical systems(Photo by Tom Arban).

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Working on a museum experience ata historical site means working withwhat is there, even if the landscape haschanged significantly. Features of theland or buildings may not be as they

were for the period examined, or even exist anymore. Andwhen the period of history being examined is the War of 1812in Ontario, the relative lack of prominence can be a challenge.Yet the obscurity also offers opportunities for designers tohave a blank slate in the visitors mind to tell a story.

To commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 18

Documents

BD-DE-03012012