The 125,000-square-foot (11,613-m2) Child Development Centre at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is the largest project in Canada to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The facility focuses on supporting organizations working together for the benefit of children and its vision was to functionally integrate different disciplines of the university’s research departments with Calgary Health Region practitioners within the space. The university had also mandated that all new capital projects be built with a high level of sustainability.
“The vision, budget and timelines were ambitious,” said Judy MacDougall, an associate and project architect at Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning, Calgary.
Three options for the north and south exterior skin façades were considered-aluminum composite material panels, 0.125-inch (3.2-mm) painted aluminum panels and 0.05-inch (1.2-mm) zinc panels. Approximately 25,000 square feet (2,323 m2) of preweathered Graphite Gray horizontal reveal panels from RHEINZINK America Inc., Cambridge, Mass., were chosen to clad the north and south exteriors ofthe four-story building. Thermal Systems KWC Ltd., Calgary, fabricated and installed the panels.
“Zinc was the preferred choice from the beginning,” MacDougall said, “but we wanted to make sure we had other options in case it proved too expensive. As it turned out, the RHEINZINK was very competitive and was the least expensive option. We did work a lot with the design and tried to get the maximum amount of material from the coil.”
“Aesthetically, we like the natural color of the zinc and, of course, its durability,” MacDougall continued. “The Graphite Grey offers a very nice patina and the material oxidizes very slowly in Calgary due to the drier climate. RHEINZINK is really a nice product to work with.”
RHEINZINK America Inc.
