2006 Grand Award for Excellence in Concrete Construction
Winning projects from each category competed against each other in the final category: the 2006 Grand Award. The winning project is one that the judges felt embodies overall excellence in architecture, engineering, design and construction features, and uses concrete to its fullest potential.
2006 Grand Award Winner: SFU Student Residence and Dining Hall
Address: Simons Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
Owner: Simon Fraser University
Architects: Downs / Archambault & Partners Architects with Davidson Yuen Simpson Architects
Structural Engineer: Read Jones Christoffersen
General Contractor: Dominion Fairmile Construction Ltd.
Ready-Mix Supplier: Lafarge Canada Inc
The highly articulated language of cast-in-place concrete details for this four building project was inspired by the older original buildings found on campus.
In the student residences, horizontal concrete ‘eyebrows’ are designed to shade the south facing rooms and lounges, while vertical fins address some of the shading requirements of the west and east facades.
The relative simplicity of the north facades’ massing is to accommodate a future multi-story parking structure.
At the far end of the project is a two-storey concrete post and beam structure, housing administration offices on the lower level and a student dining hall with seating for 300 above.
The large open volume has a strong indoor/outdoor relationship with the surrounding landscape, and extensive glass opens the space to the southern landscape, while showcasing the concrete structure that carries outside.
Smooth and sandblasted concrete is celebrated in the building’s details as a very versatile visual material for exterior and interior finishes, while fulfilling the owner’s primary request for low maintenance requirements for all four buildings.
