Photo credit: Matthew Bolt Photography, courtesy naturallywood.com
Project Specs
| Location: | Castlegar, British Columbia |
| Climate Zone: | Cool-Temperate |
| Building Type: | Institutional |
| Project Phase: | Certified |
| Passive House Type: | Passive House Classic |
| Year of Construction: | 2024 |
| Gross Floor Area (m2): | 755 |
| Treated Floor Area (m2): | 632 |
| PHPP Verification: | Download |
Project Description
Lukas Armstrong, as Project Architect and Coordinating Registered Professional, started this project with his previous firm Cover Architectural Collaborative Inc. and completed it at his new firm, Stand Architecture Inc.
Located at the junction of two significant rivers, “The Confluence” is the new home of the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce. The project includes the Chamber offices, the Visitor’s Information Center, a conference room, and a co-working space, and is intended to bring together the cultural and commercial activities of the city.
The Confluence is also one of a few buildings in Canada to bring together two significant technologies critical to the effort of moving towards a more sustainable future – The use of Mass Timber combined with the Passive House energy framework.
The use of Mass Timber allowed the project to realize the complex geometry of the building that draws inspiration from the surrounding mountains. By designing the structural system to use Mass Timber, the entire exterior envelope as well as the complex sculptural front desk could be pre-cut using CNC technology. This greatly reduced the amount of time, labour and accuracy that was required on site. As a result, the project was completed on schedule and on budget.
Photos: Matthew Bolt Photography, courtesy naturallywood.com
Thermal Envelope
| Exterior Wall: | 5-ply CLT with 10" exterior polyisocyanurate insulation secured with long screws U-value = 0.104 W/(m2K) |
| Basement Floor/Floor Slab: | Concrete slab on grade with 12" sub slab EPS (Type 2) insulation U-value = 0.115 W/(m2K) |
| Roof: | Wood trusses with 30" dense-pack cellulose U-value = 0.054 W/(m2K) |
| Window: | Frame: Reynaers, Masterline 10 windows and CW 50-HI, U w-value = 0.8 W/(m2K) Glazing: U g-value = 0.51 W/(m2K), g -value = 52 % |
Mechanical System
| Ventilation: | Swegon, GOLD F RX STE Sorption 07 2x GOLD 07 ERV's are zoned to serve the different utilization types of the building (office, visitors center/display shop). |
| Heating/Cooling: | FCU's - VRF system |
| Domestic Hot Water: | Small decentralized electric tanks near washrooms |
