The Pacific Highway Port of Entry is the busiest commercial crossing in Western Canada.

Busiest in two-way traffic volume and trade. And busiest in two way traffic of passenger vehicles. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this border crossing processes commercial and passenger vehicles, as well as, buses. It also has Free and Secure Trade (FAST) and NEXUS lanes.

The task? Modernize this 30 year old port. Programmatic functions and operations have advanced throughout the years. And the site had had numerous upgrades and alterations over the years.

One problem was that pedestrian, vehicular and commercial traffic  conflicted with each other throughout the site. Proper visibility from the operations buildings to the PIL booths and inspections area was limited and presented a functional challenge.

The solution? The Functional Program identified the current and projected functional requirements of the Port of Entry and assessed the current facilities and how they met the required program. CTA carried out master planning exercises to address the programmatic, operational and physical deficiencies identified in prior studies. The Master Plan developed the option that provided the most benefits to stakeholders, the least disruption to operations and considered the financial implications including capital and life-cycle cost.

The Emily Carr University of Art & Design deserves a campus that reflects the creativity contained within it. CTA fulfills this statement by creating a robust, flexible space designed to inspire creativity to the surrounding community in a stylish, yet functional manner. This space is home to many creative studios including visual arts, drawing, painting, film, sculpture, photography, and industrial design. Woven into these spaces are research offices, faculty and administrative offices, and First Nations Aboriginal gathering spaces. Along with this, are rooms that include collaborative teaching spaces, classrooms, medium and large lecture theatres, and technical shops for wood, metal clay, and film.

What used to be a Marine Tech Park is becoming so much more.

University of Victoria Properties Investments (UVic Properties) is developing the 17 acres into a building space for scientific, research and commercial use for the ocean and marine  industry sectors. Named Ocean Innovation Park, this unique research park will become a focal point for ocean science research on a national and international level. The gathering together of people and organizations of similar interests will reinforce potential synergy. The park will be a self-contained community with all necessary supporting infrastructure for the daily activities of its users. Sustainable features include storm water control, green roof, geothermal heating, energy sharing loop, and orientations to maximize natural ventilation and exposure to natural light. To enhance the work experience the park will have indoor and outdoor amenity space, a walking trail, and sports courts. So the work force will be as healthy as the site design.

The tech sector badly needs some style.

And this 5-storey, multi-tenant research building is an eye-catching start.

It presents a strong corporate image for growing technology companies, while accommodating their diverse research needs.  The use of “plug and play” open work spaces with highly integrated services infrastructure deliver excellent flexibility in the building.

This new four-storey laboratory building supports a wide range of teaching and research activities, including wet and dry teaching labs, research labs / offices for Earth and Ocean Sciences and Chemistry, large lecture theatres, and an Animal Resource Centre. CTA developed the facility program concurrently with the schematic design, incorporating modular, generic planning concepts to support long-term flexibility for users and access to services. The building’s scale and architectural expression integrate into the existing University of Victoria campus context. It is physically connected to adjacent science facilities via a bridge, strengthening communication and collaboration within the science precinct. Teaching spaces were designed to maximize access to natural light, enhancing the learning environment. The project addressed the challenges of an accelerated design and construction schedule while delivering a highly flexible, cost-effective building capable of accommodating diverse scientific uses. Close integration of architecture and building services optimized planning efficiency, operational performance, and long-term operating costs.

The Simon Fraser University TASC 2 Building is the story of a 4-storey research building designed with a generic, modular, highly flexible layout to account for the absence of a specific user group at the commencement of the design process. The design is based on a commercial multi-tenant model. In the midst of the design process, the 26 different user groups were established, necessitating a wide range of facilities: wet labs, dry labs, offices, meeting rooms, laser labs, clean rooms, STEM microscopes, a vivarium, and a production studio. To ensure the multidisciplinary needs of the user groups are met, the “plug and play” nature of the building provides maximum flexibility for future adaptability. As part of the campus pedestrian network system, the TASC 2 building also includes two major public areas which provide naturally lit transition and gathering spaces for the enjoyment of users.