Harold Perrin, vice-president of program and project management for Stantec, is the man overseeing the construction of the New Science Centre 2011 Project. He agreed to give me the lowdown on all that was bold and beautiful about Calgary’s next BIG thing. When I walked into the building that houses his office – as open and awe-inspiring an engineering office I’ve ever seen – I knew I was in for a treat.

TWS: Calgary’s a busy place these days. How did you find a place to put the new science centre?

HP: It wasn’t easy. We originally thought we would get 15 acres just south of Bottomlands Park, but the City [of Calgary] made it 18 acres. It’s a good site with good access and good visibility from Deerfoot Trail [similar to the Children’s Hospital off Shaganappi Trail]. I think it’s a nice anchor to what you might call a growing cultural area. It’s a spark that will revitalize this area.

It’s a great spot, just north of the zoo and right along Nose Creek.

Yes, there’s a nice urban environment to the West and a more natural environment to the east. We wanted to separate guests from industrial traffic (i.e. the Deerfoot), so we put the front door on the west side. The actual building is designed to look like tectonic plates, and it acts as a transition between these two different environments.

Were there any challenges building on what’s essentially an old creek bed?

There had been oxbows there from the meandering of Nose Creek, so the ground was very soft. We couldn’t use a typical foundation, so we built it on piles. Each pile is 17 metres deep and rock-socketed into the bedrock. It was tricky, but we were on budget and on time.

From Deerfoot Trail, it looks like it’s going up pretty quickly. Where are we at?‘

We’re right on time and on budget. The vertical concrete is pretty much done. This includes the stairwells, the shearwalls, and the elevator shafts, which anchor the building and provide stability. We’ve just finished erecting the steel, which is the framework (or skeleton) of the building. This includes the arches that go over the roof. These are complicated pieces of steel, but they’re necessary because they allow us to create a large volume of space, which will become a central organizing element that allows people to do a number of things: get tickets, see their choices, and see the light pouring into the Atrium.

This is a big building, but it won’t feel like that. It will feel comfortable. Walking into the Atrium will be like walking outside again. It allows natural light to come into the building, but it also allows us to control light.

The next step is to put up the insulated paneling and curtain wall the building. We want to get the steel up and the roof on, as well as the cladding, so the plumbers and electricians can work comfortably, and therefore efficiently, throughout the winter. Electricians work better without mitts. We spent a lot of time getting the best men we could, and we want to them to be able to work efficiently. That way we get a better quality building and a less expensive building. Allowing them to work without having to put their tools down saves us a lot of money.

You said that “buildings are just containers.” Why is this one so important?

This is a really important building. The program that will be implemented here will be really important to Calgary for a long time because it will be a catalyst for critical thinking.

Alan Collyer is the lead architect, and he designed a sturdy, durable, functional and stylish building. His careful attention to the structural grid allowed us to construct a simple, elegant and functional building. The feeling you’re going to get when you walk into this building will be impressive. Just like you get when you walk into this one. That was one of our goals: to enhance the feeling and the lives of people who enter it.

Elegant and functional it may be, but it’s also one of the most environmentally responsible buildings in Calgary. What makes it so?

We’ve designed it to meet LEED Gold standards, which is a pretty high bar. The site was previously used, so we remediated it for metals and organics. All the bad bits were removed.

It’s also very efficient. Rain water from the roof is collected in cisterns so it can be used to flush toilets and other functions. Storm water is captured in a pond, and none of it is released without treatment.

We installed plumbing in the main floor before we poured the concrete because radiant heat because it is more efficient. The thermal mass of the floor helps retain heat and keep the space warm. At the top we’ve got an Energy Star roof that is both reflective and insulated.

We decided not to use forced air. We’re using displacement air instead. Rather than forcing the air down from the top, we’re bringing it in from the bottom. The air comes in at a much lower velocity, and we don’t mix the good [fresh] air with the bad air. The bad air goes up and out the roof, where we capture the heat from the outgoing air and use it to heat the building. This ensures high quality air and allows us to efficiently heat the space.

How will most people access the new facility?

More than 90 per cent of our guests will come by car. The rest will come by C-Train or bicycle. We’re paving the parking lot this year, and we’re upgrading St. George’s Drive and planting trees along the boulevard.

I want people to want to go there. I want people to think, ‘Hey, that looks pretty cool. I want to go and see what it is.’ And when they get there, they won’t be disappointed.

How do you keep your team motivated on such a large project?

The guys who work on this project are pretty fired up about it. They like working on a project like this. It’s important for everyone to know that this is a building that will be really important to Calgary for a long time. It’s important for the plumber to know why he’s doing what he’s doing. And at this project, he does.

If your building doesn’t tell a story, it will be dull and unsuccessful. What’s happening with this building is we have a committed ownership team – and they’re all trying to tell the same story.

You seem pretty attached to this project. Why’s that?

Buildings like these are important places. My daughter went to the TELUS World of Science when she was eight years old, and she was invited back a year later to meet Roberta Bondar. Now she’s a physicist. That’s a pretty powerful influence.