Bateman project`s architect selected
Times Colonist, Tuesday, December 11, page B2.
Iredale Group Architecture has been selected to design the Robert Bateman Art and Environmental Education Centre at Royal Roads University.
"The selection of the architect is key to Royal Roads` commitment to the Batemans and to sustainability," said university president Allan Cahoon. The centre "is to be nothing less than the centrepiece in the initiative to transform the university into a living laboratory for environmental sustainability."
The building, which is planned to go beyond Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard, is to be designed as a living building in that it will create zero greenhouse gas emissions.
"A living building is a building that really gives back to the ecology, to the environment the same amount that it takes from the environment," said lead architect Richard Iredale. "A living building has a net zero impact, or in the case of the Robert Bateman Centre, it`s a building that will actually restore and regenerate the environment."
Living buildings are usually constructed from local materials, utilizing solar and thermal energy as well as on-site wastewater treatment.
The centre is to house an extensive collection of donated original prints by Bateman as well as photographs by both Bateman and his wife, Birgit, archival material, sketch books and correspondence. Construction is hoped to begin in the fall of next year with completion in 2010. Once open, art exhibits and environmental programming is to be offered there.
Bateman is honorary chairman of a $30-million fundraising campaign -- $20 million for the new centre and $10 million for other sustainability projects.
The chosen site is a former wetland drained by James Dunsmuir`s family a century ago for use as a pasture. The project includes restoration of the wetland.
"The aquifer that we actually use to water all the plants here is right where this building is going to be," said university communications officer Phil Saunders. "Suffice to say, it`s an environmentally sensitive area, so the building is going to have to take that into account."
