Lab Infrastructure Retrofit and Renovation: The JC Wilt Infectious Disease Research Centre

Kevin Humeniuk, Architecture49 Inc.

The recently completed JC Wilt Infectious Disease Research Centre was designed by an integrated team of architects and engineers at Smith Carter, delivered under contract with Public Works and Government Services Canada.  The end client for the project is the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) and their parent agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

The project compromised the complete renovation and retrofit of a former chemical and material testing laboratory which was originally owned and operated by the provincial government. During design, the client and ownership team mandated that the consultant team utilize a blended sustainability tracking system which combined credits from both the LEED and Labs21 systems. With construction now complete, the project has now secured a LEED Gold certificate by the Canadian Green Building Council. 

The new laboratory space will allow the Public Health Agency of Canada to engage in new initiatives such as a vaccine research and development unit which targets vaccines for pandemic influenza, HIV, and emerging infectious diseases.

This presentation will provide a broad overview of the design and construction process. It will touch on the goals and aspirations for the project, and will track how they evolved and influenced key design features.  In addition the presentation will include a description of the sustainability features incorporated into the project, which included:

  • The optimization of building component re-use through Building Condition Assessment.
  • The salvage of structural and architectural elements such as casework and cladding.
  • Science / biosafety input into the designation of targeted Air Change Rates, as a means of lowering operating energy costs.
  • Targeted daylighting solutions to open and closed lab configurations.

Learning Objectives

  • Maximizing and optimizing building component re-use during a sustainable laboratory retrofit through Building Condition Assessment.
  • Science / biosafety input into the designation of targeted Air Change Rates, as a means of lowering operating energy costs.
  • Daylighting solutions for open and closed lab configurations.

Biographies:

Kevin Humeniuk is a design architect, having obtained his Masters Degree in Architecture from the University of Manitoba in 2000. He is a registered member a variety of Canadian architectural associations, as well as the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Kevin is also a proud Sustainable Labs Canada board member and is a LEED Accredited Professional. Over his fourteen years in architectural practice Kevin has gained considerable experience in a wide variety of roles and responsibilities. He has been a project manager and design team member responsible for client liaison, functional programming, laboratory planning, and architectural production work on a variety of science projects. For the past ten years, Kevin has been exclusively involved in research laboratory projects as a project manager, project architect and laboratory planner.

Kevin has presented at various conferences and seminars, including at Tradelines, the RPIC National Workshop, Sustainable Labs Canada Workshops and the Canadian Biosafety Symposium.

 

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