CoNexus Centre

Building

The building's front facade faces south with one a North West entrance and a South East entrance.
Being a building for tomorrow, it utilizes the best in low carbon materials for the exterior.

The round shape of the building was chosen to signify bringing the community together as the round space guides visitors towards the center.
The colours on the exterior are designed to pop on the winter landscape of Edmonton and represent a warm, welcoming space of inclusivity.
The exterior is well lit with street lamps, walkway lighting, and solar walkways. The solar walkways keep the walkways heated to be clear of ice and snow while acting as additional lighting or directional information.
Multiple levels allows for more open spaces, lots of light, and utilizing both indoors and outdoors in safe and inviting ways.
The front of the building faces south with a large curtain wall made of sun-stop coated photovoltaic glass panes.
The exterior walls are made with a hempcrete interior and lime plaster exterior with round wood dowling overtop for added visual appeal.
The building's sign would be modeled after a Wind Wall design by Joe Doucet but modified to have the letters "CONEXUS CENTRE" printed on the panels. The wall would serve mostly as a talking point as it unfortunately doesn't produce much power but it would get people interested about alternative energy.
The large curtain wall is triple glazed to redue heat loss and filled with argon gas to maintain a high RSI value. This, combined with the photovoltaic panes, lets in abundant amounts of light while generating power for the building and keeping heating costs low. The general heating and cooling of the building is managed through a geothermal loop run underground.

Site Plan

The north eastern placement of the building provides proximity to the roads and transit while enabling a positive street view.

  • Graphic showing the siteplan
  • The 2 large circular spaces that cover most of the site are to be used for an outdoor auditorium and an activity area.
  • In order to help teach foraging, there are edible plants native to the area all throughout the site.
  • The vehicle and bicycle parking on the north side of the lot incorporates solar awnings and electric vehicle charging stations.
  • Near the parking are the solar batteries which double as a backdrop for an outdoor projector for events and various displays.
  • On the south side of the building near the southeast entrance is a greenhouse that enables growing produce year round by utilizing hydroponics and a heat recovery ventilator to ensure the space remains warm enough in the winter.

The site is located on a section of Blatchford, formerly known as the City Center Airport, just to the west of the current LRT station at NAIT. The interactive map below gives a better idea of the exact placement and the surrounding area.

Elevations

North and West Elevation South and East Elevation