Broadway Tech Centre (BTC) Tour on Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Witness how the BTC green roofs capture up to 10M* Litres of rain per year.

Register

Deadline to Register is May 3, 2019.  Space is limited.  Meet at the BBQ Area/Sports Court below.  See Broadway Tech Centre aerial view map.

Vancouver-based landscape architectural consultant Randy Sharp, formerly with Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture, is leading the tour of the award-winning Broadway Tech Centre on May 7, 2019.

Randy has received several major awards for landscape design of the BTC which transformed seventeen acres of an under-utilized warehouse space in Vancouver into a world class high tech campus.

BTC hosts eight buildings four of which have 10,000 square metres of green roofs that help with stormwater management.  The campus is beautifully landscaped with waterfalls, contemplative and lively common spaces creating an urban oasis on this former brownfield site.

Elegantly Landscaped Spaces

The LEED USGBC-CS Platinum certified campus consists of a grid of pedestrian-scaled streets with 8 individual buildings interconnected by walkways and elegantly landscaped spaces.  A dedicated city street, known as Virtual Way, has been constructed over the underground parking.  Four of the eight low-rise buildings are covered with a total of 10,000 square metres of lightweight vegetated roofing with a combined water storage capacity of 460,000 litres, or more than 1,500 bathtubs of rainfall (based on a 300 litre per bathtub)*.

Dr. Karen Liu, product manager for Low and Bonar, and green roof researcher and innovator for close to two decades, will join Randy and answer technical questions.

Extensive Green Roofs

Superior Water Retention & Stormwater Management
Every year, the four green roofs absorb 10 million litres* of rainfall, equivalent to four Olympic sized swimming pools, evaporate and return it back to the atmosphere, thus diverting it from our stormwater infrastructure.

This thin-layered system has a superior water-retention-to-weight ratio and retains 46 l/m2 and weighs 69 kg/m2 saturated.  It is comprised of a locally grown roll-out sedum mat with 8-10 species of drought-tolerant sedum.  System underlayers include mineral wool and fleece as retention layers along with a drainage layer and root barrier.

There is no automatic irrigation.  Hose bibs are available for watering during prolonged periods of drought.

The green roofs function for both heat gain and loss moderation and for the aesthetics of views from other buildings on campus as well as reduce energy use, lowering tenant operating expenses.

Intensive Green Roofs

The campus is landscaped with native natural elements and reflective pools and waterfalls offering contemplative and lively common spaces.  Drought-tolerant plants, native to coastal BC are featured, including Pacific Dogwood, Vine Maple, Sword Fern, Salal, Oregon Grape, Evergreen Huckleberry, roses, grasses and wildflowers.  The mineral-rich planting soil, consisting of 100% recycled materials including decomposed bark, compost and river pump sand from the Fraser River, was specifically created for the rooftop gardens.

The campus includes a sports field, café patios, entrance plazas, and the thematic use of water creating places for both active and passive recreation.

A state-of-the art irrigation system was programmed to respond to the specific soil type, exposure and plant requirements of the roof area.  This contributed to a 51% drop in water consumption.

Cyclist and Commuter Friendly
Built to be a cyclist friendly environment, it is located on the Central Valley Greenway.  Hence, over half of the employee population commute to and from Broadway Tech Centre without the use of a vehicle, choosing transit or cycling options instead.

Image: Broadway Tech Center

Randy Sharp – Tour Leader

A Green Roof Professional (GRP) with over 100 green roofs, living walls and vertical landscapes under his belt, Randy has devoted his career to ecological based solutions for site development blending landscape and architecture.  In 1980, Randy Sharp established a practice in Vancouver that became Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture.  In addition to the Broadway Tech Centre, other notable achievements include the redevelopment of Granville Island (CMHC), Vancouver International Airport (YVR), the Capilano-Seymour Filtration Plant (Metro Vancouver), and the headquarters of Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC).

Randy recently retired from the firm to focus on research, writing and teaching, as well as consulting in ecological development, green building design and water management.  Randy is a guest lecturer in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) at UBC, the City Program at SFU, and the Centre for Architectural Ecology at BCIT.

World-Class Management

Broadway Tech Centre is managed by QuadReal, a world-class, Canadian-owned real estate company owned by the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors.

Your Green Roof Supplier / Design Consultant / Maintenance Support

~ Next Level Stormwater Management

* Subject to adequate drying time.

Publisher’s Note: Learn about Next Level Stormwater Management in the Greenroofs.com Directory.

Next Level Stormwater Management prides itself in being a hassle-free, one-stop-shop supplying vegetated roof systems that can be customized to local requirements, with warranty and maintenance support. We also offer ​access to a variety of analytical support service​s such as ​stormwater calculations specific to location ​and building/roof type.

Contact: Cristina Senjug Communications & Marketing, Next Level Stormwater Management
p: 416-637-5772 x 3 m: 416-557-7266
e: Cristina@nlsm.ca
Visit: http://www.nlsm.ca/