A.J. Diamond Architects
Script error: No such module "AfC submission catcheck".
A.J. Diamond Architects was founded in 1975 by Abel Joseph Diamond, and by 1978 he had partnered with Donald Schmitt Company to create Diamond Schmitt Architects.[1] Abel Joseph Diamond was born in 1932 in South Africa. He attended the University of Cape Town where he earned his B. Arch in 1956, Oxford University earned his MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 1958, earning his M. Arch in 1962 at the University of Pennsylvania.[1] In much of Diamond's early work architectural expression is created by creating contextual relationships rather than ideologies.[1] This idea is created through the firm's design strategy by addressing future design in terms of sustainability within future cities and energy uses while taking into consideration geography climate and technology.[1]
Diamond Schmitt Architects as a firm, provides a strong physical workplace, work atmosphere and social programs, health, financial, and family benefits. Employees are entitled to generous vacation pay and time-off. As such, they have been listed on Canada's top employers list.[2] The firm has a strong focus on community involvement and incorporating the ideas of the community within all public designs. A quote from Donald Schmitt, Principal Architect with the design firm said — “We are thrilled to be recognized once again for being a great place to work. We believe fostering a supportive, collaborative culture is the foundation of our success in the pursuit of design excellence”.[2] Over the years, the firm has had and maintained a strong focus on designing architecture within Canada, for Canada. As such, they do not have many internationally designed buildings. The firms have had a large variety of clientele throughout their 45-year history. One notable client includes, the City of Jerusalem; where they designed the Jerusalem City Hall. The Jerusalem City Hall project completed in 1993,[3] is to date the only project the firm has designed outside of North America. The reason behind building so far from Canada, and from the firm's Canadian focus, is that one of the firm's founding members, Jack Diamond is a Canadian-Jewish architect,[3] with strong ties to Israel. As such, Diamond Schmitt Architects only has a handful of buildings designed in the United States, and the rest within Canada. The firm designs buildings that elevate and enrich communities,[4] with a strong focus on sustainability, as described by Donald Schmitt. “Our definition of sustainability encompasses not only the environment but also the individual’s wellbeing and economic soundness”.[4]
Honours and Awards[1][edit]
- 1976 - Governor General's Medal in Architecture for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton
- 1976 - Governor General's Medal in Architecture for the Metropolitan Toronto Central YMCA
- 1989 - Toronto Arts Award for Architecture and Design
- 1990 - Governor General's medal in Architecture for the Earth Sciences Centre at University of Toronto
- 1991 - Governor General's Medal in Architecture for the York University Student Centre
- 1993 - Governor General's Medal in Architecture for the Richmond Hill Central Library
- 1995 - Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa), Dalhousie University
- 1995 - Officer of the Oder of Canada
- 1997 - Order of Ontario
Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium (2009)[edit]
The Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium located in the Royal Botanical Gardens located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada is a museum featuring living walls that promote understanding about the interrelationships between the different ecologies.[5] The space serves local and global communities while highlighting the local geography and ecology.[5] The new facility acts as the portal to the botanical gardens.[5] The construction of the three-story space exhibits sustainable design and utilizes systems such as concrete, structural steel, timber, and glazed walls and roof.[5] The building also includes various green building systems including radiant floor heating and a rainwater capturing system. All of these green systems and features combined create a facility which has been certified as LEED Gold standard.[6]
Lighting for the plants and visitors was taken into consideration by using various lighting techniques.[6] The lighting within the building is divided into multiple circuits which are completely controllable.[6] Switches and dimmers are located on each of the floors of the building – interior lighting is controlled by switches and sensors.[5] The conservation of energy in spaces is achieved through occupancy sensors and daylight sensors.[6] The physical safety of visitors throughout the facility during times of low visibility is ensured through the use of photocells used to control exterior lighting.[6] The landscaping design was done by DTAH to create a multi-purpose barrier free space for all seasons.[6]
Lighting for the plants as well as the visitors were taken into consideration and designed for using various lighting techniques. The lighting within the space is divided into multiple circuits which are completely controllable. Switches and dimmers are located on each of the floors of the building – interior lighting is controlled by switches and sensors.[5] The conservation of energy in spaces through occupancy sensors and daylight sensors . The safety of visits during times of low visibility is ensured through the use of photocells used to control exterior lighting.[5] The landscaping design was done by DTAH to create a multi-purpose barrier free space for all seasons.[6]
[MECHANICAL SYSTEMS]: MCW provided roof water collection with heat recovery, return air through bio well; air stratification and hydronic radiant floor heating.[5]
[ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS]: Fully controllable lighting, divided in multiple controllable circuits; multi-level switching & dimming; interior lighting controlled by local switches, occupancy sensor and daylight sensors and exterior lighting controlled by photocells.[5]
Peter A. Allard School of Law (2011)[edit]
The Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia is located in Allard Hall, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects in conjunction with CEI Architecture.[7] The building creates a space of welcoming and inspired learning for students, faculty and members of the legal community.[7] The four-story building contains spacious contemporary classrooms and offers various study rooms and informal learning spaces throughout. The building was founded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the law schools’ alumni community, and Mr. Peter A. Allard, and private funding.[8] The building reflects the prominent Indigenous heritage in which the University of British Columbia resides, through a design process closely involving the input and participation of staff, students and members of the Musqueam Indian Band.[7] The building presents important aspects of the traditional and ancestral heritage of their presences through an Indigenous Law Student Lounge which features woven wood to reflect the importance of cedar and wood traditions.[7] Located the entrance to the building, “a welcoming First Nations Musqueam House Post by Musqueam artist Brent Sparrow Jr. stands near the building and serves to recognize the historic and ongoing relationship between the Allard School of Law and the Musqueam people in the pursuit of justice and education related to Indigenous peoples”.[7]
This project is LEED Gold Certified, featuring a geo-thermal heat exchange system, high efficiency lighting and ventilation, rainwater collection as well as incorporates many local and sustainable materials throughout its construction.[9] At the University of British Columbia there is a policy that all new buildings must be at least Gold Certified, aiming to construct more green buildings.[7] The building also goes further by including shower facilities and lockers to help to encourage bicycle commuting,[7] reducing the amount of vehicular traffic and receding carbon emissions produced by commuting. Allard Hall is also located near a bus transit hub concluding that no further parking would be designed for on the site. The building focuses on flexible design for now and the future through interventions such as encouraging bicycle commuting and incorporating LEED standards.
[DESIGN FOCUS ON SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY]: The building was designed to create a welcoming, open, and inspirational learning and research environment for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the wider legal community. Sustainability in general is an important focus of the building design with an emphasis on sociocultural aspects.[5]
[LEED]: This building is LEED gold certified. LEED is an international point-based rating system used to grade a building's excellence in sustainability in seven areas, from water and energy efficiency, to material selection and innovative design. Four levels of certification are possible: certified, silver, gold and platinum. The policy at UBC is that all new buildings are minimum LEED Gold certified, in this way UBC is aiming for more green buildings.[5]
[SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION]: Allard Hall is located near a bus transit hub, so the decision was made to not develop any of the site for further parking. This was to encourage the use of alternate transportation modes besides driving. Cycling, however, is encouraged through supplied bike parking and shower facilities in the building. These are increasingly common features in buildings at UBC.[5]
Building Awards[10][edit]
- 2012 - Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver – Excellence Award, Educational
- 2012 - ed+c Magazine Excellence in Design Awards – Award Finalist, Educational
- 2012 - The Brick Industry Association Brick in Architecture Awards – Education Category, Silver
Lazaridis Hall (2017)[edit]
Lazaridis Hall located at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario houses the School of Business and Economics and was designed with the goal of creating a new campus landmark welcoming academic collaboration and connection to the surrounding community.[10] The goal of the design was to create a building which was highly sustainable and created a space that supported educating students with skills for the complex and changing global environment. The building highlights different program elements through various shifts in floor heights, moments framed with the use of cantilevers and curvilinear attributes. These decisions for the form of the building “expresses effortless simplicity overlaying a complex hybrid steel and concrete structural system”[11] allowing the larger architectural moves of the spaces to become the main focus.[11] The building continues this form outside the building and through the landscape with the use of ramps, stairs and seating.[10] The buildings opens to an atrium space lit through the use of daylighting and creates a visual focus and place of gathering within the building. The atrium “reinforces themes of transparency and connectivity to create an engaging space in which to gather and learn”.[10] This space allows for both structures and freeform student spaces, as well as contains various lounge study spaces and breakout rooms allowing for individuals to initiate informal exchanges and promotes collaboration with both the students and community.[11]
[LEED]: The building targets LEED Gold and the 2030 Challenge through comprehensive and fully integrated systems that make this an exemplar of sustainable design on a large scale.[10]
[DESIGN FOCUS ON SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY]: The design brief was to craft a highly sustainable building and to support the development of academic and community leaders with management and economics skills for a complex and changing global environment.[10]
Building Awards[11][edit]
- 2020 - OAA Award of Excellence Finalist
- 2019 - SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for a New Building – Honorable Mention
- 2018 - Civic Trust Awards – International Project: Commendation
- 2017 - Wood Design and Building Awards – Citation
- 2017 - Ontario WoodWorks – Interior Wood Design Award
- 2017 - Ontario Glass and Metal Association (OGMA) – Design Award of Excellence
- 2017 - Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards – Award of Excellence
- 2013 - American Society of Architectural Illustrators – Award of Excellence, Formal Rendering
-- CITATIONS --
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Canadian Architect. “Diamond Schmitt Architects Announces New Vancouver Principal.” Canadian Architect. Canadian Architect, August 13, 2020. https://www.canadianarchitect.com/diamond-schmitt-architects-announces-new-vancouver-principal/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Canadian Architect, “Diamond Schmitt Architects and PCL Construction Named to Canada's Top Employers,” Canadian Architect (Canadian Architect, June 23, 2020), https://www.canadianarchitect.com/diamond-schmitt-architects-and-pcl-construction-named-to-canadas-top-employers/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 [1] “Safra Square,” Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation, December 10, 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safra_Square.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Diamond Schmitt Architects, “Our Approach,” Diamond Schmitt (Diamond Schmitt Accessibility, 2019), https://dsai.ca/studio/approach/.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 “Royal Botanical Gardens Royal Botanical Gardens.” Royal Botanical Gardens. MCW. Accessed February 10, 2021. http://www.mcw.com/Projects/Details?f=m&title=Royal-Botanical-Gardens.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 “RBG Centre.” Royal Botanical Gardens. Accessed February 9, 2021. https://www.rbg.ca/gardenstrails/by-attraction/rbg-centre/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Allard Hall Sustainable Building Design. UBC LAW. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://allard.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2020-06/allard_hall_sustainable_building_design.pdf.
- ↑ “Allard Hall.” Peter A. Allard School of Law. University of British Columbia, Department of Law. Accessed February 10, 2021. https://allard.ubc.ca/about-us/allard-hall.
- ↑ “Allard Hall Wins Design Awards.” Allard Hall Wins Design Awards | historyproject.law.ubc.ca. UBC LAW. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://historyproject.allard.ubc.ca/law-history-project/milestone/allard-hall-wins-design-awards.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 “Lazaridis Hall,” February 11, 2021. https://dsai.ca/projects/lazaridis-hall/.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Sagredo, Rayen. “Lazaridis Hall / Diamond Schmitt Architects.” ArchDaily. ArchDaily, April 16, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/892499/lazaridis-hall-diamond-schmitt-architects#:~:text=Lazaridis%20Hall%20%2F%20Diamond%20Schmitt%20Architects%20%7C%20ArchDaily
This article "A.J. Diamond Architects" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:A.J. Diamond Architects. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
