New Registered Educational Provider: MMM Group Limited

MMM Group is an industry-leading Canadian program management, planning, engineering and geomatics firm. The firm works on projects of all sizes, across Canada and around the world. To learn more about all AIBC Registered Educational Providers, click here.

Deadline for ASHRAE 90.1-2010 and NECB 2011 Implementation Has Been Extended

Please note that the City of Vancouver’s deadline for ASHRAE 90.1-2010 and NECB 2011 implementation has been extended from December 20, 2013 to January 21, 2014. The province has not changed its deadline. The energy webpage has been changed to reflect this. For more information, click here to visit the City of Vancouver’s website.

Role call: AIBC Design Panel Committee

The AIBC Design Panel Committee is seeking new members to represent the committee as liaisons for various municipalities.

The committee engages in valuable discussions on the importance and role of advisory design panels including how best to promote their appropriate function in the public interest. The committee reviews ADP applications and provides recommendations for nomination of candidates to municipal advisory design panels across the province.

To learn more about the objectives, criteria and procedures for nomination to, and service on, an advisory design panel, please refer to the following documents:

• AIBC Bulletin 65: Advisory Design Panels – Standards for Procedures and Conduct 
• ADP Frequently Asked Questions

The Design Panel Committee meets on the first Wednesday of each month (excluding July and August) from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

For more information, please contact Yana Vassilenko by email yvassilenko@aibc.ca or by phone (604) 683-8588 ext. 314.

CSMPS

Presentation traps to avoid:  Being persuasive when a project is on the line

Persuade, engage, compel. These are all words that describe successful presentations. But getting there and presenting an effective, memorable presentation that can persuade decision-makers to get on your side can be elusive. How do we get into the minds of our audience and stay there? How do we get buy-in? Join Janice Tomich, the founder of Calculated Presentations, a specialty Communication consultancy and learn how to create and deliver persuasive, and powerful presentations. The seminar takes place on Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at the Four Seasons Hotel, 791 West Georgia Street, Vancouver. The cost is $85 ($70 for CSMPS members), and breakfast is included. Pre-registration is required, please click here.

1.5 Non-core LUs

CSMPS

DIALOG Design: An award-winning AEC digital marketing case study

With the merger of four firms across three provinces – each with their unique brand footprint in the marketplace – Design Dialog one of Canada’s premier architecture firms faced the challenge of shaping a new, cohesive brand and corporate culture. DIALOG’s Director of New Media Miguel Strother, will focus this case study on the digital marketing program developed as part of the overall firm strategy to attract the best and the brightest talent and promote its expertise across the world. Participants will learn: What the challenge was and what strategy was developed in response; How tools/platforms were chosen and what was accomplished / measured, and; How engagement continues and long-term value is being built. The seminar takes place on Wednesday, January 22^nd, 2014, 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at the Four Seasons Hotel, 791 West Georgia Street, Vancouver. The cost is $85 ($70 for CSMPS members), and breakfast is included. Pre-registration is required, please click here.

1.5 Non-core LUs

d3 Housing Tomorrow competition

This international ideas competition recognizes exemplary ideas that redefine housing through the implementation of advanced programs, technologies, materials and social interventions that engage the broadest innovations in housing. The 2014 competition invites architects, designers, engineers and students to collectively explore, document, analyze, transform and deploy innovative approaches to residential urbanism, architecture, interiors, and designed objects.

Three prizes will be awarded in the amounts of $1,250, $1,000 and $750. The entrance fee is $50, and the registration deadline is January 15, 2014, followed by the submission deadline of January 25, 2014.

For more information, please visit www.d3space.org/competitions/

2013 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence winners announced

Canadian Architect
December 17, 2013

Canadian Architect is proud to announce a total of 11 awards in its annual Awards of Excellence program. Architectural firms and students from across Canada received top honours for design proposals that embody qualities of innovation and overall design excellence.

Now in their 46th year, these awards are the highest recognition for excellence in the design stage in the Canadian architectural sector. By focusing on commissioned yet unbuilt projects along with exceptional student work, the program recognizes design ambitions and supports an overall culture of design excellence.

Of the 208 submissions received for this year’s awards program, the jury selected six projects for Awards of Excellence, three projects for Awards of Merit, and two Student Awards of Excellence. More…

Montreal Space for Life’s architecture competition

Canadian Architect
December 17, 2013

Space for Life, Montreal’s largest museum and tourist complex, is organizing an international architecture competition for official launch in February 2014. Following the huge success of the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, the Space for Life is reasserting its desire to meld art, science and emotion by creating a unique immersive visitor experience through an innovative pairing of bold architecture and design in three major projects: the Insectarium’s Metamorphosis project, the renewal of the Biodôme and the Botanical Garden’s Glass Pavilion, legacies of Montreal’s 375th birthday.

Inspired by the Space for Life’s mission—to reconnect humans and nature—the competition will seek an overall creative approach where boldness and innovation will be the design hallmarks of an immersive and sensory spatial experience. This offers an exciting opportunity to participate in the evolution of the Space for Life and to get involved in making our city the flagship of a vast global movement for biodiversity.

The three projects in the competition are all located on the Space for Life site. More…

The Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture 2013 rethinks China’s industrial past

By Catherine Shaw, Design
December 13, 2013

The Shekou Industrial Zone in Shenzhen may not seem the most likely place to  house a biennale devoted to design. But given the event’s ‘Urban Border’ theme,  this industrial port is in fact perfectly positioned – literally and  figuratively – to host a fascinating debate on global urban issues at the Bi-City  Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (UABB). The urban design biennale’s fifth  edition is presented at two separate venues: an old warehouse at the city’s  industrial port and the former Guangdong Float Glass Factory, a short bus trip  away.

UABB curator and creative director Ole Bouman enlisted a team of  local and international designers to transform a four-hectare derelict  industrial site into the biennale’s main venue, the former glass factory. ‘We  didn’t have much to do,’ he says. ‘It was all about cherishing its existing  beauty and qualities.’ Central to the revitalisation is a dramatic  Guggenheim-esque spiral staircase and an ‘urban farm’, that echoes the Hong Kong  vernacular. More...

Winners of 2013 Prairie Wood Design Awards announced

Canadian Architect
Dec 2, 2013

Alberta Wood WORKS! has announced the award recipients for the 2013 Prairie Wood Design awards. Eight projects were selected from over 40 entries by an esteemed jury panel:  David J. Bowick, Principal of Blackwell Structural Engineers; Brian Court, Associate at the Miller Hull Partnership, LLP; and Steve Raike, Associate Partner at Lake Flato Architects. Selections were based on considerations such as creativity, appropriate use of wood materials, ability to satisfy the client’s building and site requirements and the overall aesthetic appeal for the use and application of wood. The winners are as follows: More…

Annual Fee Invoices

December distribution of annual fee invoices is just around the corner. Members, associates, firms and affiliates can expect to receive an e-mail, next week, containing a detailed invoice of fees required for 2014. Fee rates are determined by registration status. AIBC Council has determined that there are no changes in the annual fees for 2014 regarding members, associates, firms certificates of practice and licensees.  Your annual fees can be paid online.  When logging in to make payment, please keep in mind that individual login identifications are different than your firm login id. Detailed information regarding applicable fees and payment requirements can be found in Bulletin 01 (2014): Fees, Fines and Charges. The deadline for payment is February 1, 2014.

AIA approves first Gender Equity Policy

Geraldine Chua, Architecture & Design
December 9, 2013

The Australian Institute of Architects’ National Council has officially approved the organisation’s first Gender Equity Policy.

Institute President Paul Berkemeier announced the council’s decision following its meeting on Thursday, 5 December.

“The disparity between male and female representation with the profession has been well documented and a growing concern not only for the Institute as the industry’s representative body but also for members of both genders,” he said.

The new Gender Equity Policy establishes ten best practice principles designed to maximise fair and equitable access to opportunities and participation for women in the industry.

They are: More…

Evolution of Associates Categories

Following a period of analysis and discussion, including receiving feedback from architects and associates, AIBC Council recently made changes to clarify the role of  associates with the institute. As of January 1, 2014, there are only three categories of associates: Intern Architect AIBC, Architectural Technologist AIBC and Retired Architect AIBC.  As was the case before these changes, associates must comply with the Architects Act, AIBC Bylaws and the AIBC’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.  As before, they are not entitled to vote or be a voting member of council. There are eligibility requirements for each category of associate. AIBC Council is currently reviewing the issue of the provision by associates of independent design services, in the ‘exceptions’ in the Architects Act, to determine whether regulatory changes are required in the public and profession’s interest.

While the ‘student associate’ class has been discontinued, the AIBC sees students as  important contributors and connecting points to the profession and the AIBC continues to develop these relationships.

For more, click here to view the President’s Message. For more information on associates, please visit our webpage.

CES Reporting Information for CES Participants

The Continuing Education System (CES) reporting system is being updated and streamlined in order to simplify the tracking and assignment of learning units on CES Participants’ transcripts.

• In the first phase of this initiative you will see a  change to the Self Reporting page to indicate to the participant  that any self report is “reported”.
• Learning units will no longer be “pending” review by AIBC staff.  They will be seen as “reported” right away, and as such, the “pending” page will disappear.
• CES staff will, as usual, be reviewing reported learning units in accordance with the Rules and Guidelines in Bulletin 80 – e.g. sections 2.2, 3.3 among others. In cases where an AIBC review seeks more information or detail, or re-classifies a report in accordance with Bulletin 80, the CES Participant will be notified immediately.
• The second phase of this initiative will occur early in 2014 when the self reporting form is modified to provide more detail about the learning opportunities and LUs  being reported. This initiative does nothing to change any of the rules, guidelines and other principles in Bulletin 80, and we encourage all CES Participants to review Bulletin 80 as we approach the final six months in the current 2012-2014 reporting period.

If you have any questions, please contact the AIBC Professional Development Coordinator Aleta Cho, after she returns from vacation on January 6, 2014.

Heritage Vancouver Night: Secrets of the Penthouse

Presented by Forbidden Vancouver, an unprecedented guided tour inside the Penthouse nightclub by owner Danny Filippone, author Aaron Chapman and ex-VPD cop Grant McDonald. Danny’s father Ross and three uncles Joe, Mickey and Jimmy founded the Penthouse in 1947 and it’s still a family-run business today. This is a one-of-a-kind event for anyone with a love of Vancouver’s history.

On the Jan 16 Secrets of the Penthouse nights, proceeds go to Heritage Vancouver AND Heritage Vancouver members get a $10 discount on their tickets!
Time: Thursday January 16^th (Doors open at 5:45pm)
Tours: 6:15pm and 7:15pm. (Club opens for normal business at 9:00pm)
Location: 1019 Seymour St.
Tickets: HVS members $39 and Non-members $49

Click here for full information and to book. If you are unable to pay online email info@heritagevancouver.org for alternative payment methods.