Michelle Rupp Named New LG Appointee to AIBC Council

The provincial government has named Michelle Rupp as a Lieutenant Governor (LG) appointee to AIBC Council effective October 29, 2015. She holds a Master of Arts (Leadership Studies) degree, a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is an accredited Executive Coach. Michelle has almost 30 years of diverse business experience in the areas of leadership development, communications and marketing. She also has extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector, serving on the boards of the Minerva Foundation for B.C. Women, Vancouver College and Big Sisters of B.C.

The province’s Board Resourcing and Development Office designates LG appointees, a voluntary role, to regulatory bodies such as the AIBC with the express purpose of protecting the public interest. There are four such positions on AIBC Council. This appointment addresses one of two vacancies created by recent LG departures. A second appointee is expected in the near future.

Re-Imagining Urban Form and Policy in a Global Economy – The (Im)possibility of Design

This symposium examines the linkages between global capital flows, urban policy initiatives, the waxing and waning of local democratic control, and the urban form that these three interacting factors make manifest.

At the same time that cities like Vancouver, London, Dubai, and New York become festooned with glittering high rise “cash boxes in the sky”, places like Mumbai, India and Surrey, BC double their population in just a few decades – a growth fueled by the intra and extra national migration of people of far more modest means.
How do we makes sense of this? In that attempt, relevant questions that this symposium will explore include: Is it possible to combine top-down, highly organized and performance-oriented urban design strategies, with bottom-up more individualized grassroots and entrepreneurial approaches? Which of these approaches is more ecologically sustainable, more politically practical, and more economically astute? How can new forms of governance, urban policy and planning enable the emergence of alternative urban design outcomes? What is the role of design in the imagination and construction of resilient and democratic urban districts?

We hope that our forum will shed light on the dramatic changes occurring in our urban landscapes, and suggest ways to make them better.

Additional information regarding the symposium is available online.

Date: March 10-11, 2016
AIBC Learning Units (LUs): March 10 – 6.5 non-core LUs; March 11 – 7 non-core LUs
Register: http://www.urban-design-forum.sala.ubc.ca/

Clarification (Feb 23, 2016): This event is not self-reported. You will be asked to sign an attendance record at this event and your attendance will be submitted to the AIBC where the LUs will be reported to your account on your behalf.

Langara College

PROP 1073 Building Design & Construction
Course provides a concise overview of construction materials and methods for commercial and residential buildings, including high-rise towers. Emphasis is placed on key terminology and the economics of construction projects. Topics include: planning and design, site preparation, foundations, superstructure, envelope systems, mechanical systems, and interior finishes. There is also brief treatment of construction supervision, quality control, sustainability issues, and post-construction deficiencies.

Date: January 13, 2016 to February 17, 2016, 6:30-9:30pm (6 sessions of 3 hours)
Location: 100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
AIBC Learning Units: 18 Core LUs (identify yourself as AIBC member for credit)
Cost: $340
To register: Call 604-323-5322

Langara College

PROP 1049 House Construction
Learn about building techniques and the materials used in the construction and renovation of wood-frame homes in British Columbia. Construction topics include: footings and foundations, framing, the envelope system, mechanical systems, and interior finishes. The course also covers basic information on permits, zoning, inspections, codes, and important documents in the construction and approval process. Particularly good course for new Canadians.

Date: May 2016, 6:30-9:30pm (4 sessions – 12 hours)
Location: 100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
AIBC Learning Units: 12 Core LUs (identify yourself as AIBC member for credit)
Cost: $237
To register: Call 604-323-5322

Langara College

PROP 1066 Development Application Process
A practical introduction to the application and review process for property developments in Vancouver and adjacent municipalities. The course includes:

1. a description of the provincial and municipal planning and development review framework as defined by federal, provincial, and municipal law and regulation;
2. a step-by-step examination of the development application review process; and
3. (3) actual examples of successful and unsuccessful development applications.

Emphasis is placed on due diligence and advance preparation.

Date: January 16-30, 2016, 6:30-9:30pm (3 sessions – 9 hours)
Location: 100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
AIBC Learning Units: 9 Core (identify yourself as AIBC member for credit)
Cost: $180
To register: Call 604-323-5322

Langara College

PROP 1022 Residential Construction
The Residential Construction course is designed to give participating professionals a working knowledge of the physical aspects of residential properties. The course covers how houses are sited, designed and constructed in Canada, as well as how factors such as design, material selection, and construction type affect their value. Also covered will be the identification and evaluation of problems due to design, construction or deterioration, their effect on value, and how problems should be reported.
Transfer Note: This course meets AIC and UBC BUSI 400 requirements

Date: January 12, 2016 to April 12, 2016, 6:30-9:30pm (13 sessions – 39 hours)
Location: 100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
AIBC Learning Units: 39 Core (identify yourself as AIBC member for credit)
Cost: $684
To register: Call 604-323-5322

Langara College

PROP 1096 BC Building Code Energy Efficiency Standards
Energy efficiency is becoming a critical aspect in the construction of homes. New regulations are now in place in the BC Building Code requiring that homes be built to efficient energy use standards. Ensure you are equipped with the up-to -date knowledge of the current standards for Zone 4 and 5 (Lower Mainland). This course is suitable for contractors, builders, and homeowners.

Date: TBA
Location: 100 West 49 Avenue, Vancouver
AIBC Learning Units: 12 Core (identify yourself as AIBC member for credit)
Cost: $300
To register: Call 604-323-5322

IESBC

Light as a Creative Tool
Maja will be presenting her practice based creative research on transforming the poetic experience of space. As a creative tool she use cutting-edge technology and especially light through which the space is experienced emotionally. Her focus has been on innovative experience that engages perception, emotion, and imagination. During experimentations across different media sheI discovered that light is an immensely potent tool to create poetic transformations of environments. Since then she have been studying and practicing how to manipulate senses by calibrating properties of light in purpose of art. Light as a tool has immense transformative power, especially when synthesizing both its creative and scientific properties.

What fascinates her the most about the essential nature of light is that it is primordial, it has existed since the beginning of time, and as such humans have innate response to it. Light is everywhere, it enables life, and conditions growth. It is also ephemeral and mysterious and as such it can be a potent artistic tool. Evolution of her creative practice has brought her to evidence-based research that investigates health benefits of light, art, and biophilia (nature inspired design) in purpose of creating immersive art that is driven by notions of health.

Date: December 10, 2015, 4:30-8pm
Location: Sutton Hotel – Chateau Lafitte Room, 845 Burrard Street, Vancouver
AIBC Learning Units: 1 Core
Cost: $75 for non-member – $50 for IES, PSA and AIBC member
To register: http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/light-as-a-creative-tool-tickets-19448408714

City of Kelowna Infill Challenge

The City of Kelowna launched an Infill Challenge to attract new models of infill housing in select areas of Kelowna’s Urban Core Area. The AIBC is supportive of what Kelowna is seeking to achieve with the Infill Challenge and recently worked with them to remove restrictions from architects participating or acting as team leaders. The updated Infill Challenge now falls entirely within the ‘Exceptions’ to the Architects Act and as such is not required to be an AIBC-sanctioned competition per AIBC Bylaws.

Architects are highly encouraged to participate. The institute hopes that the participation of architects will enhance the submissions and lead to higher quality of housing stock diversity and stronger neighbourhoods.

Learn more about the City of Kelowna Infill Challenge.

Cool Gardens 2016 Competition Call for Entries

Cool Gardens is pleased to announce the Call for Entries for the international 2016 competition! Deadline to register is December 21, 2015.

Presented by StorefrontMB and The Forks, Cool Gardens is a public exhibition of contemporary garden and art installations. The exhibition takes place in Winnipeg, with a satellite in Brandon, from June 23 until September 25, 2016.

Cool Gardens aims to bring architects, designers, landscape architects, and artists together to challenge and celebrate the interface between urbanism, landscape, and design. The exhibit of cutting-edge garden designs places design culture at the centre of summer activities in Winnipeg, and at the same time, offers a pleasant relief from the summer exasperations. Four new installations will be selected by competition.

For more information, visit the Cool Gardens website at www.coolgardens.ca.

District of North Vancouver 2015 Heritage Awards

The District of North Vancouver is now accepting nominations for its 2015 Heritage Awards. This awards program acknowledges special accomplishments, projects and efforts that have furthered the goal of heritage conservation in the District. Every year the District of North Vancouver sponsors awards in the following categories:

• Heritage Restoration
• Heritage Advocacy
• Heritage Landscape Preservation
• New Design in a Heritage Context

The deadline for nominations is Monday, January 11, 2016.

For additional information please contact:

Kathleen Larsen, Community Planner
Tel: 604-990-2369
Fax: 604-984-9683
Email: larsenk@dnv.org

AIBC Council Meeting Summary – November 10, 2015

At the November 10, 2015 council meeting, the AIBC Council dealt with the following items:

Registration Board Report
• The Canadian Architectural Students Association (CASA) is available for students to share information between schools. They also provide perspective to the accreditation team.
• UBC SALA’s co-op work experience program needs more firms to participate in their program. Please contact the Co-op Coordinator Greg Johnson at gjohnson@sala.ubc.ca for more information.

CEO (ED) Report
External Relations:
• ExAC was held on Nov 2-3, with 70 writers in Vancouver, and for the first time in Victoria, with 4 writers.
• AIBC’s Annual Conference (Oct 28-30) was well received; preliminary unsolicited reviews are extremely favorable, and the formal assessment will be complete later this month.
• IRC (CALA International Relations Committee) met Oct 22 and endorsed AIBC’s proposal for the process of registering APEC Architects, and approved China as the next target for MRA discussions.
• The “CEO meet & greet” in Kelowna was held Oct 15; it was well received and it was requested that it be coordinated annually.
• At the Vancouver Island Chapter Meeting on Oct 5, AIBC council member Catherine Nickerson presented a summary of AIBC business; AIBC staff joined via telephone.

Internal Relations:
• Michelle Rupp is AIBC’s new Lieutenant Governor Appointee to council. Michelle brings to the position almost 30 years of business experience in a number of diverse areas from communications and marketing, to leadership development.
• The Governance Committee has approved a council training plan comprised of core (mandatory), elementary, and discretionary course offerings.

Council Motions
Finance
• Council considered and approved the institute’s budget for 2016. On behalf of FICOM, Treasurer Karl Gustavson Architect AIBC presented the budget overview, explained the rationale for the modest fee increase, and recommended a review of the Policy 2.1.2.7 regarding the operating reserve fund.

Bylaw Review
• Taking into account the Bylaw Review Committee’s recommendations and member feedback gathered during the requisite consultation period, council approved the motion that three administrative bylaws be advanced to members for electronic vote, Nov 17 until Dec 10 at 5 p.m. (PST). Read about the bylaw review process and review the three proposed bylaw amendments (and supporting rationales).
• Please note: the second bylaw initiative proposed by the BRC, on investigations and remedial discipline, is currently in the consultation phase. A session, held during the 2015 annual conference, will be supplemented with additional in-person and online opportunities in the new year. Members are encouraged to avail themselves of the presentation material currently available online, attend sessions and submit feedback via the online form or email. Learn more.

Bulletin Updates
• Council approved motions to update Bulletins 01: Fees, Fines and Charges and Bulletin 03: Annual Fee Waiver. Significant updates to Bulletin 01 include:
– A modest increase in annual renewal fees, across all categories.
– A change to the late annual renewal payment.
Updates regarding Bulletin 01 and 03 include:
– Replacing the defined dollar amounts for annual thresholds pertaining to Bulletin 03 with reference to Bulletin 01, where the defined amounts will be reviewed annually.
• Please note: Bulletin 02: Reinstatement of Registration and Bulletin 05: Resignation of Registration have also been updated to improve organization, provide greater clarity and detail.

Road to Registration Task Force
• The Diverse Membership Working Group has been decommissioned as operational initiatives will be transferred to a new task force, co-ordinated through the AIBC Registration Board. Read the Road to Registration Task Force terms of reference. DMWG chair Mona Lovgreen Architect AIBC and the members of the working group were recognized for their tremendous effort and the valuable work they undertook.

Register Update
• Council approved a motion to establish qualifications for “student affiliates” and discontinued “student associates”. This will enable the transfer of any remaining bona fide students to the affiliate category and clear the register of the discontinued student associate class.

Other Business
• Motions were passed for committee changes, examination results and register amendments as well as terms of reference.
• Read adopted Sept 08 and 22, and Oct 20 council meeting minutes.
• The next regular meeting of AIBC Council is scheduled for January 11, 2016. It will be held at the AIBC office between 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. For those interested in attending an AIBC Council Meeting, please confirm your attendance in advance by email to ttough@aibc.ca.

Role Call: Municipal Advisory Design Panels

The AIBC invites applications from architects interested in serving on the following design panels:

• City of North Vancouver – Heritage
• District of West Vancouver
• Corporation of Delta
• City of New Westminster
• District of Oak Bay
• City of Victoria
• City of Surrey
• University Endowment Lands

The role of an advisory design panel member is to give impartial, professional advice directly on any proposal or policy affecting the community’s physical environment in the public interest.

To learn more about the procedures for serving on a panel, please refer to the following documents:

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

Please fill out an interactive application form and forward your submissions to the attention of Professional Services Coordinator Alexandra Kokol by email (akokol@aibc.ca).