Stars + Steel
Project Introduction
THE GENERATION OF THE IDEA FOR THIS PROJECT
Terri Meyer Boake, School of Architecture, University of Waterloo
"Stars + Steel" is the third in the series of multimedia educational titles that I have authored for the Steel Structures Education Foundation. The first two projects that studied BCE Place, the Vancouver International Airport and the Vancouver Skytrain Stations, made extensive use of construction photographs that were taken by "others" – normally the steel erector and fabricator. These structures are all Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel buildings, and the finished images were taken by myself. "Stars + Steel" is very different in this regard.
The increased wealth of interesting architecture in the City of Toronto over the past 10+ years is astounding. I was looking for a suite of innnovative steel buildings to become subjects for another Interactive CD. I had been following the design development of the ROM and the AGO. Both seemed possible. I had known about the proposed Alsop Addition to OCAD, but had not been aware of the actuality of its construction.
The idea for the project started to really gel around the time of the Annual CISC Tour in the Fall of 2003 to the partially complete addition to OCAD. It seemed a natural third for the project. Touring OCAD at a partial stage of completion, and being able to be on site to document its completion was quite thrilling. I thank the site people at PCL Constructors for allowing me a number of site tours. I deeply regret not being around to actually see the erection of the structure: both the lifting of the colourful legs as well as the sequential extension of the table top trusses from the concrete core.
This SSEF project was supposed to have included Frank Gehry's AGO addition, but delays in its construction seemed to put it off of the radar. However as documentation on OCAD was nearing completion in September 2004, I happened to pass by the corner of College Street and University Avenue, and spotted some curved steel elements awaiting erection. This was the Leslie Dan School of Pharmacy by Foster + Partners, and I had caught the project at its critical beginning! I resolved to find out more and track the construction myself. I managed to find out the details regarding the timing of the lift of a 50 tonne truss. The lift conflicted with a course I was teaching – but as construction does not wait for classes, I cancelled my own class so that I could document the lift. I made pilgrimages down to the site almost weekly that Fall, working within a tight schedule of dropping my daughter off at JK for 8:30, making the trek downtown, taking photos, then making it back for the 11am pickup. I became such a frequent visitor to the construction site that I was invited by the PCL site office to just sign in when I arrived and was given permission to wander around to continue to document the progress.
The steel fabrication and erection for OCAD, Leslie Dan and the ROM was done by Walters Inc. of Hamilton. They permitted me a tour of their shop in the fall of 2004 to see the work on the Leslie Dan elements in progress, and subsequently another shop visit to watch the fabrication of the complex steel elements that would become the ROM. It was extremely enlightening. Walter Koppelaar and Tim Verhey seemed to warm up to the idea of having me on site, as the documentation that I gave them of the project was unique. The eye of the architectural educator takes different images than does the constructor when pursuing "record shots" of the job.
I had been teaching Building Construction, including an introduction to steel design, for close to 20 years at this point in time, but soon came to realize how little I really knew about the fabrication, construction and erection process. The Leslie Dan project, and with it the erection of the 50 tonne truss and two suspended lecture pods, allowed me to see teamwork in action. The precision of the product and the narrow tolerances in the steel was carefully handled by the Walters team. The roles of the various ironworkers on the team became clearly evident. The lead ironworker was Hans. He came from the East Coast. He could solve anything. When there was an issue with the lift of the first pod, and the rest of us stood around shivering for 3 hours in the November damp, he just went to work and fixed the rigging. The problem solving skills exhibited with complete calm were mind boggling.
As Leslie Dan's steel was nearing completion, work at the ROM was ramping up. Many of my trips downtown would see me combine two site visits. The ROM's steel was also the work of Walters Inc., and again I was invited to tour the fabrication shop to see the steel parts fabrication in progress. This project represented geometric complexity like I have never seen before and likely will never see again.
Access to the ROM site was not very easy. With a very constrained site and constricted staging area, along with intense overhead work, my accompanied interior tours with Brian Penny the Walters Supervisor were limited, but key to obtaining extensive documentation of this project. There was great viewing from the Bloor Street sidewalk, and Dave the security guard was happy to let me step "just" inside the chain link fence to take my photos "unobstructed". He was also an avid photographer and took the trouble to show me his slide collection of the project! He was also a great source of information on progress and construction issues. I could watch the steel lift begin, then race around to the University Avenue entrance, flash my ROM Members Pass, and run up to the viewing windows on the second and third floor to see the steel arrive in place. Listening to the comments by the children in the Museum was amusing. "Mommy, I think it's a watchtower!"
In addition to still photography, I have incorporated much video footage into this project. Stills don't capture the motion, time, and patience associated with the erection of such complex projects. My late arrival to the OCAD site has limited the video documentation of that project. I have included multiple key segments of the Leslie Dan erection as I was able to document that project from the initial steel pod lifts to its completion. The ROM project was the lengthiest of the three and I have video documentation from its beginning lifts to its completed state, including some special footage of the Opening Ceremonies as an invited guest of Walters Inc.
To many people, steel erection as the topic of "film" might seem mundane or routine. These three projects present such difficult geometries and unusual erection issues that they can only be understood in "real time". With the ROM in particular, there were no vertical elements. Gravity was the enemy of the crane operator. Every single lift point for every piece of steel was unique. The ironworkers could be seen to take three runs at getting a piece of diagrid in place. Amazingly, with utter patience. Not once did I overhear any swearing or cussing when a piece did not align. It was simply removed, rejigged and retried. The lead ironworker on the ROM was Lick, a member of the First Nations. His skill and determination was incredible to observe.
UNFORTUNATELY UNEXPOSED STRUCTURAL STEEL
Concurrent with this Educational Resource Project, I worked with CISC on the creation of a new set of documents to support the Specification of Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS). "The CISC Guide for Specifying Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel" was released by CISC in 2011. The joy of AESS when it comes to instructing our next generation of Architectural and Engineering designers is that its legacy is always exposed. As a teaching tool, the connections remain in clear view and can always be used as a vehicle for discussion.
Documenting these buildings for this project opened my eyes to many aspects of steel construction that I had not even remotely considered before. Most importantly the need TO document, as the key and most interesting steel in all of the projects is now covered up. The OCAD table top is concealed behind drywall and steel cladding. The Leslie Dan Pods are covered by acoustic spray and ultimately by drywall – only their hangers remain exposed. The ROM is also almost completely by drywall and cladding. Virtually no steel remains exposed. Unlike the Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel of the buildings from the first two volumes of this series, if you did not manage to visit these projects during construction, the opportunity to view the steel has been lost. For these projects in particular I have coined a new type of steel structure – Unfortunately Unexposed Structural Steel - UUSS.
This Education project was delayed in its completion as I took on the writing of "Understanding Steel Design: An Architectural Design Manual" for Birkhauser in 2011. The text was just released in November 2011 and will make a fine complement to this website.
So for those of you that never managed to make it downtown, enjoy.
Terri Meyer Boake
