Alluding to the aurora borealis, a large clerestory is animated by dyamically changing LED lights at night. The illuminated façade is a colourful presence along Dawson Creek?s main throughfare.
ARCHITECT McFarland Marceau Architects
PHOTOS Michael Elkan
Amidst a rolling landscape of fields and forests just west of the Alberta border, Dawson Creek is an energy hub, fueled by development and growth in the oil and gas sector. Along the city?s main thoroughfare lies the sprawling campus of Northern Lights College, touted as ?BC?s Energy College.? The view as you enter the college grounds is now anchored by a new trades building, designed by Vancouver-based McFarland Marceau Architects, a practice now led by Marie-Odile Marceau.
On a campus that sits at the heart of a region propelled by fossil fuels, the college is advancing a vision to be at the forefront of the renewable energy sector. When the project for the new trades centre started, the school had recently established a Centre of Excellence in Clean Energy Technology. Regional facilities manager Murray Armstrong carried the college?s vision for a building that would embody a commitment to new energy sources. This commitment also extends to the building?s program: it houses shops and classrooms for the college?s millwright, welding, and carpentry offerings, as well as for its wind turbine course of study. Located 150 metres across an empty field along the community?s main thoroughfare, the trades building provides a coher...