PROJECT Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation, Saint Peters Bay, PEI
ARCHITECTS Baird Sampson Neuert architects, part of the WF Group with SableARC Studio 
TEXT David Sisam
PHOTOS Brad McCloskey
Building on a reputation for delivering environmentally progressive institutional buildings, Toronto-based Baird Sampson Neuert (BSN) has once again designed a notable academic building with ambitious sustainability goals. This time, the project, completed with SableARC Studio, is situated on Prince Edward Island, a small province with a remarkable history of initiatives to combat the threatening consequences of climate change.
The living laboratory sits on a ridge overlooking the village of Saint Peter?s Bay, Prince Edward Island. Its location gives researchers and students access to nearby wetlands, forests, and coastal habitats. The Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation (CCCCA) is a 30-minute drive across the eastern tip of the Island from Spry Point, the site for the 1976 Ark, an experimental built demonstration of a self-sustaining house and ecological research centre by architects David Bergmark and Ole Hammarlund. That landmark project from 50 years back?officially opened by no less than Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau?was built under the auspices of the US-based New Alchemy Institute, with funding from the federal government and land from the province. The Ark was the first in a long series of environmental initiatives on PEI: in 1981, the Wind Energy ...