PROJECT Surrey Operations Centre and Works Yard Redevelopment, Surrey, British Columbia ARCHITECTS RDH Architects Inc. (Design Architect) and Taylor Kurtz Architecture and Design (Architect of Record)

PHOTOS Ema Peter
Public works architecture in Vancouver had its heyday in the mid-century. In the 1950s, municipal operations centres like the Dal Grauer substation on Burrard (designed by Ned Pratt and BC Binning) reflected both elegance and pragmatism. Later 20th century work was often consigned to the realm of pre-engineered sheds or tilt-up concrete garages, hidden from view in out-of-the-way locations. Municipal workers would come and go, largely unseen by the public.
Now, the city of Surrey, at the southern suburban edge of Vancouver?and with twice its land mass and a rapidly gaining population?is reviving the bid to make public works infrastructure beautiful.
The bold new commission for the Surrey Operations Centre and Works Yard Redevelopment follows in the footsteps of more prominent public projects in the area, such as Bing Thom?s main library and shopping mall-university complex in Surrey Central. Standing in their league as a design-forward exemplar, the Operations Centre recently received an AIBC award, along with two other City of Surrey projects: the Guildford Aquatic Centre by Bing Thom with Shape Architects, and the Grandview Aquatic Centre by HCMA Architecture + Design.
The Operations Centre, a $53-million-dollar LEED Silver project by RDHA Architects of T...