VICTORIA RESERVOIR

VICTORIA RESERVOIR

Our competition entry for the Victoria Reservoir in Caledon, Ontario appeared to be straightforward enough, until we realized that the selected site, an open farm field, was to become surrounded with a residential subdivision at some point in the future – a rather unique circumstance for constructing a modern industrial building. Like most architecturally designed buildings, the built fabric of the surrounding neighbourhood has an impact on the new building’s final form as it looks to complement its immediate context. Whether it shares similar details, materials, or a little of both, the characteristics of the neighbourhood typically can be felt in the new architecture. Here however, the neighbourhood was not going to be constructed for many years, so we had no architectural clues regarding its design characteristics, upon which to build.

With this understanding in place, we began to ask ourselves how one would go about designing a very large utilitarian building that would comfortably fit into two very different surroundings: farm field – day one, subdivision – day two. What resulted was a “mound”, an industrial building more akin to a natural landscape feature than a built form. As such, the bulk of the project consisted of three reservoirs continuously wrapped in grass-covered earth berms, with a series of maple trees lining the roof’s edge. To the front of the project, the two-storey valve house extends its sidewall earth berms to form a continuous grass-covered arched roof. Cantilevered from it is a wave-shaped canopy, symbolically referencing water, complete with flower-filled planter boxes, storage areas and loading docks with the main entrance door placed beneath.

Completing the “mound’s” design, a service yard with vehicular parking is placed just outside the front door, with a storm water management pond located beyond that. Encircled with maple trees and ornamental grasses next to the pond, the “mound’s” oval-shaped form becomes defined. As a final touch, we lined the service road leading into the reservoir with paired poplar trees, adding both scale and rhythm to this nature-infused project.

As one drives past the open field where the Victoria Reservoir is to be built, its presence would not even be felt. In the future, when surrounded by one and two-storey subdivision houses, the Victoria Reservoir will be welcomed like a community park, while altogether hiding its true purpose of water purification.

LOCATION: Caledon, Ontario

ARCHITECT: LINEVISION Architects
+ Black & Veatch Engineering

DESIGN LEADERSHIP: Michael Poitras,
Principal-in-Charge

COMPETITION: Second Place

CLIENT: Region of Peel

STATISTICS:

  • No. of storeys: 2
  • Total floor area:
    153,440 ft2 (14,255 m2)
  • Parking: 24 stalls

MATERIALS:

  • Precast concrete panels (grey)
  • Kalwall (insulated translucent fiberglass wall panels)
  • Pre-finished standing seam metal roof (silver)
  • Brushed stainless steel planter boxes
  • Poured in-place concrete service yard & retaining wall
  • Crushed limestone gravel road
  • Grass covered berms
  • Outdoor landscaping

GENERAL PROGRAM:

  • Reservoirs (1, 2 & 3)
  • Valve house
  • Covered outdoor storage space
  • Loading docks: 2
  • Service yard
  • Storm water management pond

COST: Withheld

COMPLETION: Project