User:AdhiraR/Michael Green Architecture


 * MGA-Sandbox with Existing Material (in italics)**

Michael Green Architecture Inc., commonly referred to as MGA, is a multi-disciplinary architecture and interior design firm co-founded by Architect Michael Green in 2012, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Michael Green is a practicing award winning architect from Canada who is famous for building environmentally sustainable mass timber buildings.

History
''Michael Green Architecture was founded by Michael Green after he left his former partnership, McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture and Design (MGB). The firm designs buildings of all sizes and typologies using timber, including the Wood Innovation Design Centre in Prince George, British Columbia - which, when completed in 2015, was the tallest wooden building in the world at eight storeys (96 ft 29 m) tall. In 2017, they designed T3 Minneapolis, a 7-storey, 220000 sqft building, which was the largest modern timber building in North America at the time. ''

''In May 2018, MGA was acquired by Katerra, a Silicon Valley construction start-up. Through the acquisition, Katerra purchased 100% of the economic interests in MGA. The voting shares remained majority-owned and controlled by MGA's Principals Natalie Telewiak and Michael Green. Michael Green remains the President and CEO of the firm. ''

''In 2021 Architizer A+ named MGA North American Firm of the Year and [Royal Architectural Institute of Canada] (RAIC) recognized MGA with the Architectural Firm Award. ''

''In June 2021, Katerra announced that it was shutting down operations, resulting in MGA reverting to an independent firm with principals Natalie Telewiak and Michael Green assuming full control of all operations. ''

Philosophy
Currently, MGA’s core principle is to build sustainably as an attempt to help mitigate the effects of Climate Change by reducing project carbon footprints. This is achieved through mass timber construction where wood has the “ability of storing carbon and reducing carbon by offsetting alternative high carbon materials like steel and concrete,” hence performing carbon sequestration, as long as it remains free of rot or burn. Michael believes that the natural environment is self-sustaining, and that wood is “the most technologically advanced major material [he] can build with.”

When it comes to sourcing all that wood MGA promotes “sustainable forestry”, and hopes to make it more mainstream through timber heavy proposals also attempting to help people leave behind the stigma around cutting trees. Such proposals highlight not only the wellness benefits of biophilic design, but also the construction cost benefits as the resultant structure would be relatively lighter, with lighter foundations - meaning less excavation. Moreover, mass timber construction also comes with the convenience of prefabrication (in a factory), post which finished pieces are very quickly assembled on site, translating to less physical labour, reducing construction time, and ultimately costs.

Keeping this in mind through projects like the WIDC and T3, Michael hopes wooden skyscrapers would get standardised, and replace steel and concrete construction, going up to even 20-30 floors due to the repetitive nature of the design (with the WIDC and T3 as precedents).

Wood Innovation and Design Centre
Wood innovation and design centre (WIDC), was the winning entry for the Wood Innovation Award by WoodWORKS! for the year 2015, set to be the tallest mass timber tower in the world for the following few months. The WIDC was designed by the MGA in conjunction with structural engineering firm, Equilibrium Consulting Inc. who specialize in mass timber construction. It is located in downtown Prince George, between George Street and Fifth Avenue and replaced the Prince George Hotel. The 6 storeyed building is currently commercially leased out to UNBC’s Wood Engineering Program, Emily Carr University of Art and design and the Provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource operations.

Architecturally, the primary structural elements used for the construction of the WIDC are Glulam Beams and Posts, mass timber walls and Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) flooring. These constitute the “dry” structure that is fabricated off-site and dropped into place, over a concrete foundation.

The exterior of the building responds to the climatic conditions of the location, hence has a thicker envelope towards the north that gradually transitions to a Cedar, Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) mullion and argon gas filled triple glazed curtain wall. Charred Western Red Cedar has been used to provide insect, rot and fire and UV resistance.

Much of the interior finishes have been left exposed enabling fire safety through charring, and easy flexibility around installing sprinkler and plumbing lines and electrical networking. This also called for minimising HVAC ductwork, which was tackled with the use of perimeter heating, and micro-finned Jaga units.

Being a demonstrative project, many building elements have been specifically chosen to showcase the potential of what wooden high-rise buildings can be (keeping in mind the students attending UNBC and Emily Carr University, who view the building as a learning tool), also simultaneously highlighting (as mandated) the wooden products BC has to offer considering its massive lumber industry.

T3 Minneapolis
Much like the wood innovation and design centre, T3, which stands for “Timber, Technology and Transit”, is a modern multi-storey mass timber building situated along Cedar Lake Trails behind Dock Street Flats apartments in the Warehouse District (North Loop) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Designed by the MGA and engineered by StructureCraft, this project explores the possibility of using digitally fabricated engineered wood to construct tall mass timber buildings, that could be looked at as a precedent for wooden skyscrapers. Along with the many awards it won (listed below), T3 also was the tallest modern mass timber building in the US for a few months after completion.

The building utilises Glue Laminated Timber (Glulam) and Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) as its chief structural material, used for the beams and columns, roof structure, flooring and furniture. Along with Spruce and Fir, the majority of wood used to fabricate the NLT has been harvested from trees killed by the Mountain Pine Beetle. HVAC ducts and electrical cables have been affixed to the ceiling, which is the bottom surface of the NLT panels. Although concrete has been used for the first floor and the core of the building, the overall construction time for the building was reduced considerably compared to a traditional steel and concrete building due to the pre-fabrication of the mass timber.

Sheltered from the climatic elements, The T3 is wrapped in weathering steel with an all exposed wooden interior. It has been done so to bring in an aesthetic character to the building, creating a visually warm atmosphere within the building whilst promoting the core intentions of the building.

Completed projects

 * Catalyst Building, Spokane, Washington (completed 2020) 
 * Oregon State University College of Forestry, Corvallis, Oregon (completed 2020) 
 * The Dock Building, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (completed 2018) 
 * North Vancouver Passive House Plus House, North Vancouver, British Columbia (completed 2017) 
 * T3 Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota (completed 2016) 
 * Ronald McDonald House BC, Vancouver (completed 2014) 
 * Wood Innovation and Design Centre, Prince George, BC (completed 2014) 
 * Sixth + Willow, Vancouver (completed 2014) 
 * North Vancouver City Hall, North Vancouver (completed 2012) 

Under construction

 * Parkway Building, Victoria, BC
 * Scott Building, Victoria, BC
 * Les Groues, Paris, France

Awards

 * 2021 RAIC Architectural Firm Award 
 * 2021 Architizer A+ Award - Best Firm of the Year (North America) 
 * 2020 AIA Innovation Award - Catalyst Building 
 * 2020 RAIC Governor General's Award - The Dock Building 
 * 2019 Architizer A+ Award - Commercial Mixed-Use - The Dock Building 
 * 2019 Architizer A+ Award - Architecture + Facades - The Dock Building 
 * 2018 AIBC Special Jury Award - The Dock Building 
 * 2018 Rethinking the Future Architecture, Construction, & Design Awards - Commercial (Built), The Dock Building 
 * 2018 Azure Best of Canadian Architecture Award - Best Timber Building (The Dock Building) 
 * 2017 AZ Award - Environmental Leadership - T3 Minneapolis 
 * 2017 NAIOP Minnesota Award of Excellence - T3 Minneapolis 
 * 2017 AIA Chicago – Distinguished Building Award - T3 Minneapolis 
 * 2017 Azure AZ Awards – Environmental Leadership + People’s Choice - T3 Minneapolis 
 * 2017 US WoodWorks Wood Design – Special Achievement Award - T3 Minneapolis 
 * 2016 RAIC Governor General’s Medal in Architecture - Wood Innovation and Design Centre 
 * 2016 RAIC Governor General’s Medal in Architecture - Wood Innovation and Design Centre 
 * 2016 RAIC Governor General’s Medal in Architecture - Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon
 * 2016 Wood Design + Buildings - Citation Award, T3
 * 2016 Architectural Woodwork Manufacturers Association of Canada – Large Commercial Projects – Quality | Silver, Interfor
 * 2015 RAIC Award of Excellence for Innovation in Architecture - Wood Innovation and Design Centre
 * 2015 Lieutenant-Governor of BC Award in Architecture (Merit) - Wood Innovation and Design Centre
 * 2015 AIBC Innovation Award - Wood Innovation and Design Centre
 * 2015 WoodWorks Wood Design Award BC – Wood Innovation Award - Wood Innovation and Design Centre
 * 2015 Canadian Design Build Institute – First Prize Award of Excellence - Wood Innovation and Design Centre
 * 2015 Lieutenant-Governor of BC Award in Architecture (Merit) - Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon
 * 2015 WoodWorks Wood Design Award BC – Institution Wood Design (Large) - Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon
 * 2015 Masonry Institute of BC – Award of Excellence (Low Rise) - Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon
 * 2015 WoodWorks Wood Design Award BC – Architect of the Year -Architect (Michael Green)
 * 2014 RAIC Governor General’s Medal in Architecture - North Vancouver City Hall
 * 2014 The Canadian Wood Council – Wood Design & Building Award Citation - Wood Innovation and Design Centre
 * 2014 Azure Top 10 Big Projects: Best Construction - Wood Innovation and Design Centre

Publications

 * The Case for Tall Wood Buildings, 2012 
 * Technical guide for the design and construction of tall wood buildings in Canada, FP Innovation, 2014 
 * Alpenglow, 2015 
 * The Case for Tall Wood Buildings (2nd Edition), 2017
 * Tall Wood Buildings: Design, Construction and Performance., Birkhäuser 2017 
 * Tall Wood Buildings: Design, Construction and Performance (2nd Expanded Edition), Birkhäuser 2020 
 * Technical guide for the design and construction of tall wood buildings in Canada (2021 Edition), FP Innovation - IN PROGRESS