Prioritizing Design Elements for a Sexton Campus Bike Space

Abstract

In an effort to expand Dalhousie University Sexton campus (as herein referred to as Sexton campus) services the Innovative Design in Architecture and Engineer (IDEA) building has been proposed for construction in 2018 (Dalhousie University Facilities Management, 2015). Any proposed buildings larger than 10,000 square feet on Dalhousie University must earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold designation (Dalhousie University Sustainability Office, 2015). Numerous standards must be met to achieve gold certification requirements, ranging from: energy efficiency, wastewater management, to cycling facilities. More specifically, one of the requirements includes providing an indoor bike parking space and showers for building users (LEED, 2014). LEED cycling requirements of the IDEA building ensure amenities for Dalhousie University’s Sexton students, staff, and faculty. Integrating these requirements with expanding the services offered by the Dalhousie University Studley Campus Bike Centre (Dal Bike Centre) improves cycling accessibility for all Sexton students and staff.

The objective of this project is to gather design priorities of current Dal Bike Centre users, staff, and employees, as well as Sexton campus students, for the proposed IDEA building. To gather participant ideas, three focus groups were held, incorporating design charrettes, to understand what is of importance in a new bike space on Dalhousie University’s Sexton Campus.

Recommendations from this study incorporate LEED and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) downtown bylaw requirements with participant results. These findings have been translated into three preliminary design proposals, ranging in terms of scale and design features, which are found in the results section of this report.

Study results will be shared with the Dalhousie University Sustainability Office, and DSRA Architecture. The goal of this project is that these identified design elements will be incorporated into the final design of the bike space within the IDEAS building.