Case Study: Monumental glass for a towering monument | Deloitte Tower

Well on its way to becoming a key landmark for the city, Deloitte Tower is situated on a central city site in Montréal, connecting historic Windsor Station to the Bell Centre arena. The modern curtain wall-encased tower includes 26 stories of office space, with Deloitte as its lead tenant.

Deloitte Tower is Montreal’s first LEED® Platinum office development, expected to reduce energy consumption by 30-40 percent versus a conventional office tower. The building is also participating in Cadillac Fairview’s nationwide Green At Work® program that tracks energy use, water consumption and waste diversion, establishing reduction targets for each year.

Successfully planning a commercial tower requires a careful balance between response to immediate requirements and allowing for future use through flexibility in individual floor plate design. Working with design architect Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, B+H Architects designed the 26-storey Deloitte Tower to address the immediate needs of professional services firm Deloitte as the main tenant while providing additional space that could be effectively used by other occupants. The tower is a multi-use complex that includes commercial office space, retail and abundant underground parking. Its tall and sleek glass construction stands as an interesting contrast to historic Windsor Station on one side and Bell Centre on the other.

Image courtesy of B+H Architects

Deloitte Tower also incorporates a portion of the heritage Bush Shed into its structure to pay homage to the area’s history. To connect the office spaces and departments within the company, it features an open atrium space with a cantilevered staircase that runs through the floors used by Deloitte. Providing much-needed retail and office space to the downtown core, giving people the option to get there by public transportation was a main mandate. To increase ease of access, the tower was designed to not only connect to the main subway station but also link directly with the city’s main underground network serving pedestrians. Located on a busy city street, the building serves as a key landmark building contributing to the growth of the area.

Montreal’s first High-Rise Building to Achieve LEED Platinum Certification | WSP

The tower was designed to meet the needs of Deloitte, an anchor tenant occupying seven of the 27 floors. For Deloitte’s employees, the new building offers, a variety of amenities within 800 metres of the tower which, being close to multiple transport options also means an easy commute many for its occupants. There are 197 bicycle racks and 15 showers to promote an active lifestyle and encourage sustainable options for getting to work.

The courtyard offers pedestrian pathways, trees, a seating area and a canopied path, leading to outdoor spaces. The collaborative interior space provides employees with choices in the way they work, fostering team work and innovation. Over 18 workplace options are available, from quiet space, booths, and workstations with a treadmill, to collaborative spaces and meeting rooms. Employees can adjust the ventilation for a comfortable temperature at their workstations. Lounges, cafes and a wellness centre are just a few of the further benefits offered in this office space.

WSP (by acquisition of Halsall) was engaged to create a sustainability strategy for the project, manage the LEED Platinum certification, provide building energy modelling and design the measurement and verification plan. One of the key project successes was iterative energy modelling to reduce energy use and optimise the systems. Compared with the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB) baseline, this project was designed to reduce the cost of total energy use by 38%, which also resulted in lower emissions. Building services at the Deloitte Tower, such as electricity, heating, cooling and gas, are metered and measured to track performance. Tenant sub-metering data is used to provide real-time feedback on energy use.

Photograph by Yannis Guillon – Studio 360 Solutions

Further contributions to the Deloitte Tower’s energy-efficient design included lower lighting density, daylight harvesting and LED lighting technology; high-efficiency mechanical equipment; demand control ventilation; heat recovery from exhaust air; and high thermal performance of the building envelope. Other key design features include premium air filtration and enhanced climate control for improved ventilation, occupant comfort and health.

To save water, various features were integrated including a cistern harvesting rainwater from the roof, which accounts for 20% of the water needed for the restrooms in the building. Low-flow water fixtures resulted in a decrease of 47% in water consumption. The cistern also provides 100% of the water needed for irrigation.

The tower is Montreal’s first highrise office building to achieve LEED Platinum certification, putting it at the forefront of sustainable office design in Canada. In addition, the building’s tenants are required to pursue LEED Gold or Platinum for Commercial Interiors (CI), a program which focuses on establishing new reduction targets every year based on water and energy consumption.

The Glass | Guardian Glass

Contributing to that energy efficiency is high performance, low-E Guardian SunGuard® coated glass. Virtually the full width and more than 80 percent of the height of the perimeter wall on all office floors at Deloitte Tower, SunGuard AG 50 coated glass and SunGuard SuperNeutral® 68 coated glass permit daylight harvesting, significantly reducing power consumption and contributing to the overall comfort of occupants. The more than 250,000 square feet of exterior glass includes unusually shaped, 5×8’ ultra-wide lites transitioning the retail spaces – on the first floor on the south façade and fourth floor on the north – into the rising façade. SunGuard SuperNeutral 68 coated glass on the retail glass maximizes visible light transmission, while SunGuard AG 50 coated glass on all remaining exterior glass offers more solar heat management with clear views for those occupying the office spaces.