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Manitoba Hydro Building

The new corporate headquarters for Manitoba Hydro created one of the most energy efficient large-scale buildings in the world and established a model for cold-climate integrated building design. The project accommodates 2,150 Manitoba Hydro employees plus tenants in a 22-storey high-rise office building. Retail is integrated at grade and parking spaces are provided below grade. In planning for the inevitability of rising energy costs, the company’s use of resources will be stabilized by a 65 000m² (690,000 sq.ft.) office tower that will achieve up to a 60% reduction in energy consumption. The typical 20,000 sq.ft. floorplate is divided into smaller precincts organized around shared atria. A series of stacked 6-storey atria connect the office floors and stairs encourage vertical circulation to maximize opportunities for face-to-face communication and collaboration between departments.

The scale and expression of the architectural concept is inspired by man-made and natural power sources and associations with Canada’s North: power dams, oil drills, boreal forests, and open expanses of fields, sky and water. References are embedded in the materiality (stone, glass, concrete) and in the integration of large-scale water features and art installations.