Article source: PUBLIC: Architecture + Communication

“Shit is a sure sign of life,” wrote artist Alan Graham. True in that scat is a dependable sign when tracking animals, in that to do so one must be alive, and finally in that to be alive entails certain responsibilities, as in ‘dealing with one’s shit.’ There are as many expressions of this particular type of management as cultures and ages, molded as much by conditions as by cultural beliefs. The current incarnation of flush toilet infrastructure – by way of magic, a sort of ‘disappearing’ by water – is no longer viable in our times. Humus, as in dirt, has the same Latin root as humble, as human, and it is with humility we must face our current situation and institute new practices.

Image Courtesy © Martin Tessler

• Architects: PUBLIC: Architecture + Communication
• Project: Sechelt Water Resource Centre
• Location: 5678 Surf Circle, Sechelt, BC, Canada
• Photography: Martin Tessler
  
• PUBLIC Project Team: Chris Forrest, Architect AIBC, LEED AP, Laura Killam, Architect AIBC, LEED AP, Susan Mavor, CGD, SEDG, Mike Thicke, Architect AIBC, Brian Wakelin, Architect AIBC, MRAIC, LEED AP
  
• Design Partner: Brian Wakelin
  
• Structural Engineer: CWMM Consulting Engineers
• Mechanical Engineer: HPF Engineering Ltd
• Process Engineer + landscape consultant: Urban Systems Ltd.
• Electrical Engineer: Interior Instrument Tech Services
• Geotactics Media Engineering: Maple Reinders (Design Build, general contractor)
• Construction Cost: $23,000,000
• Square Footage: 1,800 s.m., 19,375 s.f.
• Month and Year of Construction Completion: February 2015

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