Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), a leading outdoor retailer, has moved into its new headquarters in False Creek Flats of East Vancouver. MEC’s new head office facility was designed to meet the Platinum standard of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. The LEED Platinum standard exceeds the City of Vancouver’s requirements, and it is one of the highest green building standards in the world.

Conceived as a campus with water a central feature, the four-storey (112,000 square foot; 10,400 square metre) glass, wood and steel-facade building that dominates the two acre site is ‘alive.’ Natural light and fresh air flood the space. Rainwater is both stored for reuse and captured in gardens to echo the site’s salt marsh past. Heat is drawn from geo-thermal wells underground. Sensors monitor sunlight to automatically lower and raise blinds and switch lights on and off, continually optimizing the building’s temperature and saving electricity.

The new headquarters is estimated to be 70 per cent more energy efficient than conventional Canadian office buildings. It will use approximately 60 per cent less potable water than other comparably sized buildings.

“MEC’s new head office is an inspiring example of the leading-edge investment and job creation taking place in Vancouver’s unprecedented boom in new office space,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “MEC’s commitment to innovative green building and creating green jobs represents a significant contribution to Vancouver’s economy and our goal of becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020. The new landmark head office is another huge boost for Vancouver’s False Creek Flats, which is fast emerging as a thriving district for innovation and green enterprise.”

MEC’s new head office facility was designed by Proscenium Architecture and Interiors. Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture conceived the landscape plan. The general contractor for the project is Ventana Construction Corporation.