The Silicon Island Art and Innovation Centre, completed in the summer of 1998, is fulfilling its ambitious mandate, and is fast becoming one of the greatest success stories on Cape Breton Island. As originally envisioned, the critical mass and momentum created by Silicon Island has spurred numerous opportunities for the digital-media cluster, and is acting as a catalyst for future development of the knowledge-based sector in Cape Breton.

As Internet growth accelerates, and convergence looms ahead, it is imperative that Cape Breton’s Digital-Media/Technology Sector maintain and advance its current level of ingenuity, productivity and technical relevance. As Cape Breton’s traditional, resource-based industries continue to shrink, the on-line, electronic, business model is at a critical, germane, and nascent stage. A unique opportunity, and threat, is challenging our local IT Sector -- compete in the burgeoning, on-line, economic community, or face irrelevancy and/or extinction. Despite the recent successes of Silicon Island, the Atlantic Digital Media Festival, Mediafusion, and numerous multimedia developers, extensive problems and challenges abound in the local, digital-media sector relating to marketing, research, training, and relevancy to the new, on-line economy.

The creation and establishment of an expanded, digital-media facility, Silicon Island Phase Two, would provide and opportunity for positive and sustainable economic impact, while reinforcing innovative technology development and employment in this rapidly-expanding sector. Some of the opportunities and benefits of a new facility would include:

• securing the participation of outside corporate entities, and launching of new businesses that would stay in this region;
• retaining young, educated, and technically-sophisticated people in our local IT economy, by providing a facility and culture within which they can secure their future; and
• enhancing the status and expertise of Cape Breton’s existing IT institutions, corporations, and infrastructures by creating a high-profile gateway into the new global economy.

As the internet timeclock ticks away, the on-line economy is literally exploding with unprecedented growth and new wealth creation. Only those strategically positioned and adequately prepared will be able to take advantage of the ground-floor opportunities which currently exist in this brief, pre-convergence era. Time is of the essence in implementing a project-development plan.

The architectural concept for Silicon Island Phase Two reflects our Community’s, as well as society’s changing perception of digital designers, programmers, and educators. No longer are they perceived as socially isolated and solitary thinkers who only want to retire to their computer desktops to compute and program; but rather as sociable humans, who need to converse and exchange ideas and concepts amongst each other, and with the Community. The Silicon Island expansion would hope to provide this sector with more than just office space and global connectivity. Exchange of information and ideas between members of the digital community is vital, possessing both intellectual and property value. Hence, in addition to new office space, it is proposed that any new addition provide corridor lounges, an auditorium, a large multi-purpose meeting/conference/gathering space, an exhibition gallery, and a visitor briefing room.

It is envisioned that the Diocesan Nazareth House lot, northwest of the existing Silicon Island building, is the most suitable location for the Silicon Island expansion program. The lot measures approximately 46,000 square feet, slightly larger than one acre. The topography is ideally suited for extending existing-building floor elevations, while enabling increased site parking. This lot, adjacent to the heavily-travelled King’s Road artery, and heralding the entrance to the downtown, would reinforce the identity of the vital IT sector and its occupants. Developing on this lot would not interfere with the existing MacDonald House and the War Memorial Cenotaph lots, currently under lease and easement restrictions.

The architectural sketches indicate a potential addition, consisting of a three-storey, connecting-bridge link on the west end of the existing building; a pillared, cylindrical, “think-tank” volume, housing elevators, washrooms, auditorium, conference room, and post-production facilities, as well as leasable office/research facilities. The strong, cylindrical form serves to juxtapose the building with the original Courthouse Modernist structure, and the picturesque park environs. The addition features a skin of white cladding and columns, borrowing on the original language of the original Courthouse structure. The image and silhouette, strongly influenced by the architectural works of Richard Meier, will dramatically evoke the spirit of creative digital thinking and innovative technologies. Open-deck patios, exterior stairways, bridges, and amphitheatre settings would complement the interior amenities.

For preliminary planning purposes, the building is envisioned as a four-storey, 45,000 square-foot, pillared, cylindrical office tower, with a leasable area of 35,000 square feet. An auditorium, post-production rooms, meeting/conference facilities, and cafeteria, would also be housed within the new addition.

The primary goal of this Concept Design is to identify and establish programming elements for advancing this project to the next level of development, primarily considering the following:

• defining the project/concept parameters, identifying opportunities and constraints, and establishing a program model with suitable technology sectors and communications infrastructure requirements;
• identifying ownership/operator options and stakeholder issues;
• preparing a physical-space program, identifying key user groups, identifying facilities requirements, conducting leasable-area analysis, conducting common area/rentals analysis, and identifying operating costs;
• preparing architectural schematics consisting of plans, site drawings, and photo-realistic promotional renderings;
• preparing an outline construction specification, interior fit-up schedule, cost-of-construction and fit-up estimates, and a project-funding “pro-forma” analysis;
• clarifying the proposed, project-model market positioning, and outlining promotional strategies; and
• establishing a project-implementation team, based on the key members of the original Silicon Island Team.

The success of the original Silicon Island project substantiates the need for further investigation and design development for creating an expanded Silicon Island Phase 2.

DesignReport.pdf

	Rendered QTVR of the exterior of Silicon Island Phase 2. [12.3mb]
	Rendered fly-by animation of Silicon Island Phase 2. [13.1mb]