Originally built in 1967, the Ken Soble Tower, an 18-story, 80,000-sq-ft-affordable housing facility for seniors in Hamilton, Ontario, provides a notable example of how aging buildings can be retrofitted to meet modern decarbonization goals.
The design and construction team, led by ERA Architects and contracting firm PCL, jumped through hoops to achieve the tough energy reduction requirements associated with the Passive House standard that were mandated by CityHousing Hamilton, the building’s owner. The project team not only met the Passive House standard, but easily surpassed it. The building is currently the largest Passive-House certified building in the world, says the project’s chief designer, Graeme Stewart, a principal at ERA Architects.