ArchDaily, ‘the world’s most visited architecture website,’ recently featured the University of Alberta’s Triffo Hall. Originally known as the ‘South Lab,’ the 1915 structure is one of the oldest buildings on the University of Alberta Main Campus. Barry Johns (Architecture) Limited and its successor firm Group2 Architecture Engineering Limited successfully renovated the facility to achieve LEED® Gold.

At the request of Council, Barry Johns completed a 6 month term as the (Interim) Director of Practice with the Alberta Association of Architects in the Fall of 2010. During this tenure, several Practice Bulletins were completed for review and publication by the Practice Review Board. A permanent Director is targeted to be hired in 2011.

The Kinsmen Aquatic Centre Acoustic Upgrade was featured in the February 2011 issue of Avenue Magazine Edmonton. The article, entitled Personal Spaces, asked “five local architects, designers and design aficionados to pick the space in Edmonton they most admire — rooms or buildings so special that they transport them from the everyday world.”

Local designer Adriean Koleric describes the roof as “like this alien structure, how it mimics and reflects in the pool underneath. It’s amazing.”