Microsoft Canada Excellence Centre

About This Project

In downtown Vancouver, on the top two floors of 725 Granville Street, lives the Microsoft Canada Excellence Centre (MCEC). With a variety of open and semi-enclosed workspaces, amenity rooms, lounges, and meeting rooms, MCEC accommodates three working groups and up to 750 employees.

Once home to Eaton’s and Sears, the building was reskinned with a new glass curtain on the upper floors. Behind that glass facade, the office interior, designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects, makes use of the natural light and incredible views. Wood features heavily—from paneled walls to slatted ceilings—connecting the spaces to the forests of BC and the Pacific Northwest. To contrast, some areas carry a more industrial look or include colourful upholstery and carpet. Moreover, the contemporary open-plan design features pathways that flow among various work and amenity areas; it’s a flexible space that encourages collaboration and creativity, as well as productivity.

Scope of services

Consulting on architectural acoustics for the office fit-out, BKL joined the project in the design phase, and developed acoustical criteria based on industry best practice and Microsoft’s own design guidelines. For example, the Microsoft Design Guidelines (MDG) didn’t include acoustical criteria for audio rooms, where sound designers create and mix video game sound effects, so BKL identified a comparable spec in the MDG, adapted it for the audio rooms, and provided detailed recommendations to meet the specifications.

As the acoustical designer, BKL reviewed design documents and provided recommendations to

meet sound isolation and reverberation specifications for rooms and partitions;
strategically locate acoustical panels and other treatments;
provide speech privacy where needed by optimizing background noise levels;
control noise from HVAC and mechanical systems, including ductwork, VAV boxes, fans, AHUs, heat pumps, etc.; and
specify construction details for acoustical partitions.

Once construction was underway, BKL carried out site visits to ensure the acoustical detailing was carried out as designed.

Project benefits

By working with the designers early in the project, BKL united the client’s own design specifications with project requirements to optimize the acoustical environment. As the project progressed, BKL communicated with the design team to consult on changes and highlight areas where the acoustical requirements would deviate from the client’s design guidelines.

Open-plan offices can sometimes create acoustical havoc, especially those with flexible, multi-use spaces. For this project, BKL applied its experience working on other open-plan offices and expertise in architectural acoustics to ensure the MCEC would sound as good as it looks.

The People Behind Our Work

Our Technical Leads
Our Team

Paul Marks

M.Sc., MIOA

Vice President, Project Delivery

Paul Marks, M.Sc., MIOA

Vice President, Project Delivery

Paul Marks joined BKL in 2013. He is a full corporate member of the UK Institute of Acoustics and the Canadian Acoustical Association. He has over 20 years’ experience in the measurement, analysis, and assessment of noise, vibration, and acoustical matters and is a former member of the technical advisory team working with the UK government on noise and statutory nuisance issues. During this time, Paul has undertaken major projects within Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

He has experience in a wide range of multi-disciplinary environmental assessment projects including highway, rail, and air transportation infrastructure, mixed-use and brownfield regeneration schemes, renewable energy facilities, and power generation plants.

Paul also has experience in a broad range of building and architectural noise assessment projects including the design of residential, office, educational, and commercial buildings. He has also undertaken acoustical studies for major infrastructure developments including work in the design of appropriate sound-fields for room-spaces in multi-occupancy buildings, including atriums and performance spaces. His work regularly involves close liaison with other acoustical engineers, planning consultants, architects, designers, and a variety of specialist environmental consultants.

Paul is an experienced expert witness within the UK and has a broad experience of planning, licensing and statutory nuisance proceedings as well as being responsible for the successful design of a variety of impact mitigation measures including detailed engineering solutions, lay-out design, and administrative regimes where it has been necessary to closely liaise with clients, designers, and regulatory bodies in order to provide developments in accordance with sustainable principles.
Katrina Scherebnyj

M.A.Sc., P.Eng., MIOA

Technical Director, Building Acoustics

Katrina Scherebnyj, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., MIOA

Technical Director, Building Acoustics

Katrina Scherebnyj started consulting in acoustics in 2007 in England and joined BKL in 2014. Her experience covers architectural acoustics, mechanical noise control, and environmental noise control, and she has worked on major projects in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In architectural acoustics, Katrina has worked on a range of new builds and refurbishment projects including schools, universities and higher education facilities, hospitals and healthcare facilities, performance spaces, cinemas, laboratories, office buildings, hotels, and residential buildings. She has provided acoustical design services in relation to sound insulation, room acoustics, and noise control.

Katrina was a co-author of Music Accommodation in Secondary Schools: A Design Guide, published for the UK Department for Education in 2010. Researching the guide, she carried out acoustical measurements in the music departments of several schools and interviewed music teachers and students on the suitability of their music spaces.

Katrina has extensive experience modelling internal sound fields and has carried out numerous models of performance spaces, lecture theatres, and other spaces where acoustical design is critical. She also has experience modelling outdoor noise propagation and has constructed and reviewed noise models for Columbia Containers in Vancouver, BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals, the Pinnacle (once planned to be London’s tallest building), Crossrail, and other transportation projects.

Katrina is a member of the Canadian Acoustical Association and the Institute of Acoustics (UK).
Henning Schlechtriem

M.Sc.

Managing Specialist Acoustical Consultant

Henning Schlechtriem, M.Sc.

Managing Specialist Acoustical Consultant

Henning Schlechtriem, M.Sc., joined BKL in February 2020. He has 8 years of international project experience working as professional acoustical consultant in the design and assessment of residential and non-residential buildings.

Henning has a Master’s Degree in Acoustics with Environmental Applications and a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering with specialization in building physics and acoustics. His professional expertise focuses on the fields of architectural and environmental acoustics. He is a proficient with software such as Odeon, SoundPLAN, STRUTT, Insul, Rhino+Grasshopper, Max/MSP, and with measurement equipment from Brüel And Kjær, NTi and Norsonic.

He has worked together with architects, investors, municipalities, as well as structural and mechanical engineers, covering a wide range of projects including office, residential, and mixed-use buildings, hotels, hospitals, schools, and cultural venues. His work has involved the acoustical design and on-site assessment of room acoustics, sound insulation including flanking transmission, environmental noise and noise from building services.

Henning has given presentations to architects and technical planners to share his knowledge about the acoustical design of masonry, concrete and lightweight constructions, timber-concrete hybrid buildings and general acoustical challenges during the design of buildings.

He is a member of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik, the German Association of Acoustics (DEGA) and is an Approved Assessor for Acoustics and Building Physics at the Chamber of Engineers in NRW and Hessen (Germany).
Andrew Williamson

P.Eng., B.S.M.E.

Specialist Acoustical Consultant

Andrew Williamson, P.Eng., B.S.M.E.

Specialist Acoustical Consultant

A graduate of the University of Victoria, Andrew Williamson holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and has practiced as an acoustical consultant in BC for over two decades. He joined BKL in 2023.

During his career, Andrew has worked on numerous projects involving environmental noise assessments, building noise and vibration control, and architectural acoustics. As a project manager, Andrew has led acoustics teams on a variety of projects across sectors including cultural and recreation, education and research, health care, industrial, commercial, and residential.

Andrew has attended public meetings, open houses, and government-sponsored working groups to present and discuss technical information with the public, municipal councils, and members of the government and other organizations. In addition, Andrew has acted as an expert witness in BC Supreme Court and participated in a joint review panel hearing for the environmental assessment of a major infrastructure project.

Andrew is a Professional Engineer registered with Engineers and Geoscientists BC.