Award

AUGUST 2018 | 75 Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Labs – UBC RENDERINGS COURTESY DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Labs – UBC by ROBIN BRUNET LOCATION 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER University of British Columbia Infrastructure Development ARCHITECTS Diamond Schmitt Architects / HDR/CEI Architecture Associates, Inc. GENERAL CONTRACTOR Scott Construction STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT RJC Engineers MECHANICAL CONSULTANT AME Consulting Group ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT AES Engineering Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PFS Studio TOTAL SIZE 165,840 square feet TOTAL COST $88 million T he University of British Columbia's (UBC) focus on life sciences has helped B.C. become a leading centre for world-class research and teaching in this sector, so it's unsurprising that the University has persistently lobbied for – and received – funding to upgrade its facilities, one example being the 2011 renewal of the south and west wings of its Bioscience Complex. In the case of UBC's Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Labs, which is part of that complex, talk of renewal "went back many years, but firm plan- ning on the project didn't begin until about 2014," according to Kyle Reese, senior project manager, Infrastructure Development/Project Services at UBC. But in January of 2016, former pre- mier Christy Clark announced funding toward an $88-million upgrade of the complex; this, along with federal funding, turned a long-time dream of providing modern teaching labs for undergraduate life sciences programs into reality. Strictly from a logistics point of view, the upgrades would task the skills of Diamond Schmitt Architects, HDR/CEI Architecture Associates, Inc., and Scott Construction. "The new wing we're building is surrounded by three other facilities with only one access point that is in constant use," says Reese. Despite the tight confines, the LEED Gold project is ambitious in scope and includes demolition of the existing cen- tre wing, renovation of the existing north wing, and the addition of a new east wing, which will complete a quad- rangle of buildings and create a new and expanded courtyard at the heart of the Bioscience Complex. It will also provide a consolidated home for under- graduate students and teaching faculty in biology, microbiology and immu- nology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and cellular and physiological sciences, plus new facilities for botany and zoology. The new spaces will include teach- ing laboratories; support areas (such as preparation rooms and environment chambers); plant and specimen col- lection areas; instructors' and student association offices; and a versatile 240- seat learning lecture theatre and classrooms. Reese says, "The centre wing, built in 1948, was not suitable for renewal, which is usually our policy: struc- turally it was very high risk and had an unusual form and poor layout. Renovating the north wing, which was built in 1973, wasn't an easy undertaking because a considerable amount of asbestos had to be carefully removed, plus the structure had to be seismically upgraded. "As for the new structure, our goal was to maximize the efficiency of space and provide an interior courtyard – but beyond that we deliberately refrained from getting specific on a visual esthetic and left that to the architects." Peggy Theodore, Toronto-based principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects, formed a collaborative partnership with HDR/CEI and relied on that Vancouver-based firm as, amongst many other things, "our eyes and ears on the ground. A lot of the design up to the contract documents phase was from Diamond Schmitt, but from that phase onward the work was split up." The design of the building offers a primary facade of insulated alumi- num panel with vertical strip glazing that references the surrounding build- ings. The design also stacked services (to save space) and created a layout emphasizing a double-loaded corri- dor with program space on either side, capped by the 240-seat theatre. Reese says, "Materials were kept simple: wood panelling in the fea- ture areas and epoxy-painted drywall in the labs with casework and accent colours." Theodore adds, "For the ren- ovated north and new east wings we used glazing that contains a frit pat- tern taken from a stem cell image." Flooring would alternate between polished concrete in common areas and moisture- and chemical-resistant epoxy for the labs.

• Cover