Award

70 | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 Residence 8 – Brock University P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E S Y A RC H I T EC T S T I L L M A N N RU T H RO B I N S O N RESIDENCE 8 – BROCK UNIVERSITY by ROBIN BRUNET I n addition to its high stand- ing in academe, Brock University is known as a friendly place where students form strong bonds while living on campus – and its newest building, Residence 8, demonstrates how human con- nections are facilitated. Like other campus homes, Residence 8 (the university's eighth housing complex) offers individual rooms for up to 308 students, with a three-piece washroom for every two students. There are five residential floors, each with three wings, and each grouping of 45 single rooms hav- ing a dedicated community lounge. Study rooms are located on every floor, while the ground level connects adjacent buildings to a new dining hall and offers amenity and administration spaces such as: a new student lounge; a conference meeting room with catering space; catering and conference ser- vices offices; laundry facilities; a music room; reception desk; mail room; and covered outdoor patio space. In short, Residence 8 has all the elements required to encourage ami- able co-habitation. The self-funded project was under- taken in 2017 as a result of the request for more on-campus housing from students and community members. "The project is important because demand for residence exceeds our capacity," said Jamie Fleming, direc- tor of residences at Brock University, at the time. "We have a long waiting list, so we could have filled this residence this year if it was open." It was determined that Residence 8 would be built beside the exist- ing Alan Earp Residence in what was Parking Lot M. McMichael Ruth, prin- cipal at architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson, points out that "the proj- ect began as a masterplan with the understanding there would be a ninth residence sometime in the future, where the future residence, Residence 8, and the existing Earp residence will work together to create a courtyard." Architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson enjoyed a good working relationship with the university, having previously worked on the renewal of a build- ing on campus constructed in 1968. "Residence 8 benefitted from Brock's strong residential program, so we knew what the suite configurations would be, two bedrooms with a shared bathroom," Ruth says. Considering it would be the first building guests would see upon enter- ing the campus, Residence 8 required a strong visual presence. This trans- lated into a tall, cross-shaped form of dark and light grey metal clad- ding and brick (with Brock's signature red colour used as accents), capped at each end by glazing running from the ground to top floors. A two-sto- rey glazed entrance augmented by a Dri-Design wall panel system gave Residence 8 the appearance of an upscale hotel and contributed to the overall goal of creating a facility that reduces stress and promotes well being. The architects took full advantage of the building's close proximity to the Niagara Escarpment. "We designed lounges and public spaces to face the Escarpment, and a sixth floor outdoor terrace focuses views on this signature natural landscape," Ruth says. "There are also views at the end of each corri- dor in the building, and this serves to connect the outdoors with the indoors and provide places to relax outside of student bedrooms." Having to appease the Niagara Escarpment Commission led to the architects being able to create six sto- reys instead of the originally intended five. "The Commission wanted to know what visual impact the building's height would have, so we raised a crane on site to the height of five storeys and wound up receiving approval to design six storeys, giving badly-needed extra rooms to the University," Ruth says. Giancarlo Fucile, senior project manager at Stuart Olson, says before ground could break at Parking Lot M in December of 2019, another park- ing lot had to be built across the street. And while site and soil conditions were mainly favourable, the builders were obliged to fast track the schedule to make the site ready for construc - tion. "So, materials tendering had to be done sequentially," Fucile says, adding that Stuart Olson also had to deal with materials and manpower issues due to COVID. Residence 8 was completed in December of 2021 and within a few months was fully occupied – and earn- ing rave reviews. For his part, Ruth is already anticipating Residence 9. "It's unclear when that project will begin, but it will be located closer to the escarpment," he says. "So it looks like we'll be raising the crane again to find out how tall it can be." A LOCATION 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario OWNER /DEVELOPER Brock University ARCHITECT architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Stuart Olson STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT VanBoxmeer & Stranges Engineering Ltd. MECHANICAL /ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Chorley + Bisset Consulting Engineers TOTAL SIZE 125,600 square feet TOTAL COST $40 million

• Cover