Award

images courtesy Ivey Business School at Western University Ivey Business School – Western University by Dan O'Reilly ith the official opening this September of the new Ivey Business School at Western University in Ontario, the university and its design and construction partners are heralding an academic institution that they believe is on par with the world's most prestigious business universities. "We feel the building can be used as a recruiting tool to attract top faculty and staff," says John Irwin, CFO/CIO/VP of the Ivey Companies. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, with structural design by Yolles, a CH2M Hill Company, the school's mandate is to "provide world-class degree, non-degree and executive education," and will allow Ivey to expand its undergraduate program, he says. "We simply required more space," says Irwin, in reviewing the factors that led to the project. Ivey was spread across five buildings on campus and having its Masters Business Administration and Honors Business Administration students "back together under one roof was important." Student social space at the main building would have required expensive and disruptive upgrades to its HVAC and other services if a renovation option had been chosen. Planning, designing and building the new school, however, was also a formidable undertaking. It was built by construction manager EllisDon in a tightly compressed twophase, four-year schedule that enabled the university to meet the strict funding qualifications of the Federal Government's Knowledge Infrastructure Program, says Irwin. "This was a super fast-tracked project," explains Siamak Hariri, partner-in-charge at Hariri Pontarini. In an overview of his firm's design vision, Hariri says very specific goals and targets for the new building were laid out from the beginning by Irwin and dean Carol Stephenson. "But at the heart of all of that was their desire to create a building with an atmosphere that embodied the essence of Ivey – quiet confidence, sophisticated, interactive, something fitting for a top business school," says Hariri. "We took great care translating the aspirations of the entire client team and worked closely with them to capture that essence and help realize Ivey's potential." The architect compares the school to a geode; a hard rock with a surprisingly crystal interior which – in this case – are its numerous amenities. W Ivey Business School – Western University p80-83Ivey_Churchill.indd 81 Highlighted by the striking "jewel box"– a two-storey glass and frame classroom space that cantilevers over the main entrance – the 270,000-square-foot, three-storey, foursided complex frames a central courtyard, with three pavilions extending out from the main spine to provide additional space for a library, dining hall and a 642-seat lecture theatre. The materials used in the building are stone, glass, limestone, copper, walnut, Douglas Fir, concrete and steel. Other features include a three-storey great hall that offers grand views of the courtyard and 20 case-study classrooms with seating configured in a tiered horseshoe style to encourage conversation and debate. Seventeen of the classrooms are located on the ground floor, with three on the second floor. Each is linked to break out rooms that allow students and faculty to informally discuss and debate what has been taught in the classrooms. "Break out rooms encourage relationships that last a lifetime," says Hariri. In expanding on the vision, Hariri explains that light, landscaping and the setting were principal ingredients in the design equation. As the building location was vacant, no demolition was required, so that aspect of the project was straight-forward. Still, the school had to be designed and placed so that it would seamlessly mesh with the other Gothic-style buildings on campus. The architects researched and analyzed how other top international business schools were sited and orientated on their respective campuses. In that regard, "the building not only respects the character and make up [of] the campus, it evokes it," says Hariri. Touching on the landscaping, the architect points to the planting of 13 mature trees in the courtyard and several smaller ones, which were carefully interspaced among existing trees on the school grounds. In addition to october 2013    /81 13-09-13 4:10 PM

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