11-storey expansion for UBC Sauder School of Business (RENDERINGS)

Artistic rendering of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (Patkau Architects and Acton Ostry Architects/UBC Sauder)

The Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is in the midst of planning its largest campus building expansion in over a decade.

There are plans to build a new 11-storey building on the rear of the business school’s hub on the Vancouver-Point Grey campus, fronting West Mall.

It would be built on the narrow footprint of the decommissioned Power House and old fire hall buildings. While a decision has been made to demolish the 1925-built Power House due to contamination and seismic considerations, it has yet to be determined whether the heritage fire hall will be demolished.

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The so-called Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion would provide the faculty with about 145,000 sq ft of additional academic, collaborative learning, and office space.

Currently, the faculty’s adjacent Henry Angus Building has about 266,000 sq ft of space, including a 50,000 sq ft addition from the 2012-completed renovation and expansion. The planned Power House expansion building would effectively grow Sauder’s purpose-built space on the block by about 50%.

Site plan of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (Patkau Architects and Acton Ostry Architects/UBC Sauder)

Location of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building, replacing the existing footprint of the heritage Power House and fire hall buildings. (Google Maps)

Artistic rendering of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (Patkau Architects and Acton Ostry Architects/UBC Sauder)

The Power House expansion building includes one 150-seat auditorium, an event space, and a cafe on the ground level.

Within the upper levels, there will be a range of configurations and spaces, entailing dozens of small breakout rooms, dedicated meeting and multi-purpose rooms, finance and “creative destruction” labs, an Indigenous centre, quiet study areas, three 50-seat classrooms, and seven 80-seat tiered classrooms.

A footbridge on the third floor will provide a direct connection to the Henry Angus Building.

The entire 10th level will be dedicated as event space, including a 150-seat indoor space with a stage, plus significant indoor pre-event spaces, outdoor event terraces, and a catering kitchen. This presumably also takes advantage of the elevation’s fantastic views of the Strait of Georgia, Burrard Inlet, and the Metro Vancouver region. The top 11th floor is for building mechanical systems.

Previous preliminary conceptual design of the 10th floor event space at the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (UBC Sauder)

Previous preliminary conceptual design of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (UBC Sauder)

Cross-section of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (Patkau Architects and Acton Ostry Architects/UBC Sauder)

There would be a fully integrated public realm, with plaza areas along the south side of the building and fronting West Mall, where the main entrance is located.

The building’s architectural design by Patkau Architects and Acton Ostry Architects is said to be inspired by the layers and white colour of an oyster shell and is deemed to be an evolution of the “International” style.

“The International Style embodies certain qualities that contrast directly with Sauder’s own values and possibly also changing values within the broader university. In its later execution, many business buildings executed in the International style became synonymous with ‘corporate architecture’ — buildings that were intended to signify their membership in the prevailing corporate thinking of the tie,” reads the design rationale.

“One of Sauder’s goals for the expansion is to express its distinctiveness from prevailing corporate norms — in effect, to defy traditional-held expectations… The curvilinear plan forms and massing of the design achieve a sensuousness that is intended to achieve this expression.”

Artistic rendering of the UBC Sauder School of Business Power House Expansion building. (Patkau Architects and Acton Ostry Architects/UBC Sauder)

The new building will provide Sauder with added capacity to accommodate its forecasted 30% enrolment increase in its existing graduate programs over the coming years, and the creation of up to two additional graduate programs. This will “meet the demand for business education serving the growing tech sector in Vancouver.”

Sauder currently has roughly 4,000 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students, and 200 faculty.

The project’s construction costs are pegged at $120 million, with $35 million from philanthropy, $35 million from UBC’s Academic Capital Fund, and $50 million from the faculty’s reserves and debt financing.

Construction is targeted to begin in 2024 for completion in 2026.

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