A new visual and physical gateway, complete with functional weather protection, for the BCIT Burnaby campus is now fast approaching completion.

The Student Plaza currently under construction replaces the looping roadway used as a passenger drop-off/pick-up area, located just east of the west entrance into the campus from the intersection of Willingdon Avenue and Goard Way.

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The $7 million project entails a reconfiguration and expansion of landscaped green space, including a rain garden, and an irrigation system that uses sensors to make it more efficient and avoid wasting water when it is raining.

And when it is raining, students and faculty will be able to stay dry for a portion of their walking trip between the bus stops on Willingdon Avenue and the SW1 building. A pedestrian pathway along the southern edge of the plaza, fronting SW1, will feature an impressive mass-timber canopy for weather protection.

Previous condition:

Existing condition of the BCIT Burnaby campus gateway. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the Student Plaza gateway for the BCIT Burnaby campus. (BCIT)

Artistic rendering of the Student Plaza gateway for the BCIT Burnaby campus. (BCIT)

Construction on the Student Plaza first began in September 2021 and it is set to be largely built later this fall, according to the post-secondary institution.

Framing the plaza on the north side is the new $80 million Health Sciences Centre, which is anticipated to reach completion later this year as well.

The Student Plaza, providing a new campus gateway and weather protection, is one of the many components of BCIT’s 2018-approved, 50-year campus master plan.

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