$10 million Tech Collider opens at BCIT's downtown Vancouver campus

BCIT campus in downtown Vancouver. (BCIT)

Downtown Vancouver has gained a new purpose-built tech and event space that is designed to be a hub and gathering space for post-secondary students and the city centre’s growing tech business community.

British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has completely redesigned half of the second floor of its downtown campus at the corner of Dunsmuir and Seymour streets, providing a dynamic, multi-functional space for students, faculty, industry, and graduates to come together to share ideas, work together on projects, experiment with technology, and participate in tech events.

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With such uses, the space has aptly been named the Tech Collider. It features high-tech audiovisual equipment, including one of the largest interactive multi-media screens in Western Canada — measuring 10 metres (32 ft) wide and three metres (9 ft) high.

The Tech Collider has classroom and lab spaces that are intended to be collaborative workspaces for learning and sharing, with a “makerspace” equipped with mixed reality smart glasses, virtual reality, media production and design, video editing and recording studio, scanning, and 3D printing.

As well, its multi-purpose design allows for events accommodating up to 250 people.

Tech Collider space at the BCIT downtown Vancouver campus. (BCIT)

“This next-generation learning and collaboration space brings tech companies and our skilled students together to explore challenges, build responsive solutions, and solve real-world problems,” said Paul McCullough, interim president of BCIT, in a statement.

“A space like this – in the heart of downtown Vancouver – builds our capacity to meet the future skills of a sector that is vital to an inclusive, sustainable and innovative economy.”

The provincial government provided BCIT with $10 million to renovate the space into Tech Collider. As well, BCIT has received ongoing operating funding for 300 new additional tech seats.

Tech Collider space at the BCIT downtown Vancouver campus. (BCIT)

“Investing in technology and innovation centres like BCIT’s Tech Collider will help students get the skills and education they need to pursue fulfilling and in-demand careers in tech, while offering opportunities for employers in the tech industry to access the next generation of BC talent to close the labour shortage and continue delivering the services British Columbians rely on,” said Selina Robinson, the BC minister of post-secondary education and future skills.

Designed by Kirsten Reite Architecture, the Tech Collider renovation for the campus includes the redesign of the elevator lobby on the second level to provide a more impactful first impression for visitors.

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