Royal BC Museum announces the name of new major second campus

Artistic rendering of the Royal BC Museum PARC Campus in Colwood. (Michael Green Architecture/Royal BC Museum)

Royal BC Museum has provided its new secondary facility in the Greater Victoria suburb of Colwood with an official name.

It will be formally called the “Royal BC Museum PARC Campus,” with PARC being an acronym for Provincial Archives, Research, and Collections.

As the name suggests, this is a critical modern purpose-built building dedicated to the provincial museum’s archives, research, and collections needs, including the storage of the provincial museum’s vast collections. This will amount to a relocation of the collections currently stored in the basement of the existing museum building in downtown Victoria, which is an aging structure with seismic deficiencies and prone to potential flooding from its low elevation and adjacent location to Victoria Inner Harbour.

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The provincial government formally announced the Colwood project in 2020, including the $14 million acquisition of an eight-acre parcel of land within the new 158-acre Royal Bay neighbourhood by Gablecraft Homes.

Subsequently, the province announced in February 2023 that the project would proceed, with construction beginning last summer. Langley-based Maple Reinders Constructors is the project’s main contractor.

Master plan of the Royal Bay development in Colwood, with the location of the Royal BC Museum Collections and Research Building highlighted. (Gablecraft Homes/Government of BC)

royal bc museum parc campus construction february 2024

February 2024 construction progress on Royal BC Museum PARC Campus. (Maple Reinders Constructors)

The 164,000 sq ft building complex, which has a total cost of $270 million, is expected to be completed and open to the public in 2026. While the facility is largely dedicated to collections and storage, there will also be some publicly accessible spaces and programs.

The building, designed by architect Michael Green, features the extensive use of mass timber construction.

Artistic rendering of the Royal BC Museum PARC Campus in Colwood. (Michael Green Architecture/Royal BC Museum)

“This project will usher in a new era for the museum and archives,” said Tracey Drake, CEO of the Royal BC Museum, in a statement today.

“PARC Campus will provide much needed space to steward the collections and for museum and archives teams to look to the future, how we collect and share BC’s collective history. We look forward to welcoming visitors to PARC Campus to learn more about BC’s past and foster a deeper connection between all peoples of British Columbia and their provincial museum.”

Artistic rendering of the Royal BC Museum PARC Campus in Colwood. (Michael Green Architecture/Royal BC Museum)

The PARC Campus should not be confused with a replacement for the main museum complex in downtown Victoria. Public consultation is ongoing to help determine a strategy to renew the attraction.

The existing main museum campus was supposed to begin an eight-year closure in September 2022 for its $800 million redevelopment into a modern and expanded museum, but this project was quickly cancelled by the provincial government following a public outcry in Spring 2022 when it was announced. Under the previous project, the new main museum campus in downtown Victoria would have reached completion in 2030.

The completion of the secondary satellite facility of the PARC Campus in 2026 will help accommodate any future major redevelopment or renovation of the main museum building.

Artistic rendering of the Royal BC Museum PARC Campus in Colwood. (Michael Green Architecture/Royal BC Museum)

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