UBC opens $139M building as Canada's first biomedical engineering hub | Daily Hive

UBC opens $139-million building as Canada's first purpose-built hub for biomedical engineering

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (Michael Elkin Photography)

According to the University of British Columbia (UBC), it has now achieved Canada’s first purpose-built hub for biomedical engineering at its Vancouver campus.

Earlier this week, after about four years of construction, the university officially opened the new Gordon B. Shrum Building, providing a brand new expanded and state-of-the-art home for the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME), which was founded in 2017 as a partnership between the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Applied Science.

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This five-storey, 158,000 sq. ft. building is centrally located on University Boulevard, just south of the trolley bus loop and War Memorial Gymnasium.

It replaces the 60-year-old D.H. Copp Building that previously occupied the site, and consolidates SBME’s facilities, which were scattered across the campus.

ubc school of biomedical engineering sbme gordon b shrum building

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (UBC)

The building features specialized labs, collaborative research spaces, and teaching facilities to support biomedical engineering and life sciences innovation. This includes biomechanics labs that have robots and machinery for crash testing research to study how head, spine, and hip injuries happen, as well as Western Canada’s first-of-its-kind biodevice foundry, where lab-on-a-chip devices are being developed to allow researchers and doctors to detect and diagnose diseases faster.

There are also digital labs that use artificial intelligence to improve diagnostic accuracy to enhance treatment outcomes, wet labs with specialized equipment and advanced microscopes, and an innovation centre for creators and entrepreneurs, where students and researchers can prototype and develop new medical technologies.

Dr. Peter Zandstra, the director of SBME, says the facility “allows us to take our work to the next level — creating an environment where our faculty and partners can collaborate seamlessly and create transformative new health technologies.”

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (UBC)

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (Phillip Chin)

The building was designed by local firm Patkau Architects, the same team behind the nearby UBC Beaty Biodiversity Centre.

A central atrium features a striking four-storey mural by biomedical artist Jen Ma, illustrating the intersection of biology, medicine, and engineering.

The building had a total cost of $139.4 million, with UBC contributing $114.4 million, the provincial government providing $25 million, and over $30 million raised through donations — including a major contribution from the Gordon B. Shrum Charitable Fund.

According to the university, Gordon B. Shrum, the building’s namesake, graduated from UBC in 1958. Following Shrum’s passing in 2018, nearly his entire estate was left to charity, supporting causes in health care, the environment, education, and social justice.

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (Michael Elkin Photography)

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (UBC)

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (Andrew Wang/UBC Studios)

“We are grateful to the Government of British Columbia and our generous donors for helping make this building a reality,” said Benoit-Antoine Bacon, the president and vice chancellor of UBC.

“B.C.’s life sciences sector has emerged as a global leader, and the Gordon B. Shrum Building will play a central role in supporting critical research and the next generation of biomedical engineers who will fuel the sector’s continued growth and bring innovative health solutions to Canadians.”

Also nearing full completion this year is the UBC Gateway Building, located nearby at the northwest corner of the intersection of University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall. This six-storey, 270,000 sq. ft. mass timber building — built at a cost of about $190 million — will serve as a new hub for teaching, research, and administration for the School of Kinesiology, School of Nursing, Faculty of Arts Language Sciences, UBC Health, and Integrated Health Services. It is jointly designed by the architectural firms of the local office of Perkins&Will and Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the Gordon B. Shrum Building. (Andrew Wang/UBC Studios)

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