The Alumni Centre is the latest addition to the UBC campus, located in the midst of the busy and vibrant University Boulevard neighbourhood. Situated close to the main campus entrance, the Centre, along with the adjacent Student Union building, campus bookstore and bus drop off create an important nexus of alumni, student and visitor activity on campus. The highly accessible and welcoming pavilion was designed to reflect its distinct Pacific Northwest coast context and UBC's campus in particular, and to achieve architectural excellence within a limited construction budget.

The pure geometry of the three-storey pavilion creates a signature statement on a campus primarily defined by brick and stone rectilinear buildings. The glass at grade is highly transparent to bring the program to the surface and activate the area. White ceramic frit is applied to the exterior in varying densities of patterning: more open in the building’s public spaces, denser for more private uses. The frit glass changes dramatically from day to night, grey skies to sunshine, giving the exterior a kinetic quality. Anchoring the northeast quadrant of the building is the service block, which is clad in white shouldice concrete block to reference the extensive use of white brick on the UBC campus.

The pavilion’s sleek, pristine exterior contrasts with wood used on the soffit and extends into the interior, providing material warmth in a grey climate. Rough sawn red cedar is used on the ceilings, soffits and exterior cladding of the dramatic feature stair that connects all the building levels from the day-lit basement, culminating in a sky lounge on the third floor. Interior stair surfaces are clad in highly durable Douglas fir.

Designed to meet LEED Gold certification, the project’s sustainable design intent was developed on the principles of heat conservation and efficient ventilation distribution. Features include a high performance building envelope to minimize heat loss, building HVAC design comprised of an air-source heat pump with a high efficiency back-up boiler during periods of high demand, and high level heat recovery to retain heat generated in occupied spaces and using this to pre-heat incoming ventilation air. Further savings in energy consumption are realized through daylighting, high efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors. Together, these measures are designed to achieve a 63% energy reduction based on a code equivalent building (MNECB 1997). Additional initiatives include proximity to the UBC bus interchange, and electric car charging stations.

The design also prioritizes flexibility and durability. Public spaces are designed with a high degree of flexibility and can be interconnected or sub-divided to accommodate a multiplicity of uses. The material palette incorporates local, durable and easily maintained materials.

The new Centre is the first ever public-facing facility for UBC’s 300,000 alumni, providing visitors and past and present students with a welcoming first stop on campus. It has enabled UBC to expand its programming to include Alumni Lecture series with high profile speakers including Mohammad Fahmy and Joseph Stiglitz, an Interactive Alumni Wall where visitors can touch a screen to find friends and relatives, and a full floor dedicated to e@UBC an incubation area for young alumni to start-up businesses, find resources and be mentored. A range of other spaces, including a celebration hall with 360-views of the campus have already become marquee event spaces on campus, attracting not only alumni engagement functions, but also other campus groups.

Since its opening, the Alumni Centre, despite its modest size and challenging budget, has had a significant impact on campus life for present and future alumni. The facility has already become an important institution on campus as a place where the entire university community can come together and become engaged. The wholehearted embrace of the building has far exceeded the University’s and the alumni community’s expectations.

Check out our BLOAAg article for more information.

Publish Date : 2021/Jul/06