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An A+ Facility Upgrade
Conceived with a goal to inspire new generations of business leaders, the 25,000m2, (EURO) 55 million renovation and expansion of the Sauder School of Business, located at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, includes features and facilities that strengthens the School as one of the world's preeminent hubs for business research, with an inspiring environment designed to foster collaboration, creativity and innovation. The original modernist school was constructed in 1965.
Two blank-faced Brutalist additions were built in 1975 and a post-modern research centre was added in 1995. Over the years, a steady decline in the capacity of existing building systems and space restrictions adversely impacted the activities of the internationally renowned school of business. The uncoordinated growth of the School left it lacking resources, character and identity. The recent revitalization features the insertion of a soaring, sky-lit atrium that links a five-storey addition to the original complex that has been extensively renovated. Order has been instilled through the creation of a focal, social-circulation spine located at the heart of the school. A donor recognition program, that features large-scale portraits of those who made significant financial contributions to the project, animates the interior by blending and merging people, business and commerce by means of international currency symbols used as the pixels that define the images. To achieve a bold, innovative identity for the School, a new, glazed facade wraps the complex to unify the assemblage of disparate additions that had taken place over time. The facade embeds and reflects the rhythm, cadence and pattern language associated with the universal transfer of digital commerce and business information - a barcode. Behind the glass facade lays a striated pattern of stained, blue and green wood panels applied to the original precast concrete structure, the colours of which were inspired from the paintings of Modern influential BC artists such as Emily Carr, BC Binning, and Jack Shadbolt.
Completed in 2012, the redevelopment includes a graduate school, undergraduate centre, conference centre, lecture theatres, learning commons, cafe and student store. Further enhancements include revitalized classrooms, break-out rooms, state-of-the-art learning and videoconferencing technology and new environments for student socialization, collaboration and study. Recognized as a leader in integrative teaching approaches and the creation of new business knowledge, the Sauder School is now equipped with the exceptional learning and research environments required to be a global leader of business education.
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