The new Black Box Theatre is envisioned to function as both a community space and, most importantly, a laboratory for student practical performing arts training, including theatre, music, dance, and poetry readings. There is currently no dedicated performance space at KPU and this new theatre aims to fill the gap.

Located next to the front entrance of the Fir Building, the new theatre will have excellent visual presence as part of the Art Faculty’s creative hub. The theatre space itself is highly flexible, with the seating and staging configuration designed to be adjustable. To encourage inclusivity and creative participation, the glass panels along the corridor leading to the theatre are designed for students to write their own messages on them.

The Douglas fir overhanging signage highlights the creative possibilities of the theatre and indig-enous reconciliation efforts, showcasing the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ dialect of the Halkomelem language of the Kwantlen First Nations. With the English translation on the other side of the signage, the design creates an opportunity to learn some local indigenous language.

The third floor of UFV’s Building D used to consist of enclosed faculty offices – it was time to open them up and create a more collaborative working environment.  After multiple design workshops and visioning sessions with different faculties and UFV Campus Planning, CTA came up with a new state-of-the-art space. The design includes many multi-purpose flex spaces that enable collaborative learning and problem solving across departments. There are still a variety of office spaces, including ‘mini offices’ for faculty members who need a private workspace to focus in, but the emphasis is on shared spaces that encourage collaboration. The public area is filled with natural light after reconfiguring and expanding the profile of the existing modular skylight. The space has been transformed into a flexible, welcoming environment where faculty and students can gather as a community and collaborate.

One may think that a pub and grill and a post-secondary learning centre do not have much common ground, however in the case of the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Building K Campus, that is exactly what they have. Formerly known as Finnegan’s Pub and Grill, UFV purchased this building as part of their campus extension to provide much needed additional space for the increased population. The first thing you will notice about this renovated space is the visually stimulating interior colour palette and extensive use of environmental graphics. This helped cultivate a dynamic and interactive learning environment for the students. CTA worked collaboratively with the Users, modular wall supplier, and the design team to come up with an innovative and fast track design to meet the specific planning and schedule requirement of the university. As part of the renovation, CTA created classrooms and student spaces within the existing space. The main feature of this building is the incorporation of Pod Classroom, which provides a comprehensive blended learning platform that integrates conventional classroom learning with technologically-mediated resources to enhance student learning experience and engagement. The building also contains an Active Learning Centre which is also open for use by community.

At the centre of the University of the Fraser Valley, flourishing with student life and vibrancy, lies the heart of the Abbotsford Campus: the UFV Student Union Building. Often seen as the one-stop student service destination, the Student Union Building (SUB) provides stimulating spaces for 9 major user groups; the Student Union Society, Student Life, Campus Card, Alumni, Aboriginal Resource Centre, Multi-faith Centre, Career Centre, campus radio broadcasting studio, and campus newspaper publisher. Similar to any retail unit in a shopping mall, each user space was custom designed individually without any generic design element.

With a focus on student needs, CTA provided tenant improvements to the base building in addition to full architectural services. The building is centred around a central 3-storey atrium filled with abundant natural light, that is ideal for student gatherings. Collaboration and interaction spaces were intentionally placed throughout the building to cultivate an environment for staff and students to connect. Coffee kiosks, common meeting rooms, and technology for contemporary student needs were also implemented. Furthermore, to fill the space with life, CTA selected all the furniture groupings in the public space and all collaborative furniture and office furniture systems in the Student Union Society office.

Keeping the well-being of not only the students but the environment in mind, CTA consciously chose specific material, daylighting, and a high efficiency mechanical system to achieve an energy efficient, sustainable design for this project. Through our efforts, this  building was able to achieve a LEED Gold Certification, as well as a thermal exchange system with 60% in energy savings.

The Emily Carr University of Art & Design deserves a campus that reflects the creativity contained within it. CTA fulfills this statement by creating a robust, flexible space designed to inspire creativity to the surrounding community in a stylish, yet functional manner. This space is home to many creative studios including visual arts, drawing, painting, film, sculpture, photography, and industrial design. Woven into these spaces are research offices, faculty and administrative offices, and First Nations Aboriginal gathering spaces. Along with this, are rooms that include collaborative teaching spaces, classrooms, medium and large lecture theatres, and technical shops for wood, metal clay, and film.

This new four-storey laboratory building supports a wide range of teaching and research activities, including wet and dry teaching labs, research labs / offices for Earth and Ocean Sciences and Chemistry, large lecture theatres, and an Animal Resource Centre. CTA developed the facility program concurrently with the schematic design, incorporating modular, generic planning concepts to support long-term flexibility for users and access to services. The building’s scale and architectural expression integrate into the existing University of Victoria campus context. It is physically connected to adjacent science facilities via a bridge, strengthening communication and collaboration within the science precinct. Teaching spaces were designed to maximize access to natural light, enhancing the learning environment. The project addressed the challenges of an accelerated design and construction schedule while delivering a highly flexible, cost-effective building capable of accommodating diverse scientific uses. Close integration of architecture and building services optimized planning efficiency, operational performance, and long-term operating costs.

Could we turn what used to be a trade school into an inspiring home for the visual arts? The answer was a resounding, yes.

The project consisted of refurbishment and re-building of the existing trades teaching facility. We transformed it into teaching space for the visual arts program, student services offices, 9 new classrooms and over 45 offices for faculty. The existing building underwent a seismic upgrading, building code and systems upgrade and an exterior cladding retrofit.

The end result? Simply beautiful.

This new four-storey laboratory building supports a wide range of teaching and research activities, including wet and dry teaching labs, research labs / offices for Earth and Ocean Sciences and Chemistry, large lecture theatres, and an Animal Resource Centre. CTA developed the facility program concurrently with the schematic design, incorporating modular, generic planning concepts to support long-term flexibility for users and access to services. The building’s scale and architectural expression integrate into the existing University of Victoria campus context. It is physically connected to adjacent science facilities via a bridge, strengthening communication and collaboration within the science precinct. Teaching spaces were designed to maximize access to natural light, enhancing the learning environment. The project addressed the challenges of an accelerated design and construction schedule while delivering a highly flexible, cost-effective building capable of accommodating diverse scientific uses. Close integration of architecture and building services optimized planning efficiency, operational performance, and long-term operating costs.

A purpose-designed medical sciences building, this project includes lecture theatres, laboratories and anatomy lab facilities for interactive learning. As the University of Victoria’s home for its portion of UBC’s undergraduate physician training program, the building was designed to facilitate distance medical education and research. Lectures can be broadcast between UBC, UNBC, and this facility in real time, enabling seamless collaboration across sites. The building’s flexible spaces accommodate a range of uses, including conventional lectures, small-group distance seminars, faculty offices, research laboratories, and animal care facilities. Sustainability was another key driver of the project. Strategies such as heat recovery systems, toilet flushing using wastewater from aquatic research, a high-performance building envelope, and the reuse of laboratory casework contributed to achieving a LEED Gold rating.