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.

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.