SHAPE Architecture and partners FCBS and PWL were chosen from a shortlist of OMA with CEI Architecture; Patkau Architects; and Teeple Architects with Proscenium Interiors to complete an extensive feasibility study for a new facility to house the UBC School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture (SALA) and the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP).
A series of charrettes centred on pedagogical visioning, facility programming, and project-specific sustainability benchmarks contributed to the thoroughly vetted masterplanning direction. A preferred strategy for future development is proposed, maximizing the potential of a highly-constrained infill site. Bounding the same quadrangle, potential expansions of the School of Music and the Belkin Art Gallery are also considered as critical parts of the Arts Precinct revitalization. The project included an innovative approach to facility programming called Learning Landscapes based on flexibility and the idea that learning can happen outside the classroom in both physical and virtual space. This approach yielded significant program efficiencies allowing for expanded multi-use public spaces within the facility.
