University Extension
The focus of this project was to link an LRT station with a housing complex, university classrooms and libraries. A site along 7th Avenue SW between 4th and 5th Streets SW was chosen as it allows for the incorporation of the existing LRT station. This was an accessible location for the business education facilities that the building would accommodate. Currently, the historic Court of Appeals building and the Provincial Court building sit on this block. This downtown block represents a gap in the linked +15 walkway system.
The first design decision proposed the preservation of the existing historic building. The new complex was designed as a set of three buildings that matched the scale of the historic courthouse.
These three buildings were not large enough to contain the required amount of housing, classrooms, libraries and supporting commercial and administrative spaces. The solution was to expand the new complex underground. To create pleasant underground levels it was necessary to access daylight. A number of openings were inserted through the three buildings and the ground surface. These perforations also permitted visibility of interior circulation, which was positioned to impart an expressive exterior to the buildings. One prominent feature of the complex is a sunken open-air plaza. This contains a park and also allows more daylight to penetrate the underground spaces. The filtering and shifting of light through the site and interior spaces created a dynamic environment.
One of the main goals of the project was to blend the housing and educational spaces into the downtown environment. The +15 walkway system is routed down through the first underground level of the new building. This maintains a continuity between the complex and the downtown. The pedestrian linkage through the complex creates a fluctuation in use and in privacy.
The repetition of the form in contrast to the historic Court of Appeals draws attention to the new structure without artificially elevating its significance. The rectilinear forms establish a comprehensible order without imposing singular expectations of function.
