Nov
23
UBC Allard Hall Law School has won a Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Award. The project, which is a joint venture between CEI Architecture and Diamond Schmitt Architects, won in the Community-Education/Research category.
Jul
10
The Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence is one of 50 international architectural projects that won a 2012 Green GOOD DESIGN™ Award from the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
May
22
The UBC Faculty of Law Allard Hall, a joint venture with Diamond and Schmitt, received the Award of Excellence, Educational category at the 2012 Masonry Design Awards.
Nov
4
Minister of Education George Abbott visited the Fairey Technical Building which held its grand opening on November 4. The opening was reported on the Government of B.C. website, and the official press release can be found here. Victoria News also covered the school’s opening.
Oct
3
The School for Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University has been honoured with a Gold Award from the Interior Designers Institute of British Columbia.
The IDIBC presented their 2010 Awards of Excellence at a gala on September 30, 2011 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The annual event recognizes people and projects that “demonstrate excellence in Interior Design.”
The School for Contemporary Arts, part of the Woodward’s Development revitalization project in downtown Vancouver, was led by CEI and Proscenium Architects in Joint Venture.
The 135,000 sq ft facility brings together many artistic disciplines under one roof, including music, dance, theatre, film and visual arts, with teaching spaces that double as fully equipped performance, exhibition and multi-media venues. The design team worked closely with each artistic discipline to determine space needs and deliver a design that would enhance their ability to teach and create contemporary art.
The interior spaces of the building were designed to be part of the learning and artistic processes, creating new opportunities for spontaneous interaction and cross-pollination among the students and faculty.
Sep
23
The University of British Columbia opened Allard Hall today, Canada’s first new university law school building in 30 years.
The opening ceremony was attended by several hundred guests, including the Right Hon. Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada (a UBC Law faculty member from 1974-1981), the Hon. Steven L. Point, Lieutenant Governor of B.C. (alumnus and former faculty member), Peter A. Allard (alumnus) and representatives from the Law Foundation of B.C. and Musqueam Indian Band.
The four-storey, 141,000 square foot building was named after donor and alumnus Peter A. Allard.
The building, designed by CEI Architecture and Diamond and Schmitt Architects, includes flexible, modern teaching spaces, a replica courtroom and dedicated spaces for the faculty’s nearly 650 students, 45 full-time faculty, plus alumni and guests.
A three-storey multipurpose forum with floor-to-ceiling windows converts from a social area to an auditorium for special events and lectures. Designed and built to LEED Gold standards, Allard Hall’s carbon footprint is estimated to be as much as 87 percent less than that of an equivalent conventional building.
For more coverage, see the story in the Vancouver Sun.
Jun
27
Smithers Interior News reported that their CEI Architecture-designed expansion and renovation of the Smithers Campus of Northwest Community College is open for classes.
Says the article:
“Now the campus is wheelchair accessible, with expanded learning facilities and improved video conferencing. There are also new labs and shops for trades programs.”
The new facility will not only increase the capacity and functionality of the Smithers campus, but provides the greater community with a place to come together. Special focus was placed on designing a welcoming entrance area, which is a two-storey space. The new two-storey addition is designed around a galleria space that brings natural light into the interior of the building and aids natural ventilation through its location.
Flexibility was an essential design objective, to allow Northwest Community College to evolve and adapt its program needs over time. The space includes a flexible workshop, capacity to accommodate moving transportable classrooms, and a host of advanced post-secondary learning spaces.
The LEED Gold design is tailored to the context and climate of the region, with a host of sustainable features that will help the contemporary facility function in all seasons. The design includes significant use of heavy timber, supporting the Government of B.C.’s Wood-First initiative.