Royal Roads readies for expansion

Royal Roads University's new Learning and Innovation Centre is under construction and scheduled for its first classes in March 2011.

It's the first building to be constructed expressly for the university since it became a civilian institution in 1995. The historic Hatley Castle was built at the behest of former B.C. premier James Dunsmuir a century ago. Other buildings, such as the Grant Block, date to the campus's days as a military college.

"It will really be the first purpose-built facility for our university," said Royal Roads president Allan Cahoon. "These are not 19-year-old cadets sitting in straight chairs, very disciplined types of learning environments, but 40-year-old students who spend 10 to 12 hours a day with each other and [who] want a little more comfort in their interaction and space."

Originally budgeted at $23.6 million, the 5,781-square-metre centre is expected to cost $19.9 million, said Royal Roads communications officer Phil Saunders.

He said those savings were realized when tenders were called this summer on particular components of the building, which came in significantly lower than expected.

The provincial government is contributing $15 million to the building while Ottawa has kicked in $3 million.

A Royal Roads University Legacy campaign has been established to raise $100 million to pay for the Learning and Innovation Centre as well as other proposed projects such as an $18-million Robert Bateman Centre.

Named for the famed wildlife artist, who recently turned 80, the Bateman centre will "showcase leading edge sustainable design and construction in a "living building," according to the RRU website.

Cahoon was disappointed that the university didn't receive any of the federal stimulus money announced this fall.

However, the university did receive in June a gift in kind of $500,000 worth of sustainably harvested mahogany to use as flooring for the Bateman centre. That pledge came from the WaterForest Group, whose president, Doug Stables, is an MBA grad from Royal Roads.

"Unfortunately, we are in an area that doesn't have a sitting Member of Parliament on the appropriate side or an MLA on the appropriate side, so it's difficult to discover our champions politically," Cahoon said.

The provincial government might be considered a champion. In the news release announcing its contribution to the Innovation and Learning Centre, then-Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell said, "The new building is part of our promise to expand programs related to business and the economy."

To make room for the building, the road leading into the campus had to be shifted to the north. The L-shaped centre is being constructed atop part of the former roadway and an adjacent parking lot. While five storeys in total, the centre is being built into a hillside so that the top and bottom storeys aren't directly aligned.
"The fifth floor is back toward the top of the hill and the first floor is only in front [facing the Grant Building]," Cahoon said.

Access to the centre will "integrate seamlessly into the university's existing series of terraces and steps," says an article in RRU's InRoads newsletter.

"Strong central towers, concrete-faced masonry and punched windows that echo some of the design features of Hatley Castle and the Grant building will be given a contemporary treatment and reflected in the exterior of the new building," says the description in the newsletter.

A walkway to connect the centre with the Grant building is proposed as part of a future phase.

The centre is being built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold standards. That means using locally sourced materials, such as concrete masonry, that are low in volatile
"It's local suppliers, it's as much local workers and tradesmen as we can use," said Cahoon. "It's trying to build it and contain it here as much as we can."

The contractor is Durwest Construction and the architect is Jensen Chernoff Thompson.

Construction is on schedule and on budget, according to an update earlier this month. The basement foundation walls, slab and footings are all complete, while the basement column pads and grade beams are close to being finished. The main level suspended slab is half complete and foundation waterproofing is 70 per cent done.
The interior has a flexible design "to support integrated, interactive learning," says the newsletter article.

"It will be possible to sub-divide areas, for example, into break-out rooms, offices or smaller, more intimate meeting spaces or combine them into larger areas depending on program requirements."