Emily Carr University reveals plans for new campus
Large central building will house studios, classrooms and theatre
When the new Emily Carr University of Art + Design opens in 2017, it will combine a high-tech fibre-optic network with lowtech studios for ceramics and woodworking to create a campus of the 21st century, according to the lead architect on the project.
Central to the new campus off Great Northern Way will be a very large building at 26,000 square metres (280,000 square feet), which is comparable in length to the National Gallery in Ottawa, Donald Schmitt said. Four storeys tall, the building will be oriented on an east-west axis and have three north-south atria that will bring light into the centre of the building.
“I think it’s the kind of spark that will build a creative and smart, urban neighbourhood around the campus,” said Schmitt, of Diamond Schmitt Architects in Toronto.
Groundbreaking is planned for April 24. Of the total cost of $122.1 million for the building, the province has contributed just over $100 million. Emily Carr University has privately raised more than $17 million of its $21-million goal.
On Wednesday, Schmitt presented the new design to the city’s Urban Design Panel.
Ron Burnett, Emily Carr University president, said the new campus represents the culmination of about a decade of work.
“The building is designed to represent the excitement we all feel about the way creative industries have become a significant part of the GDP in B.C.,” he said.
The building is intended to be welcoming to the surrounding east Vancouver neighbourhood. An East Arts Plaza of 1,400 square metres (15,000 sq. ft) will be big enough for summer performances. It will include a panel of LED screens on the building’s northeast corner to screen films and show video outdoors. Facing south at the main entrance is St. George Plaza, which takes its name from a stream that runs under the site.
As development continues in the area, Burnett said he expects highway-like vehicle speeds on Great Northern Way will be reduced with the addition of more traffic lights and maybe even a median.
On the north side, facing the railway tracks, the building presents a more industrial look. On the ground floor will be big garage doors that can open to accommodate hands-on art practices such as metal working, ceramics, pottery, and sculpture. There will be covered areas so students can work outdoors in the rain. On the third and fourth floors, big windows facing north will allow for year-round natural lighting for painting and drawing. The building will have a restaurant, art gallery with a six-metre high ceiling, aboriginal wood carving area and a 400seat theatre that can be modified for traditional raked or flat seating.
The whole building will have a new fibre-optic network.
The building’s exterior will be clad with two kinds of aluminum panel in different patterns painted off-white. As well, Diamond Schmitt are working with Emily Carr faculty members to punctuate the exterior with colour. Although it’s close to Great Northern Way, ECU’s new address will be 520 East 1st Avenue.
For cyclists, the building will have 90 bicycle spots for employees and residents and 160 spots for customers and visitors.
No decision has been reached on what will happen to Emily Carr’s North and South Buildings at its campus on Granville Island, Burnett said. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which manages Granville Island, will make the final decision, he said.
“My hope for the North Building is that it would be converted into a centre for the arts,” he said. “I think it has tremendous potential for the city. The South Building — we don’t know what they intend to do. It’s still early days.”