Bird to lead pair of B.C. post-secondary projects
By Adam Freill
Construction Green Construction InstitutionalState-of-the-art projects at Vancouver Community College and University of Victoria have a combined value of $280 million.
Rendering of the UVic High Bay Research and Structures Lab looking north from Ring Road. (Image courtesy of Dialog Design)
Bird Construction will be tackling a pair of post-secondary projects in B.C. The company has announced its selection as construction manager for the Vancouver Community College Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation (VCC Centre) and the University of Victoria (UVIC) Engineering Expansion Project. The combined value of the contracts is approximately $280 million.
Plans for the VCC Centre call for an eight-storey, 343,832 sq. ft., LEED Gold and energy-efficient facility to be built with elements of exposed mass timber. Bird says that the facility will support the province’s growing green economy, providing education and skills training for people in British Columbia and Red-Seal-certified apprentices of modern automotive trades, including electric, hydrogen fuel cell, plug-in and autonomous vehicles.
The school expects the facility to accommodate as many as 1,400 students annually, while providing opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration via the centre’s new civic amenities, academic and collaborative design spaces, and purpose-built Indigenous gathering spaces.
The UVIC Engineering Expansion Project consists of two new state-of-the-art academic buildings: the Engineering Computer Science Building Expansion, a six-storey, 68,180 sq. ft. building, and the High Bay Research and Structures Laboratory Building, a two-storey, 20,900 sq. ft. building.
The vision for the complete UVIC Engineering Expansion project is a Net Zero Carbon Ready Design that will target LEED Gold. To support reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller carbon footprint, both facilities will extensively leverage mass timber structural elements, including columns, beams and lateral bracing, and the interior spaces will be designed with the intentional selection of low-emitting materials and recycled contents.
“We are excited to be part of these transformative projects that align well with Bird’s purpose of bringing life to vision and creating greatness together. With a focus on LEED Gold and Net Zero Carbon Ready Designs, these projects exemplify our innovative solutions that drive a lower carbon future,” said Teri McKibbon, president and CEO of Bird. “Our team in B.C. has a long history of strong execution on institutional projects and a solid track record in construction management project delivery. We are proud to be a part of shaping the future of education and research in British Columbia and beyond.”
