The University of Calgary has released new renderings of The MacKimmie Complex and Professional Faculties Building Project, now under construction at the heart of the campus. Designed by DIALOG, the facility aims to be a high-performance net-zero carbon building. The new complex comprises a fully renovated tower and block and a brand-new link that connects the two buildings by an atrium, all connected by a redesigned outdoor gathering space. The multi-year, multi-phase project will enhance pedagogical and administrative environments, accommodate growth, and strengthen the sense of place and community in the heart of the University of Calgary’s main campus.
“This is one of the largest construction projects in recent campus history, so we are thrilled to be able to reveal to the campus community how the heart of main campus is being transformed with this project,” says Boris Dragicevic, associate vice-president, Facilities Development, University of Calgary.
To bring the University of Calgary’s “Eyes High” strategic vision to life, design firm DIALOG has been selected for design architecture, mechanical engineering, and landscape architecture. The program for the MacKimmie tower and the new block and link includes large classroom spaces, generous open student study areas, and small group study spaces, to encourage easier movement and social interaction and collaboration within the space.
“To accommodate an environment for education we asked ourselves how we can use design to participate in modern-day teaching and learning in a way that will go beyond technology and programming,” says Robert Claiborne, design architect and principal at DIALOG. “As one example of many, we are proposing a building skin that makes its energy-modelling systems tactile, or visible to the eye, as a way to make climate change conversations a permanent fixture in life on campus.”
The MacKimmie Complex is one of the first-ever projects designed for certification with Canada Green Building Council’s new Zero Carbon Building Standard, Canada’s first green building program to make carbon emissions the key indicator for building performance. It is one of two projects by DIALOG, also signed into the AIA2030 Commitment, participating in the initiative. Tower construction began in March and continues through the summer until September 2019. Construction on the new block and link will begin in fall 2019 and continue until summer 2022.
Renderings courtesy of DIALOG.