Image courtesy Diamond Schmitt Architects
Without the fanfare or photo-ops typical of a groundbreak ceremony, construction is underway at the University of Calgary on Mathison Hall, a new home for the Haskayne School of Business.
Diamond Schmitt Architects and Gibbs Gage Architects designed the innovative learning environment that is set to rise next to the school’s Scurfield Hall, which will be renovated as part of the $90-million project.
Mathison Hall will be a four-storey, 10,000-m2 (107,639-sf) facility with fully accessible and connected space for lectures, group work, and experiential learning configured around a spacious atrium. Daylight and views will penetrate this central core lined with fully glazed classrooms and meeting rooms beneath large sawtooth clerestory windows.
“The technologically enhanced state-of-the-art spaces will add a dozen new classrooms ranging in size from 40 to 100 seats as well as new areas for study, group work, student advising, food services, and events,” said David Dow, principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects.
Mathison Hall is also targeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum through a comprehensive and integrated strategy that includes a south-facing double façade, glue-laminated (glulam) curtain wall, thermal mass, natural ventilation, and daylight autonomy.
When Haskayne’s Scurfield Hall opened in 1986, the school had approximately 1000 students taking courses in traditional lecture halls. By 2022, when the new facility opens, the school is projecting to have 4000 students.
Construction protocols have been updated in recent weeks in light of the distancing measures now commonplace. The university and its contractor have been in close contact with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety to implement safe working practices.
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