Centre for Art and Humanities

Thanks to the generosity of our community, in the last decade we have completed construction of the Maeda Health Centre (2002), the T. Gil Bunch Centre for Performing Arts (2003), Allard House (2006) and Crooks Hall (2010). The Centre for Art and Humanities is the final piece in a strategic ten year campus development plan. The building will be opened for student use in September 2012.

The plan to include 8 humanities classrooms within a centre for visual arts is rooted in our educational philosophy. By intent, each student will interact with the working spaces and galleries of our visual artists while attending global studies courses in modern languages, history, geography, environmental studies, comparative government and art history. This building will thus speak to all levels of the power of visual image and the dialectic between artist and audience. 

The overall design for the building incorporates connections to the waterfront and to Campbell Common, reinforces the north-south pedestrian spine on campus and preserves views from the Bunch Centre. 

The following points summarize plans for this 30,000 sq. ft. waterfront facility:

• The 16,000 sq. ft of visual arts studios will be built specific to the needs of the drawing, painting, pottery, sculpture, photography and videography programmes that have evolved over the past 49 years on the Mill Bay campus.
• The two digital media studios, which double as IT classrooms in the academic morning, will provide for technology needs in graphic design, CAD, digital film, photo and multi-media.
• A spectacular 25’ high entrance gallery, which leads to a corridor with asymmetric walls, gives emphasis to art work. By design, it will not be obvious from the entrance gallery that this exciting learning experience is anything other than a visual arts centre.
• A suspended walkway provides access to a 7000 sq.ft. suite of 8 global studies classrooms. All classroom doors are concealed so these rooms will not be evident from the gallery. The walkway will provide a dynamic interaction-perspective with gallery displays.
• Although not seeking LEED status, this building will follow LEED guidelines while going well beyond with certain features. Recovered storm-water will be used for toilets and irrigation. Wind and solar energy sources will supplement main grid hydro. Orientated for natural ventilation, passive wind and solar heating and cooling will be supplemented by a closed ocean loop geothermal system.

For more information, please contact John Allpress.