The new Science Commons adjoins Erickson?s iconic University Hall and claims a prominent position atop the escarpment. Its mass defines a north edge to the previously remnant Coulee Quad.
PROJECT University of Lethbridge?Science Commons, Lethbridge, Alberta
ARCHITECTS KPMB Architects / Stantec Architecture, Architects in Association
TEXT Matt Knapik
PHOTOS Adrien Williams
This fall, the Science Commons at the University of Lethbridge opened its doors to a new generation of researchers, students and staff. The result of an extensive six-year process with KPMB Architects and Stantec, the 38,400-square-metre, $219-million facility presents an ambitious new vision for cross-disciplinary university research in Canada, and a prominent new face for the University of Lethbridge. The west-facing main entrance façade displays several of the building?s comprehensive sustainability strategies, including solar shading and ?a double-skin envelope with a combination of automatic and operable windows.
The Science Commons is sited at the north end of Arthur Erickson?s iconic University Hall, which has kept pensive watch over Alberta?s Old Man River Valley for the past half century. The new building sets out its own formal agenda?there is little deference here to University Hall?s massing or materiality, and no trace of Erickson?s dogmatic fidelity to the prairie datum. Instead, the Commons carries bold lines across its prominent mass, drawing new relationships both to its neighbour and to ...