Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, Lazaridis Hall is the new home of the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. The building also houses the Department of Mathematics and a center for entrepreneurship and social innovation.
Photography: Tom Arban
The design brief was to craft a highly sustainable building and to support the development of academic and community leaders with management and economics skills for a complex and changing global environment.

The design response is a flexible facility that serves a variety of functions, including academic program delivery, faculty and administration offices, gathering and peer learning areas to serve the entire campus, a multi-purpose auditorium and a seasonal conference agenda. To satisfy the demands of the growing technology focus in the region – Waterloo is the heart of Canada’s technology triangle – the building serves as a state-of-the-art incubator to promote collaborative research between the university and community. Photography: Tom Arban
The building is designed as a landmark to create an identity and to signal an expansion of a new campus precinct. Curvilinear wood-lined volumes define large spaces at either end of the building and disrupt the rigor of the stratified orthogonal façade. These are given further emphasis by the significant cantilevered space above the 1000-seat elliptical auditorium and positioning the 300-seat lectu...