LANGARA COLLEGE FACILITIES MASTER PLAN
Location: Vancouver, BC
Concept Design: October 2018
Langara College has recently experienced a period of rapid and unprecedented student growth that has put a strain on its existing physical resources. With a current FTE student population of 10,500, it has already surpassed the growth expectations that formed the basis of the 2005 Master Plan, pointing to a strong need to re-think the Master Plan to allow it to respond to and support growth beyond today’s enrollment.
At the same time, the context in which the 2005 Master Plan was conceived has also changed. The City has grown up around the College – it is being re-developed with greater density and with higher height limits and with greater focus on car-free transportation. Sustainability standards have gone beyond the previously benchmark-setting LEED Gold goals of the 2005 Master Plan. Indigeneity and reconciliation are finally being recognized as core issues locally, nationally and internationally. Langara understands that the campus’ physical environment must also evolve to clearly reflect these changes.
Finally, student expectations have grown more sophisticated. Welcoming, engaging spaces well equipped with state-of-the-art technology are now expected throughout every post-secondary environment. Langara students no longer want to simply commute to campus and leave after class; they stay on campus to learn, to collaborate, and to build community. Langara College must continue to embrace these expectations.
Formline Architecture was the Aboriginal Consultant to a team Lead by Steven Steeple Architects from Toronto and Proscenium Architects whom Formline Architecture was sub contracted to. Formline lead an engagement process with the Indigenous Students and staff and the Musqueam Nation to identify Indigenous interior elements, landscape features and future buildings catered to Indigenous use for the campus.
The updated master plan produced by the team was submitted to the City of Vancouver for rezoning of the site. The college’s five-year capital plan has identified the need for a 350,000 sq. ft. building (roughly 32,500 sq. m) at Ontario Street and 49th Avenue. Budget and funding has yet to be determined
Client
Proscenium Architecture + Interiors Inc
Design Team
Alfred Waugh ( Indigenous Architectural Consultant), Monika Kolon