Architect49Patkau ArchitectureMoriyama Teshima ArchitectsCarscadden Stokes McDonald ArchitectsUrban Arts Architecture Inc.
SizeConcert Properties Centre for Trades & Technology: ~8,000 square metresRobert Bosa Carpentry Pavilion: 788 square metres
Marine and Mass Timber Workshop: 996 square metresCampus Services Centre: ~2,900 square metres
OwnerBritish Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)
Structural EngineerWSPAspect Structural EngineersFast + Epp
Mechanical EngineerIntroba
Structural systemsHybrid / WoodMass timber
Project materialsGlue-laminated timber (Glulam)
British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT’s) Trades & Technology Complex will be an innovative, integrated learning environment for 21st-century trades education—including a focus on high-tech timber trades training. The multi-facility project will showcase advanced, made-in-British Columbia (B.C.). mass timber construction and design, while providing an advanced educational hub focused on growing the number of much-needed trades professionals in the province.
This $177.6 million Trades and Technology Complex (TTC) at BCIT’s Burnaby campus provides more than 700 students access to the latest in advanced trade training and education. The state-of-the-art educational hub fosters immersive learning across disciplines and includes workshops, laboratories, simulation lab space, maker space and a reconfigured works yard. The complex is planned for construction across multiple sites on the Burnaby campus.
In addition to supporting existing enrollment, the project boosts BCIT’s training capacity for hundreds of new full and part-time student spots annually, helping to meet the growing demand for skilled trades professionals in B.C. over the next 10 years and beyond.
This includes training for B.C.’s forestry industry from engineers and millwrights to forest technicians and data scientists. The project also supports BCIT’s growing mass timber training efforts (external link), which includes a microcredit (external link) and associate certificate program (external link).
The project’s overall capital value of $177.6 million is estimated to generate between 950 and 1,175 direct jobs with an equivalent number of indirect jobs.
At the heart of the complex will be a new Concert Properties Centre for Trades and Technology. The three-storey, approximately 8,000 square metre building with mass timber elements is designed to encourage inter-disciplinary collaboration between students in trades, technology, engineering and architecture studies.
The Robert Bosa Carpentry Pavilion housing BCIT’s new mass timber construction training program, brings a two-storey facility including a project assembly area and classroom spaces constructed of mass timber.
A Marine and Mass Timber Workshop features a high overhead clearance, open ends and bridge cranes. The building’s design enables the new mass timber installers and marine fitting programs to erect mass timber structures and heavy steel mock-ups.
A two-storey, 2,900 square metre Campus Services Centre, constructed of mass timber, brings together the current corporate services, campus development, project services and facilities management to a single, modern site.
The ecological restoration of the nearby Guichon Creek creates a new pedestrian greenspace through the heart of the Burnaby Campus, serving as a living lab for students studying ecological restoration.
BCIT is targeting net-zero, LEED Gold and passive house strategies, in addition to using sustainably harvested locally sourced wood products.
“The development of BCIT’s Trades & Technology Complex is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate leadership of British Columbia’s world-class expertise in mass timber manufacturing, design, and construction. BCIT has a unique opportunity to contribute to the B.C. economy by training the future architects, engineers, contractors and trades, as well as showcase the innovation in mass timber and net-zero buildings, through development of our own projects.” -DANICA DJURKOVIC, AIBC, LEED® AP, ASSOCIATE VICE-PRESIDENT, CAMPUS PLANNING AND FACILITIES
“The development of BCIT’s Trades & Technology Complex is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate leadership of British Columbia’s world-class expertise in mass timber manufacturing, design, and construction. BCIT has a unique opportunity to contribute to the B.C. economy by training the future architects, engineers, contractors and trades, as well as showcase the innovation in mass timber and net-zero buildings, through development of our own projects.”
The Campus Plan embodies BCIT’s aspirations to evolve and grow as a premier polytechnic educational institution.
