Completion: 2011
Owner: Vancouver Island University
LEED Platinum
Award Winning

Centre for Shellfish Research

Deep Bay, Vancouver Island

This Field Station in Deep Bay, BC, for the Malaspina University-College, Centre for Shellfish Research consists of an upper main building connected by walkway to a lower support building and tank farm. The upper building houses aquaculture research and lecture labs on the lower floor, visible to the public from a mezzanine viewing platform. The main entry level consists of a large public foyer and seminar space with a demonstration kitchen and administrative support facilities. The public and private spaces of the upper floor are visibly defined through the use of two different roof structures: a flat green-roof system providing smaller, more intimate spaces, and a dynamic arching structure that mimics the form of shellfish which opens up the public areas to a large glass wall overlooking the ocean.

The project will use renewable energy sources of sun, wind, rain and the ocean to reduce the operational environmental footprint of the building. Riparian areas and damaged ecosystems resulting from previous land tenure will be restored and enhanced, and the quality of ground, surface and marine water will be safeguarded using the comprehensive and site-sensitive waste management strategies as well as erosion and sediment control during construction. The project is certified LEED Platinum, and was awarded a SAB MAG Award of Excellence.

Related work: Higher Education Wood Innovation