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UBC Beaty Biodiversity Centre

Architect: Patkau Architects Inc.
Project Team:
John Patkau, Patricia Patkau with Michael Cunningham
Bradley Cooper, Sebastian Cramer, Hector Lo, Ricardo Cuesta Moya, Christina Gray, Samantha Hayes, Dimitri Koubatis, Maureen Kwong, Michael Leckie, Shane O’Neill, Patrick O’Sullivan, Thomas Schroeder, David Shone, Craig Simms, Peter Suter, Luke Stern, Michael Thorpe, Jinyong Yum

Consultants
Structural: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd
Mechanical: Cobalt Engineering
Electrical: Robert Freundich & Associates Ltd
Landscape: Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg
Civil: Earth Tech Canada Inc.
Laboratory: Maples Argo Architects
Contractor:
Scott Construction Group

Images
James Dow / Patkau Architects (1-14)
Kara Verbeek (15)
Francis Chan / Beaty Biodiversity Museum (16)
Patkau Architects (17, 18)

Recognition

2011 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal in Architecture (with Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory)

Description

The 125,000 square foot Beaty Biodiversity Centre comprises a natural history museum, a large natural history collection, research laboratories and offices with related meeting and support spaces. It is organized around three sides of the courtyard space, with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum occupying the west side along Main Mall. The principal exhibition space of the museum is a glass “lantern” within which an enormous skeleton of a Blue Whale is displayed, creating a public face for the complex towards the Mall. The extensive natural history collections, located beneath the central courtyard, are accessible directly from this exhibition space. 


Research laboratories and offices occupy the south and east sides of the project. The laboratories are organized in regular bays along the east outer edge of the project, while the offices and meeting spaces are organized more casually around the courtyard to foster a sense of academic community. An open stair, located on the courtyard edge of the office and meeting spaces, threads through the project to interconnect informal social spaces.

Certifications

Description

The 125,000 square foot Beaty Biodiversity Centre comprises a natural history museum, a large natural history collection, research laboratories and offices with related meeting and support spaces. It is organized around three sides of the courtyard space, with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum occupying the west side along Main Mall. The principal exhibition space of the museum is a glass “lantern” within which an enormous skeleton of a Blue Whale is displayed, creating a public face for the complex towards the Mall. The extensive natural history collections, located beneath the central courtyard, are accessible directly from this exhibition space. 


Research laboratories and offices occupy the south and east sides of the project. The laboratories are organized in regular bays along the east outer edge of the project, while the offices and meeting spaces are organized more casually around the courtyard to foster a sense of academic community. An open stair, located on the courtyard edge of the office and meeting spaces, threads through the project to interconnect informal social spaces.

Location

Size

Client

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

11,520 sq m / 124,000 sq ft

UBC Properties Trust

Description

The 125,000 square foot Beaty Biodiversity Centre comprises a natural history museum, a large natural history collection, research laboratories and offices with related meeting and support spaces. It is organized around three sides of the courtyard space, with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum occupying the west side along Main Mall. The principal exhibition space of the museum is a glass “lantern” within which an enormous skeleton of a Blue Whale is displayed, creating a public face for the complex towards the Mall. The extensive natural history collections, located beneath the central courtyard, are accessible directly from this exhibition space. 


Research laboratories and offices occupy the south and east sides of the project. The laboratories are organized in regular bays along the east outer edge of the project, while the offices and meeting spaces are organized more casually around the courtyard to foster a sense of academic community. An open stair, located on the courtyard edge of the office and meeting spaces, threads through the project to interconnect informal social spaces.

The 125,000 square foot Beaty Biodiversity Centre comprises a natural history museum, a large natural history collection, research laboratories and offices with related meeting and support spaces. It is organized around three sides of the courtyard space, with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum occupying the west side along Main Mall. The principal exhibition space of the museum is a glass “lantern” within which an enormous skeleton of a Blue Whale is displayed, creating a public face for the complex towards the Mall. The extensive natural history collections, located beneath the central courtyard, are accessible directly from this exhibition space. 


Research laboratories and offices occupy the south and east sides of the project. The laboratories are organized in regular bays along the east outer edge of the project, while the offices and meeting spaces are organized more casually around the courtyard to foster a sense of academic community. An open stair, located on the courtyard edge of the office and meeting spaces, threads through the project to interconnect informal social spaces.

Description

The 125,000 square foot Beaty Biodiversity Centre comprises a natural history museum, a large natural history collection, research laboratories and offices with related meeting and support spaces. It is organized around three sides of the courtyard space, with the Beaty Biodiversity Museum occupying the west side along Main Mall. The principal exhibition space of the museum is a glass “lantern” within which an enormous skeleton of a Blue Whale is displayed, creating a public face for the complex towards the Mall. The extensive natural history collections, located beneath the central courtyard, are accessible directly from this exhibition space. 


Research laboratories and offices occupy the south and east sides of the project. The laboratories are organized in regular bays along the east outer edge of the project, while the offices and meeting spaces are organized more casually around the courtyard to foster a sense of academic community. An open stair, located on the courtyard edge of the office and meeting spaces, threads through the project to interconnect informal social spaces.

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