The Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation, to be added to Vancouver Community College’s (VCC’s) B.C. campus, will be built with sustainability as a core characteristic. The centre will function as an electric/hybrid automotive shop facilitating the servicing and maintenance of electric vehicles and the imparting of clean energy training.
The eight-storey building will have powerful HVAC systems that respond to climate change and use mass timber as the primary structural material in the atrium. To further support green automotive innovation, the building is designed to be low carbon and meet the BC Energy Step Code and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification requirements.
It will house classrooms, labs, a library and learning centre, an Indigenous gathering space, administrative offices, and various collaborative learning spaces. Special considerations were given to Indigenous consultation and involvement in the design.
Stantec, a global sustainable design company, is providing architecture, interior design, acoustics, information management and IT, as well as mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering services. The firm is also designing to achieve LEED and the Rick Hansen Foundation cold certifications. Two Row Architect is the Indigenous design collaborator on the project and RJC Engineering is providing structural engineering, as well as sustainability and building performance consulting.
“With a focus on technology and renewable resources, the new facility at VCC incorporates unique design features to enhance the learning environment for students and teaching professionals,” says Mark Travis, principal and education sector lead for British Columbia at Stantec. “We look forward to bringing a space to life that supports connection and community experience and honours the unceded territories of the location’s First Nations.”
