Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts occupies approximately 150,000 SF in the new Woodward’s Redevelopment. The space allows the school to house all of its degree programs that are currently based in Burnaby, and expand its current annual enrolment by 1,200 students. The new site includes cultural facilities, theatres, screening rooms, sound studios, and galleries; allowing the school to combine public events with intensive interdisciplinary training programs. The theatre provides opportunities for partnerships with the city’s professional arts organizations and unique community based cultural initiatives in the Downtown Eastside.
Constructing these structural elements, including steel stair access, experimental theatre space, and gantry cranes within the completed building was a challenge for the Glotman•Simpson design team. The existing conditions often meant providing alternate solutions that met the structural requirements but also respected the architectural intent of the spaces.
Images: © Bob Matheson