Concordia University, founded in 1974, is now one of Canada’s largest urban universities. The new Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts (ENCS/VA) facility represents the first phase in a vision to create Le Quartier Concordia, a revitalized downtown campus for the university.

The ENCS/VA together with the future John Molson School of Business will form a vertical urban campus of distinct yet interrelated buildings. Each building is organized into three vertical zones: base, middle, and top. The three-storey bases are scaled to relate to the surrounding context of buildings. The middle zone contains multiple floors linked by stacked atria with interconnecting stairs. The top zones are distinguished by figurative canopies for ENCS and roof terraces for VA.

ENCS/VA occupies the footprint of a full city block and is connected to the existing metro station which is located directly below grade. The design optimizes connections to the sidewalk with transparent, street-level bases that engage both students and the public. The main entrance is marked by a three-storey glass pavilion, the symbolic gateway into the campus, and transparent street bases generate an active ground plane.

Platforms from which to make visual connections to the city, the river (the St. Lawrence) and the mountain (Mont Royal) are woven throughout the scheme: stairs, landings and lounges are positioned to orient views to the exterior, and roof areas are adapted as outdoor social spaces to provide panoramic views across Montreal’s skyline with access from adjacent student and faculty lounges.

The ground floor is an extension of the public realm of the street, its scale comparable to a major transit hub to accommodate the surge of commuters arriving by public transit. This internal street is accessible to students and citizens and provides shelter during Montreal’s harsh winters. Clear indicators – access to metro, café, transparency, picnic tables and benches – signify the public nature of the building.

Sustainable Design

Concordia is the lowest energy consumer of the six major secondary education facilities in Quebec. The design of ENCS/VA was developed to enhance this leadership role. A natural ventilation system is used for a significant period during the cooling season. The free cooling can also be utilized throughout the evening to lower the temperature of the exposed thermal mass of the building, reducing the cooling load and operation of fans and pumps. The free cooling system is tied into the building automation system.

The stacked atria draw natural daylight deep into the floor plates and are part of the natural ventilation strategy whereby outside air is brought in passively through operable windows and mechanical louvers, and drawn vertically through the atria, consequently ventilating the internal corridors and public spaces.

Added green features include maximizing flexibility in order to adapt to changing programs and research and teaching methodologies, integrating low flow conserving fixtures with automatic shut offs, chillers that utilize ozone friendly refrigerants, good fume hood capture velocities and performance, high efficiency boilers, motors and fans, heat recovery of both internal sources (people, equipment, transformers) and exhaust air systems, and an emphasis on recycled and recyclable materials. The design was planned to have a three to seven year pay back period for up-front capital costs related to energy savings.