Plans for downtown UBCO campus revealed

An ambitious 34-storey tower is detailed in plans for the University of British Columbia Okanagan’s (UBCO) new downtown campus.

In documents submitted to city hall just ahead of the holidays, the project planned for 550 Doyle Ave. will climb 125 metres in the sky, and include a medical clinic, café, and 24 floors of student housing.

The design for a vertical campus is “quite new in the history of architecture,” according to a summary of the project. A pair of renowned post-secondary institutions are cited as inspiration: a complex at Columbia University in New York City, and another at Toronto’s Ryerson.

The tower incorporates some unique design elements, including an underground parkade. These are not often found in downtown Kelowna due to the high costs associated with designing them, according to the documents.

Many developers opt for a podium parkade. However, the new campus will burry all its parking, citing a podium as creating a “very poor relationship between the building and the public sidewalk,” which can interrupt “a more animated urban life in downtown Kelowna.”

Further, the building includes a double diagonal cut, which will “provide a distinctive geometry compared to the existing and anticipated geometries of the future neighboring high-rise buildings.”

Inside the campus, the School of Nursing will be the main presence, with other classrooms, labs, galleries, and office space occupying surrounding floors. There will also be a four-storey atrium with a feature staircase to connect the campus to a semi-public courtyard.

The residential portion of the tower will include 352 housing units, consisting of 230 studio units, 48 one-bedroom units, and 74 two-bedroom suites. Electric vehicle stalls and bicycle parking is being accommodated.

Sustainability is front and centre in the design. Most notable will be a solar wall on the residential tower facing south. It will function as cladding while preheating the residential corridor ventilation passively. The building will also aim for a water saving of 30 to 40 per cent.

The tower is just one of three proposed for the former site of the Daily Courier. It will be developed alongside co-owner, Mission Group. It is expected construction on the new campus will begin in mid-2022.