RC109 NovDec 2023 - Magazine - Page 7
A-Building establishes a new gateway to Centennial
College’s flagship Progress Campus in Scarborough, Ont.
CENTENNIAL COLLEGE OPENS
GROUNDBREAKING CAMPUS BUILDING
CENTENNIAL COLLEGE opened the doors to its trailblazing A-Building—Canada’s 昀椀rst LEED Gold, zero carbon, mass timber,
higher-education building. A-Building, formerly known as
A-Block, establishes a new gateway to Centennial’s 昀氀agship
Progress Campus in Scarborough that supports Indigenous
ways of being and teaching.
An Indigenous Working Group made vital contributions
to Indigenous elements of the build as the College worked
with Colliers Project
Leaders, EllisDon Construction, DIALOG and
Smoke Architecture to
deliver the approximately $112-million project.
Spanning six storeys and
more than 130,000 square
feet, the expansion
was accompanied by a
15,000-square-foot renovation.
“Acknowledging the relationship between sustainability, Indigeneity and inclusivity was essential to creating a
welcoming new gateway to Centennial’s 昀氀agship campus,” said Dr. Craig Stephenson, president and CEO of
Centennial College.
Indigenous ways of being and teaching are at the heart
of A-Building, which is also home to administrative o昀케ces,
collaborative areas, food services and space for the School
of Engineering Technology and Applied Science. An
interior courtyard serves as an outdoor classroom allowing
teaching in a circle formation, among other 昀氀exible classrooms, while 13 rooms are equipped with special exhaust
fans to make it possible for smudging to occur.
“It not only speaks to the Indigenous ideal of living sustainably in harmony with nature, but also gives this truly
special building such a warm, natural and inviting feel,”
CENTENNIAL COLLEGE
An Indigenous Working Group made vital contributions to Indigenous elements of the
build as Centennial College worked with Colliers Project Leaders, EllisDon Construction,
DIALOG and Smoke Architecture to deliver the approximately $112-million project.
RENEWCANADA.NET
said Dan Beadle from EllisDon Construction, which led the
detailed design and construction of the building.
A-Building has achieved zero carbon certi昀椀cation thanks
in large part to a highly e昀케cient building envelope, along
with all-electric domestic hot water heating and HVAC
systems. A solar photovoltaic panel array on the roof will
generate enough electricity to o昀昀set the facility’s electricity
use by 68,000 kilowatt hours annually, which will contribute to its LEED Gold certi昀椀cation.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 – RENEW CANADA 7
