Campus construction update

The new academic building at Coburg Road and LeMarchant Street. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Hard hats and hammers are a familiar sight at Dalhousie these days, with a number of projects on the go. For an update, Dalnews talked to Alex Walker, director of projects for Dalhousie’s Facilities Management.

• The concrete frame for the new academic building at Coburg Road and LeMarchant Street has been completed and work is now beginning on the “exterior envelope and interior rough-ins,” says Mr. Walker. The building has been getting some attention over the summer for its innovative construction, which includes the use of plastic balls in its concrete floors. Dalhousie is the first to use the “Bubbledeck” technology in Atlantic Canada, a lighter, more sustainable building method. The four-storey building, which will house the College of Continuing Education and also provide space for the Department of Social Work and Faculty of Computer Science research, is expected to become Dalhousie’s greenest building. Planned features include a cistern, a solar wall and a green roof. It’s on track to be completed next summer.
• The structure of the Life Sciences Research Institute (LSRI), adjacent to the Tupper Medical Building, is starting to take shape. At 160,000 square feet, the LSRI will be a research intensive building, with an advanced air exchange system that will keep track of seven air quality measures. The four-storey building with underground parking and a mechanical penthouse is slated for completion in March 2011.
• With the expansion of Dalhousie’s medical program to New Brunswick next September, classrooms in the Tupper Medical Building are getting a major overhaul to accommodate teleconferencing—in essence, allowing students in Saint John and Halifax to attend the same lectures. The retrofit will take a few months. In the meantime, Dalhousie has leased classroom space in Chapter House on University Avenue.
• With funding from the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, the Life Sciences Building is getting an extensive retrofit. The list of what’s to be done is still being drawn up, but the ’70s-era concrete building is due for a major overhaul of its electrical and mechanical systems. “We want the LSC to be a much more friendly building for the people who teach, learn, work and perform research there,” says Mr. Walker.