Dal to construct new residence

The latest project to fuel Dalhousie’s building boom is a new residence.

Accommodating 300 students, the new building will be unlike any other residence on campus. The $30-$35 million project will incorporate the sustainable building practices outlined in the Campus Master Plan and be Dalhousie’s first multi-use building. While the upper floors will be dedicated to student housing, the lower two floors will house a combination of student services, arena support and commercial spaces.

Set to open September 2012, the residence will be located across from Risley Hall on LeMarchant Street.

“With an increasing proportion of our students coming from out of province we need more beds, especially due to the declining population of university-bound students in the region,” explains Jeff Lamb, assistant vice-president of Facilities Management.

“One of the first challenges for the architects will be to figure out what goes on the first two floors,” he continues. “Right now everything from health services, including a pharmacy and/or physiotherapy clinic, to advising services for students is being discussed as possibilities for the first two floors.”

Project timeline End of April 2010: Contract awarded to DSRA in Partnership with Zeidler End of July 2010: Schematic rendering of the building End of Oct. 2010: Design development document; older houses come down; site preparation Feb. 2011 - June 2012: Construction process End of June 2012 - Aug. 2012: Moving in  Sept. 2012: Occupancy

The project will be designed by DSRA Envision in conjunction with Zeidler Partnership Architects. In addition to developing the schematic designs by the end of July, they have been tasked with developing a business case for the building which will address the overall financing of the building.

The funding for the project comes in part from the sale of Fenwick Tower, as well as through student residence fees and by leasing portions of the non-residence parts of the building. 

“We’re looking at underground parking,” says Mr. Lamb. “However, we are working on extremely tight timelines and if adding parking would delay the project then it may not be feasible.”

The new residence will be built where four university-owned houses currently stand. Three of the houses are marked for demolition and one, at 1234 LeMarchant, will be relocated to another area on campus. The departments and offices in the houses slated for demolition will be moved to various locations on campus.

The location of the mixed-used building on Studley Campus was identified during the campus planning process and achieves the objective of campus intensification.

LINK: Campus Plan