The Science Commons is wrapped in a double-skin facade, joining Manitoba Hydro Place in a lineage of sustainable building collaborations by KPMB and German sustainability consultant Transsolar. Proper attention from a landscape architect could unearth the space’s emerging presence and unique landscape character, inviting it more fully into the social life of the campus. The building’s south edge has awakened the University’s Coulee Quad, which should instigate further review of the potentials of this remnant outdoor space. To the east, a low, Miesian mass provides a distinct and understated connection to University Hall, a mediating force between the two architectures. On the west end of the building, a slim and elegant bridge gathers pedestrians from the campus above. Within this system, two key gestures complete the campus link. The architecture takes good advantage of this position, delivering long views into the campus green and the river valley below. The building mass deviates somewhat from the Master Plan’s scheme, finding a more privileged position on an outcrop along the escarpment. It closes an important loop around the University’s lower Coulee Quad, reaffirming the long-term viability of University Hall. Taken together, it’s tempting to see the two buildings not just as different ideas, but as altogether separate architectural species.ĭrawing on Moriyama & Teshima Architects’ 2012 Master Plan for the University of Lethbridge, Science Commons is sited to create a defining edge and pedestrian link along the north line of the campus. Instead, the Commons carries bold lines across its prominent mass, drawing new relationships both to its neighbour and to the rolling coulees. The new building sets out its own formal agenda-there is little deference here to University Hall’s massing or materiality, and no trace of Erickson’s dogmatic fidelity to the prairie datum. The Science Commons is sited at the north end of Arthur Erickson’s iconic University Hall, which has kept pensive watch over Alberta’s Old Man River Valley for the past half century. The result of an extensive six-year process with KPMB A rchitects and Stantec, the 38,400-square-metre, $219-million facility presents an ambitious new vision for cross-disciplinary university research in Canada, and a prominent new face for the University of Lethbridge. This fall, the Science Commons at the University of Lethbridge opened its doors to a new generation of researchers, students and staff.
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