Campus master plan enters phase two
Designers attempt to capture university essence in architecture
April 2, 2008
Lauren Thompson
The life of a university student is constantly in flux. It’s a time of transition and growth, and change is just a part of the job. This principle also applies to the Trinity Western University campus – though the structures and atmosphere seem so permanent during a student’s four-year stint, they too are as variable as the people they accommodate.
Just ask Glen Forrester. As vice president of administration, Forrester has been heading the task of revising and cementing the Campus Master Plan, which outlines changes that will be seen over several decades of university growth.
Recently, the Plan has moved into what Forrester calls “phase two.”
Phase two involves looking at the campus layout and current structures to decide what changes will be made, where and how. With the help of local design firm Phillips, Farevaag, Smallenberg, the university will be presenting an open house of the work which has already been done, presenting assessments that have been made and directions that have been outlined to the student body. The open house will take place from 11:30 to 3:30 on the first floor of Reimer Student Centre on April 9.
Phase one, which took place first semester, was defining what principles the new Master Plan would follow in future design projects. These principles were set to give guidelines that protect and enhance the university’s identity and mission.
“The primary output of phase one was to understand who we are, and who we aspire to be,” said Forrester. The university worked with architectural firm Hanbury, Evans, Wright, Vlattas and Company of Virginia to analyze their needs.
According to Forrester, the Master Plan will not be finalized until April. But he calls all current plans “virtually final,” and said any changes until then will be minimal.
Once phase two is completed, fundraising will begin for the building of a new Live-Learn Centre (re: “Where are we going?” Mars’ Hill, Volume 12, Issue 1), as well as a new chapel.
While the Live-Learn Centre will be a brand-new building, elements of the chapel will be retained in the new design. For example, the design of the roof will be maintained in some form, as will the rock wall. Forrester said no final decisions have been made on how these elements are to be incorporated.
Construction will hopefully begin on both projects in the next two years, though Forrester stressed this was completely dependent on fundraising.
Forrester said the updated plan is quite different than the one displayed in the entrance of RSC. The old plan, still exhibited in 3-D and glass cases near the entrance to the cafeteria, dreamed big and was full of underground parking and eight story residencies. But, said Forrester, the school simply can’t afford it.
In addition, and more importantly, Forrester stresses that the old plan “didn’t capture [TWU’s] essence to the degree which we now want. It didn’t communicate who we were.”
This seems to be the main focus of the new plan: using structures and space to communicate a campus identity in line with the university mission. Forrester cites architecture which reflects the university’s placement in rural Langley and the West coast, paths and buildings which facilitate community and designs that respect the environment as possibilities for the university’s future.
Forrester hopes to redo the display in RSC in the next year. But, like all things in the university’s dreams, “only if we can afford it.”
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