Ontario’s Fanshawe College opens Innovation Village, a $55.9 million center that caters to the different ways people learn
At the center of its campus in London, Ontario, Fanshawe College has opened Innovation Village, a CA$55.9 million project that aims to cater to the different ways people learn.
Designed by Diamond Schmitt, the 126,828-sf facility—about half of which is new construction and half renovation—brings together formerly disparate spaces to create a new campus hub for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
The building offers various adaptable spaces such as silent study zones, open work/study areas, homework labs, open coffee zone, maker spaces, and multi-use event and presentation spaces. Students have access to innovative technology such as an augmented reality and virtual reality lab and multimedia labs, as well as Leap Junction, a center for entrepreneurship.
“The new Innovation Village responds to the changing pedagogies of the 21st century,” Sydney Browne, principal, Diamond Schmitt, said in a statement. “Designed to support a culture of active and experiential learning, the facility prioritizes a diversity of spaces that can be adapted for multiple users across faculties and encourage impromptu cross-disciplinary collaborations and interactions.”
At the project’s core, the Canada Life Village Square is a full-height multipurpose agora. This central forum can be used for guest lectures, pitch presentations, and exhibitions and can serve as a classroom, study space, or student lounge. The Square is surrounded by interior glazing, with multiple access points opening toward the building’s interior and clerestory openings above to provide natural light.
The two-story Forwell Hall, an event space run by the Fanshawe Student Union, can be used for tradeshows or fashion shows or as a student lounge. Forwell Hall features a two-story curtain wall system supported by wood glulam columns.
The college has more than 400 Indigenous students, and student and Indigenous input has informed the building’s visual and spatial design. A new Library Learning Commons is home to the Kalihwíy̲o̲ Circle, the Indigenous Spirit Assembly, with a circular formation that promotes safety, trust, and sharing of culture. The Kalihwíy̲o̲ Circle has direct access to a large adjacent courtyard that can host Indigenous workshops, exhibitions, and smudging ceremonies.
The structure’s custom building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) cladding provides onsite renewable energy that powers the building. The envelope uses a nanotechnology surface treatment that allows for a colored surface, instead of standard black solar panels. The cladding’s blue hue changes in tone with the weather and angle of view.
The interior palette includes raw natural materials, such as wood and a large timber glulam canopy at the main entrance, and exposed steel and concrete structures.
On the project team: Fanshawe College (owner), Diamond Schmitt (architect), Smith + Andersen (mechanical and electrical engineer), VanBoxmeer & Stranges (structural engineer), RWDI (environmental engineer), D. Grant Construction (construction manager).
