The results are in—and the AMS has chosen HBBH+BH to be the architects for the new Student Union Building (SUB).

HBBH+BH—a partnership between Vancouver-based Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden and B + H Architects—was chosen over finalists Bing Thom Architects and Busy Perkins+Will to design the $103 million SUB, which is scheduled to be completed in 2014.

VP Administration Ekaterina Dovjenko made the announcement at the July 14 council meeting, two weeks earlier than anticipated.

“The AMS is confident that HBBH+ BH is the right firm and demonstrated that they have a deep understanding of students’ needs,” said Dovjenko in a press release.

The AMS expects a preliminary design for the building to be completed by December.

In the meantime, HBBH+BH, alongside the AMS will be launching a schematic design forum in September 2010 to consult with students. They will host workshops on topics ranging from sustainability to social and green spaces.

The selection process saw each competing firm submit a proposal which was then ranked on a scale of 0 to 100, with 60 points for technical, 20 for the interview process and 20 for cost.

All three firms achieved scores above fifty but HBBH+BH led in all three categories, Dovjenko told Council.

Two of the four principal architects from the winning firm will be directly involved with the project. Dovjenko confirmed that one of the contending firms suffered in its assessment because the SUB Renew Committee felt that access to the senior architects was not sufficient.

According to their newly launched website for the project, www.whatsyoursub.com, HBBH+BH will be focusing on ecological, social and financial sustainability as top priorities.

The firms are no strangers to UBC, having designed the Marine Residences and Commons Block, the ICICS facilities and the Hugh Dempster Lecture Pavillion.

“The fact that UBC is not an urban campus means the SUB building is the heart of the student community.” Bruce Haden, design leader and HBBH partner, said in an interview posted on their website. “It’s like a mini city, replacing the functions and funkiness that surround urban campuses”

This final selection marks the end of a multi-year process to choose an architect. In April 2010, 2400 students chose three architectural firms as finalists in the SUB Renew vote.

Construction on the 255,000 sq ft. SUB will begin in 2012, with an expected completion date of 2014. The AMS will provide $78 million dollars of this funding, with the university providing the rest.

(+2 rating, 1 votes)

 Loading ...