Yesterday, the university held an official ceremony in the open kitchen dining room of Orchard Commons to announce the opening of the new facility. The housing has actually had students living in it since September, but was slightly uncompleted at the time.
Located at the intersection of West Mall and Agronomy Road, the new $125.9 million facility is one of five commons projects on UBC’s Point Grey campus. Orchard Commons was completed through a partnership between the Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) and Vantage College.
The new facility will provide residence space for 1,047 new first-years, along with classroom and office spaces for Vantage College and a childcare facility.
“I’m genuinely so proud of this facility and this development, and the work that many, many people did to bring it to where it is today — and it hasn’t been a small feat,” said Andrew Parr, director of SHHS, during his presentation.
The opening ceremony of Orchard Commons was also the first building opening for UBC President Santa Ono — who assumed the position back in June.
During the presentation, Ono said that not very many universities have facilities of the same quality as Orchard Commons.
“Structures such as [Orchard Commons] are really the envy of most institutions. Certainly, we didn’t have something like this at the University of Cincinnati,” said Ono.
For Joanne Fox, principal of Vantage College, the opening of Orchard Commons is the realization of her vision for an open and flexible learning spaces for students.
“The design of the spaces has actually helped us to think about ways we can use [them] to be innovative in our teaching and learning — I think the potential is immense,” said Fox during the ceremony.
On top of the building’s practical functions, Ono said during his speech that Orchard Commons is also central in the promotion of an international and global community at the university.
“Orchard Commons is, and will continue to be in decades, a welcome space — one that celebrates diversity, one of the assets of UBC, providing support for domestic students and international students, being a place where they can come together,” said Ono.