Carleton University Nicol Building [Sprott School of Business] | Completed

[rocketphish]

Carleton University Board Approves New Home for Sprott School of Business
Friday, October 6, 2017

The Carleton University Board of Governors has officially approved construction of a new $48-million home for the Sprott School of Business — the 100,000-square-foot Nicol Building, named in honour of Ottawa entrepreneur and Carleton alumnus, the late Wesley Nicol. This new building will provide innovative learning environments and collaborative community spaces at the heart of campus.

The Nicol family’s generous $10-million donation in 2014 kick started the funding for the new building, and Carleton has set aside funds to cover the remaining building costs. As part of its $300-million Collaborate Campaign, the university will launch a fundraising effort to further support the university’s strong entrepreneurial activities and Sprott student experience as well as enhance facilities.

The detailed sustainable design by Hariri Pontarini Architects in Toronto was completed last month. The building will be located on Campus Avenue next to the University Centre, the Architecture Building and the new Health Sciences Building. It is hoped that construction will start in 2018 with the building opening in 2020.

Key features of the new Nicol Building:


Enhanced learning, networking and collaborative spaces for students, faculty and staff;
Greater executive and management training offerings for business leaders;
Flexible classrooms;
Event and meeting spaces, including public assembly space;
Sustainable design from core to skin — the project is slated to achieve 4.5 Green Globes;
Space for the campus-wide venture accelerator for entrepreneurs;
Additional space for experiential student initiatives, such as the Sprott Student Investment Fund and Sprott Competes.


Quotes:

“This is a very exciting development for the entire university. It will expand Sprott’s world-class reputation and allow us to grow our community, industry and government partnerships to help us solve more real-world problems.’’ Alastair Summerlee, Carleton interim president and vice-chancellor.

“This new building will take the Sprott School of Business to the next level so that we can keep up with rising enrolment and continue to attract outstanding students who will be the leaders of tomorrow.’’ Chris Carruthers, chair of Board of Governors.

“This new facility will provide an inspiring learning environment as well as collaborative spaces that reflect those things that make our community and the Sprott student experience unique. A dedicated building for the Sprott School of Business will not only provide the space to support our growth, but it will open doors to the Ottawa community and enhance opportunities for collaboration, engagement and new partnerships both within the university and across the region.’’ Linda Schweitzer, Interim Dean of the Sprott School of Business.

About the Sprott School of Business:

Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business is an internationally accredited, full-service business school located in Canada’s capital of Ottawa. Sprott explores complex business issues through innovative programs, interdisciplinary research and collaborative partnerships, which are aligned to three core strengths: international focus, innovation and responsible management.

Media Contact
Chris Cline
Social Media and Digital Communications Specialist
Carleton University
613-520-2600, ext. 1391
christopher.cline@carleton.ca

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Cunewsroom

http://newsroom.carleton.ca/2017/10/06/carleton-university-board-approves-new-home-for-sprott-school-of-business/

[rocketphish]

Carleton's Sprott School of Business to get new $48-million home

Paula McCooey, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 6, 2017 | Last Updated: October 6, 2017 1:48 PM EDT

https://postmediaottawacitizen2.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/1007-sprott-jpg.jpg&w=850

Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business will soon have a new $48-million dollar home in the heart of the campus.

Carleton’s board of governors officially approved construction of the 100,000-square-foot Nicol Building, named in honour of Ottawa entrepreneur, Tartan Homes founder and Carleton alumnus, the late Wesley Nicol.

“This new building will take the Sprott School of Business to the next level so that we can keep up with rising enrolment and continue to attract outstanding students who will be the leaders of tomorrow,” said Chris Carruthers, chair of the board of governors.

The Nicol family’s $10-million donation in 2014 kickstarted the funding for the new building, and Carleton has set aside funds to cover the remaining costs.

The sustainable building design was completed last month by Hariri Pontarini Architects in Toronto. The building will be located on Campus Avenue next to the University Centre, the Architecture Building and the new Health Sciences Building.

Construction is expected to begin in 2018, with the building opening in 2020.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/carletons-sprott-school-of-business-to-get-new-48-million-home

[waterloowarrior]

https://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__AUPZ4O

Site plan submitted. No docs up yet.

[rocketphish]

Nicol Building to take Ottawa’s Sprott School of Business to ‘that next level’
State-of-the-art new home will help Carleton business school attract top students and faculty, raise profile in community, proponents say

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Nov 21, 2017 8:50am EST

http://www.obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2017-11/Nicol-Building-Render2.jpg

When Jerry Tomberlin arrived at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business nine years ago, his colleagues wasted no time letting him know where his priorities should lay.

For years, the school’s students and professors had been scattered throughout campus with no dedicated facility of their own. Mr. Tomberlin, then Sprott’s freshly minted dean, was about to be interviewed on a local radio show when a co-worker made his expectations for his new boss abundantly clear.

“Just before me, one of the professors from Sprott, Ian Lee, had been on and he mentioned that there was a new dean, and the new dean was going to make sure we get a building,” Mr. Tomberlin recalls with a laugh.

The longtime academic and business consultant can chuckle over that memory today, knowing he’s achieved the goal he and many others have been chasing for so long. Last month, the university’s board of governors gave its stamp of approval to Sprott’s $48-million new home – a state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot facility that will finally bring the school’s 2,600 students and 87 staff and faculty members together under one roof.

The announcement was a long time coming, but for Mr. Tomberlin it was worth the wait.

“I never gave up,” he says. “I knew it was going to happen. I just didn’t know when it was going to happen.”

Designed by Toronto’s Hariri Pontarini Architects, the new building will be located in the heart of campus next to the University Centre, the Architecture Building and the new Health Sciences Building.

Proponents say the six-storey structure – christened the Nicol Building after well-known entrepreneur, philanthropist and Carleton alumnus Wes Nicol, whose $10-million donation in 2014 kickstarted the funding drive – will take the business school to the “next level” by providing cutting-edge classroom and meeting facilities that will attract top-tier students and faculty from Canada and beyond.

“Facilities are extremely important for business schools,” says Mr. Tomlinson, who is now Carleton’s interim provost and vice-president academic. “If you go to any other university campus that has a business school of any size, you’ll see a physical presence. It’s been hard for us without that to kind of compete on all levels. We have a great MBA program, but we don’t have much in the way of facilities for them to kind of showcase what a program we have.

“It’s not going to make us the best business school in the world overnight; you have to have the content. But it’s going to allow a platform to showcase ourselves better. I think Sprott is entering into a new era with this.”

Construction on the new facility is slated to begin next year, with completion targeted for 2020. Sprott will then have a home of its own after decades of being headquartered in Dunton Tower, where it must share space with other faculties and meeting rooms for clubs and employer-student interviews are a scarce commodity.

In addition to plenty of meeting rooms, the new building will feature dedicated space for Carleton Entrepreneurs, an accelerator designed to help students from all disciplines launch and grow their own business ventures. It will also house initiatives such as the Sprott Student Investment Fund, an equity portfolio run by Sprott commerce and international business students.

“It shows a lot as to how we’re growing and how much potential there is, so when employers are coming and we’re able to invite them into this very professional, well-defined space, that will reflect very well on our students and the value that we put into this program,” says fourth-year international business student Alex Wadey, who also serves as a vice-president at Sprott’s student society.

“Hopefully, that will be translated into the companies that will interact with us. It’s all about bringing Sprott up to that next level.”

http://www.obj.ca/sites/default/files/inline-images/Nicol-Building-Render5.jpg

Ryan Baan, the society’s vice-president of marketing, agrees.

“We have one room right now, and it’s not a whole lot of space for clubs to be planning events, hosting events, meeting regularly,” explains the fourth-year commerce student. “With the new building, it’ll keep everything in one spot and really build that sense of community and that sense of home for all of us students.”

One of the chief criticisms of Sprott is the school lacks a common gathering place for students and staff to have random interactions, Mr. Tomberlin says. Such chance meetings are “all about where creativity and innovation and things that you haven’t even thought of before come about – not because you set up a formal meeting but because you ran into somebody and you had this conversation.”

To that end, the Nicol Building’s signature space will be a central ground-floor atrium where students and professors can hang out, chat and bounce ideas off each other.

“Everybody who enters the building will have to go through there,” Mr. Tomberlin says. “Anybody who has any business at Sprott is going to run into everybody else in that atrium area. There aren’t that many open spaces on campus where that can happen.”

Instructor Andrew Webb, who joined the faculty this year from Laval University, says not having a building of its own is holding Sprott back from achieving its full potential.

“It’s really difficult to connect with your other researchers and to create a sense of esprit de corps,” he explains.

The veteran academic has been brought in to launch the school’s new project-based learning program, which is designed to teach students management skills while helping local organizations solve real-world problems. Sprott’s current configuration makes that a challenge, he says, because there’s no “one-stop shop” for businesses that want to be partners in the program.

“Right now, if they wanted something, they don’t really know where to go,” Mr. Webb says. “Any business, your brand has to be coherent with your physical installation. Your physical installations are sending a message. If your physical installations are connected, they’re creative. That’s what this faculty is about.”

Ms. Wadey says having a building to call their own will give Sprott students a greater sense of pride and identity.

“A physical place really adds to that – having somewhere where we can showcase Sprott, and if that’s in a nice, shiny building, I think that makes it even better,” she says. “It really makes the Sprott School of Business a player at Carleton University – if it wasn’t already.”

Mr. Tomberlin’s only disappointment is that Mr. Nicol, who died last year, won’t be around to see the finished project. But his legacy will live on in future generations of entrepreneurs trained in the building that bears his name.

“We’ve hired all the right people, we have good students, and now we’re going to have a great building,” the former dean says. “Now it’s all about raising the profile of the school in the external community, and I think we have everything else in place to do that.”

http://www.obj.ca/article/nicol-building-take-ottawas-sprott-school-business-next-level

[rocketphish]

Carleton breaks ground on Nicol Building, future home for Sprott School of Business
Innovative new facility to cost $65.1M, to be completed by 2020

By: Caroline Phillips
Published: Jun 20, 2018 6:41am EDT

https://i.imgur.com/exT6HRZ.jpg

Spirits were bright, like the mid-morning sun that shone down Tuesday on the groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the Nicol Building, future home for Carleton University's Sprott School of Business.

It was a milestone moment, made possible by a $10-million donation from Tartan Homes founder Wes Nicol in 2014, to kick-start funding for an innovative new space for collaboration and learning.

"Today is a special day in the history of Carleton and, in particular, the Sprott School of Business," said retired orthopedic surgeon Chris Carruthers, chair of the university's board of governors. The former chief of medical staff at The Ottawa Hospital earned his Bachelor of Science at Carleton University before continuing on to his medical degree and executive MBA at other universities.

"This groundbreaking represents the creation of a new signature building that will shine a light on Sprott and Carleton."

The ceremony took place one day after the anniversary of the founding of Carleton University, on June 18, 1942.

Nicol, who passed away in November 2016 in his 86th year, was an alumnus of Carleton and former member of its board of governors. In 2006, Carleton awarded the successful real estate developer with an honorary doctorate for his “outstanding contributions to the governance of Carleton University, the health and spirit of the Ottawa community, and the nurturing of Canadian entrepreneurship.”

His son, Bruce Nicol, president of Tartan Homes, was at the sod-turning ceremony and was among the construction hat-wearing dignitaries to drive their shovels into the ground, while Carleton University's chief advancement officer, Jennifer Conley, led the countdown to the actual dirt digging.

"Just as every journey starts with one step so does every building start with one shovel full of soil," said Conley.

“My role here is quite simple: It’s to soak up all of the gratitude that’s been offered for my father,” Nicol told the crowd, good-humouredly. “And on behalf of my late father and on behalf of the family: You are so welcome.

“This is something we are so happy to see coming out of the ground now. It really means a lot to all of us, and I know my dad would be, of course, over the moon if he was here with us now.”

Wes Nicol was an active and involved student at Carleton University back in the 1950s, when the school was located at Lyon Street and First Avenue in the Glebe. After the building was turned into condos, it was home to him in his later years with his wife, Mary, who still lives there. In fact, the couple's living room is the same space where Nicol once took his university French lessons and wrote his French exam.

“The gift he gave for the building is really just a culmination of his lifelong relationship with the university,” said Nicol, before describing his dad as a generous father and community member. “I don't think anyone who knew Wes or worked with him would ever call him a passive donor. He had his eye on the ball. He wanted things to work out and he applied his determination.”

The son was pleased by the recent rate of progress made to build a proper home for the business school, which is currently distributed across six floors of Dunton Tower.

The new state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot facility, which will cost an estimated $65.1 million, is expected to open in 2020. The building has been designed by Toronto's Hariri Pontarini Architects.

“On behalf of my father and the Nicol family, we really need to say thank you to all of you who took that ball, once it started rolling, and really moved ahead in the most wonderful way." said Nicol. "The design, the timing, the location — right to this event — it’s really very impressive."

University officials spoke about how the modern new building, with its flexible classrooms, unique spaces for experiential learning, and communal meeting and event spaces, will bring researchers, faculty, labs and students all under one roof. The facility is designed to inspire learning that is creative and collaborative.

The Nicol Building will be open to students from across campus while also looking to connect with the business community and broader community, attendees heard.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, guests were invited to mingle over coffee and shortbread cookies that captured the spirit of the event with their construction-themed shapes and icing.

— caroline@obj.ca

http://www.obj.ca/article/carleton-breaks-ground-nicol-building-future-home-sprott-school-business

[OCCheetos]

Pictures from excavation:
Album with full resolution images (https://imgur.com/a/0sT4RKt)

https://i.imgur.com/oAnsrOOh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EC6Oov0h.jpg

[Catenary]

I noticed a tower crane is once again up on campus this week, and while I wasn't close enough to be certain, I can only assume it is for this building.

[SkeggsEggs]

The crane is right where that excavator is in the photo.

[rocketphish]

Carleton’s $65-million business school steps onto world stage

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Sep 9, 2021 10:49am EDT

http://www.obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2021-09/DSC_3008.jpg

The way Dana Brown sees it, the Nicol Building in the heart of Carleton University’s campus is a $65-million statement to the world: the school is open for business.

That makes sense, considering that Brown is the dean of Carleton’s Sprott School of Business and the Nicol Building is Sprott’s new home. But Brown views the new structure, which officially opened to students and staff this week, as an invitation for the wider business world to finally take notice of an institution that she says has flown under the radar.

“We’re almost like a diamond in the rough,” says Brown, who joined Carleton’s faculty two years ago after a 20-year career in business education that’s taken her to more than 60 countries.

“We need to be discovered a little bit more. This is a darned good business school. I want to see it really thrive and the world to know about us. To me, this building is kind of like, ‘We’re coming out into the world.’”

Lead architect and Carleton grad Doron Meinhard’s team from Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects toured several business schools in Canada and the U.S. before crafting a curving design with staircases that wind through open spaces aimed at encouraging students and their professors to gather freely and exchange ideas.

It’s a far cry from Sprott’s previous home in nearby Dunton Tower, where students and staff were scattered throughout the building in an atmosphere that did little to generate unity, Brown says.

The new building “gives that sense of, ‘I’m part of something, I’m part of a community,’” she explains. “We’ve created spaces where students can gather. We want the students to no longer be bound by the classroom in the way that they learn. We want them to be learning in the world, solving problems. I think that's really great.”

The six-storey, 100,000-square-foot building’s centrepiece is its innovation hub. Located near the main entrance, the area includes a startup incubator and meeting space for events such as hackathons and pitchfests.

The hub will be open to students from all disciplines with entrepreneurial dreams, says director Harry Sharma.

As an example, he cites the school’s plan to launch a three-month program that will link journalism students and Sprott professors with the aim of incubating “the next vox.com.”

“When we talk about inclusivity, it’s not just the diversity of ventures that we’re creating,” he says. “It’s also the diversity of students that we’re serving – it’s students from all fields, from all backgrounds who are coming to this space.”

Aside from the main 250-seat lecture hall, most of the glass-walled classrooms are smaller rooms where students can congregate at round tables in groups of five or six. Flat screens are ready to beam in remote learners and cameras are set up to follow professors around.

Brown says the school has been trying to forge stronger partnerships with the Ottawa business community, and she hopes the Nicol Building will help accelerate those efforts. She envisions it being a place where founders, CEOs, city planners and other business leaders can mingle, providing a real-world perspective that Sprott’s 2,700 students can’t get from a textbook.

“I don’t want (students) to only learn in the four walls of a classroom,” she says. “I want them to go out to a small business and understand how they operate, work with them and learn how to problem-solve on the job. We really want to be on the cutting edge of pedagogy and create this really dynamic learning environment.”

http://www.obj.ca/article/local/carletons-65-million-business-school-steps-world-stage

[Catenary]

It's baffling to me that the school didn't take this opportunity to integrate the central bus stop into this building. It would have been a great opportunity to have heated shelters integrated into the building with tunnel access.

[bartlebooth]

Finished product:

https://hariripontarini.com/media/Nicol_14_RkqE3xB_m.jpg

https://hariripontarini.com/media/Carleton_J1_eDZA855_m.jpg

More images here - https://hariripontarini.com/projects/sprott-school-of-business/

[YOWflier]

It’s an attractive building.

[Harley613]

Gorgeous building. I love the exterior, the materials are amazing. It somehow looks very modern and very vintage at the same time, a perfect bridge between itself and the older buildings on campus. The interior is rather dull however.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Gorgeous building. I love the exterior, the materials are amazing. It somehow looks very modern and very vintage at the same time, a perfect bridge between itself and the older buildings on campus. The interior is rather dull however.

It is a nice building. As far as being dull inside, I fear that is an institutional thing. I have been inside a number of university buildings, over the decades and none have been very exciting spaces. The oldest buildings are usually the most interesting inside though. Probably just because they don't make them like they used to and seeing things from the past is interesting in itself.

The oldest I have seen is Coimbra University in Portugal. It is built on top of Roman catacombs. Now that was interesting.

[Catenary]

Not integrating the bus stop/shelter with that building was a huge missed opportunity.

[Harley613]

It is a nice building. As far as being dull inside, I fear that is an institutional thing. I have been inside a number of university buildings, over the decades and none have been very exciting spaces. The oldest buildings are usually the most interesting inside though. Probably just because they don't make them like they used to and seeing things from the past is interesting in itself.

An exception to this in my opinion would be the Faculty of Social Sciences Building at uOttawa with the living wall. It is a fantastic space.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

An exception to this in my opinion would be the Faculty of Social Sciences Building at uOttawa with the living wall. It is a fantastic space.

Ha---You think that I would have thought of this seeing that I am a Biology alumnus as well as a Cert in Bus. Admin. grad from uOttawa.

Oh well--shame on me!!!

[Harley613]

Ha---You think that I would have thought of this seeing that I am a Biology alumnus as well as a Cert in Bus. Admin. grad from uOttawa.

Oh well--shame on me!!!
:haha:

The River Building/Richcraft Hall at Carleton has a living wall as well but it pales in comparison to the one at uOttawa.

[UrbOttawa]

Goes to show what Hariri Pontarini can do when they don't have a cheap client!

[J.OT13]

Gorgeous building. I love the exterior, the materials are amazing. It somehow looks very modern and very vintage at the same time, a perfect bridge between itself and the older buildings on campus. The interior is rather dull however.

Well, it's not that bad. Wood strips on the ceiling, along with the skylights. Circular stairs built with what looks like stone. Nice earthy tones on the interior walls. Not just stark while like many modern buildings.

https://hariripontarini.com/media/Nicol_Building_tdGa5fH_m.jpg
https://hariripontarini.com/projects/sprott-school-of-business/

https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/sites/default/files/styles/paragraph_slideshow/public/nicol-23.jpg?itok=v1lNEv8I
https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/project/nicol-building-sprott-school-business

Not integrating the bus stop/shelter with that building was a huge missed opportunity.

Only example of this I can think of is Desmarais (which I assume is no longer in use). Surprised this isn't done more often.

[LRTeverywhere]

Carleton's eventual plan is to reduce / close Campus Ave and move busses to a new bus loop where the parking lot next to the train station is, so integrating the bus station into Nicol would only be temporary. Hopefully when the bus station is moved they can build a nice integrated bus / train station connecting to the tunnel stub that now exists under the tracks. Still will probably require a trillium line shut down though...:rolleyes:

[Harley613]

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52242120235_e52ee1a658_k.jpg

[rocketphish]

Architizer: Discover Hariri Pontarini Architects’ Vision Behind the Nicol Building at Carleton University (https://architizer.com/blog/practice/details/nicol-building-sprott-school-of-business/)

[rocketphish]

Wow, the finished project looks amazing. And it seems to me that it fits in perfectly

It does look good, doesn't it. Welcome to the forum! :cheers: