University of Ottawa - Vanier Hall tower | 15 fl | Completed

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

I was surprised to find out today that you can go inside this building from floor 2 to 7 by elevator, even though it still looks like a construction zone on most floors.

Some offices on these floors are already in use, and students were there getting information on their course requirments when I visited.You can only enter from the campus side of the building, not from the canal side. A table is set up outside, staffed by students, to give directions to other students as to which office to go to to get the info they want.

There does seem to be a lot of natural light inside the building. Even from the lower floors one can see that there will be some gerat views of downtown Ottawa. Shoukld be great viewing from the top floor when it is opened.

[Admiral Nelson]

Some photos.

[J.OT13]

Nicely done. Best new U od O building in a long time.

[McKellarDweller]

Awesome thread. Thanks everyone who added pics and info.

[Zach6668]

IMO, this is the best new building in all of Ottawa in a while, aesthetically speaking, at least. Just love the design.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

This article from the uOttawa Gazette discusses the seeking of a LEED Gold certification for this building.

The University of Ottawa’s new Faculty of Social Sciences building is far more than just spectacular architecture. The administration is seeking a LEED Gold certification for the building – a designation given to buildings that have met strict environmental guideline established by the Canada Green Building Council (CanadaGreenBuildingCouncil), and all signs point to meeting this goal. For example, there is currently a living wall, or vertical garden, that will extend over six floors and provide enough humidity for the entire building, as well air purification.

“Our Kyoto commitment with regards to CO2 emissions was achieved in 2008 and our current target of doubling the federal Copenhagen commitment is five years ahead of schedule (34 per cent reduction by 2014 from the base year, 2005),” says Pierre de Gagné, Assistant Director of Engineering and Campus Sustainability. “The new tower is so efficient that it will not burden our emissions targets in any way.”

As for the exterior of the building, some of the roofs are being covered in small gardens composed of plants with non-invasive roots to provide thermal insulation. One of the most innovative features of the building is the data center situated in the basement, whose waste heat will be used exclusively to warm the entire building. This feature will bring the FSS building very near to Net Zero Heating.

“LEED certification gives us an opportunity to develop the Faculty’s vision of sustainability to ensure that our culture, behaviour and policies are at the peak of building environmental performance,” affirmed Marcel Mérette, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Furthermore, the building was conceived to have a comprehensive recycling system, including a dedicated waste diversion room. Classrooms will also be eco-friendly, as exposed structural beams (near windows) are covered with intumescent paint to fireproof the classrooms in an environmentally responsible way. The air temperature in classrooms will also be kept comfortable thanks to displacement ventilation, whereby a cycle of cold air is circulated from under the classroom seats to displace the body heat of students. Interestingly enough, uOttawa was one of the first to import this innovative system into North America in 1993

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

The official opening of this building takes place on Friday Oct 19.

Faculty of Social Sciences has a new home

Posted on Wednesday October 17th, 2012 by Sabrina Abraham, under: Article, Faculty of Social Sciences, News, Research.




For the first time ever, the 10,000 students, 260 professors and 100 staff at the Faculty of Social Science will be together under one roof in the heart of the city, at our downtown campus. This move will create greater opportunities for collaboration in research and teaching.

October 19th will mark the official opening of this environmentally friendly building that will bring together a wealth of knowledge in social sciences and help strengthen partnerships among experts.

“There is always change under way at the University of Ottawa, and this magnificent building is the latest evidence of this,” says Allan Rock, president and vice-chancellor of the University. “The synergy created by having the students and faculty members of our largest faculty under one roof will be extremely beneficial. In fact, this building is more than simply a new home for Social Sciences. It will be an incubator for creative new ideas and innovation.”

The 15-storey building with a surface area of 25,299 square metres (8,297 square feet) is connected to Vanier Hall by several walkways, bringing together the Faculty of Social Sciences’ eight departments and schools and one institute as well as six research centres.

The second floor of the building is dedicated entirely to students with numerous study areas and meeting places, which will help to provide a rich and inspiring student experience—one of the four over-arching goals of the Destination 20/20 strategic plan.

Each floor also boasts meeting rooms to make it easier for researchers and students working on projects to gather together.

The new building is also home to comprehensive research laboratories to help generate and inspire new initiatives and discoveries. It is in this spirit that the School of Psychology’s new INSPIRE laboratory was created, making it possible for researchers to investigate questions that involve both the social sciences and the natural sciences. This lab is currently the only lab in the world in addition to the lab at Harvard that has an integrated system capable of capturing in real time both cognitive and biological reactions of individuals subject to different stimuli.

“The INSPIRE laboratory, where it’s possible to run 18 different experiments at the same time, can provide creative solutions to behavioural economists, political scientists, forensic specialists, decision-makers, policy-makers and, of course, researchers from all fields of psychology through state-of-the-art technologies such as physiologic data acquisition and analysis, eye tracking and behavioural observation,” says Luc Pelletier, director and associate dean of the School of Psychology. “The laboratory represents a new way of thinking in designing and creating research facilities at the University.”

[J.OT13]

The 15-storey building with a surface area of 25,299 square metres (8,297 square feet)

That's a pretty bad miss-calculation. If the "25,299" figure is accurate, that means 272,316 square feet.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

That's a pretty bad miss-calculation. If the "25,299" figure is accurate, that means 272,316 square feet.

Hey, it's for the Social Sciences, not the Mathematics Department

[bartlebooth]

This building is shaping up to be quite interesting

http://www.ottawamagazine.com/restaurant...w-social-sciences-building-on-october-22

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

The living wall

[waterloowarrior]

[c_speed3108]

I have never seen that view before. Interesting.

[Zach6668]

I like the way it lights up at the top at night. Really like this building.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Zach6668

I like the way it lights up at the top at night. Really like this building.

I also like the light on top; I just wish that light had some colour.

[bartlebooth]

Some photos of the (somewhat new) Social Sciences Building at Ottawa University. A decent addition to uOttawa's main campus.

http://blog.davidgiralphoto.com/2013/06/...es-building-at-the-university-of-ottawa/

[J.OT13]

Very nice.

[Urbanarchit]

Does anyone know if this building is open to strangers? I'd like to be able to go in and up to the top to try to take pictures, but I don't know if it would be allowed. Is there an outdoor patio area or did they do away with that proposal?

In the second image, the parking lot is still there despite it originally planned to become a public square (or so page 1 of this thread says).


Vanier Hall Tower by Shel DeF on Flickr


Vanier Hall Tower by Shel DeF on Flickr

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Does anyone know if this building is open to strangers? I'd like to be able to go in and up to the top to try to take pictures, but I don't know if it would be allowed. Is there an outdoor patio area or did they do away with that proposal?

In the second image, the parking lot is still there despite it originally planned to become a public square (or so page 1 of this thread says).

There were various proposals for a university square during the planning stages. It is disappointing that they have not done much to improve the landscaping in this area. Maybe they still will at a late date.

If you go into the new building from the parking lot area--take a few steps --you will find a café on your right--it serves coffee, sandwiches , croissants and pastries. It is pretty upscale, run by an independent operator, and seems pricey for those on a student budget. However, to the left here is a fair sized lounge area that looks through glass . where you can see all the buildings on the parking lot side and the people going to and fro. You can have your coffee and munchies there, read, use your laptop. You can view the living wall from there too. Anybody can visit and sit in this area.

I have been in the building a couple of times for alumni receptions, and also just by myself browsing. I have had no trouble just taking an elevator to the top floors by myself,
without any hassles. You can get a good view of the canal side from the hallways of the top floors through some very large windows at points in the hallways.
Great views from there. I am not into photography so I did not try to take pics. If I had wanted to, I sure did not see anyone around to try and stop me.
Mind you, there were probably video cameras in the hallways that security monitors at random from some central point. Never saw any signage saying that photos were not allowed.
Hope this helps.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

There were various proposals for a university square during the planning stages. It is disappointing that they have not done much to improve the landscaping in this area. Maybe they still will at a late date.

If you go into the new building from the parking lot area--take a few steps --you will find a café on your right--it serves coffee, sandwiches , croissants and pastries. It is pretty upscale, run by an independent operator, and seems pricey for those on a student budget. However, to the left here is a fair sized lounge area that looks through glass . where you can see all the buildings on the parking lot side and the people going to and fro. You can have your coffee and munchies there, read, use your laptop. You can view the living wall from there too. Anybody can visit and sit in this area.

I have been in the building a couple of times for alumni receptions, and also just by myself browsing. I have had no trouble just taking an elevator to the top floors by myself,
without any hassles. You can get a good view of the canal side from the hallways of the top floors through some very large windows at points in the hallways.
Great views from there. I am not into photography so I did not try to take pics. If I had wanted to, I sure did not see anyone around to try and stop me.
Mind you, there were probably video cameras in the hallways that security monitors at random from some central point. Never saw any signage saying that photos were not allowed.
Hope this helps.

Excellent, that please me to know. Thanks I'm hoping to go either tomorrow or the day after, provided the weather is clear enough. But I'm guessing the patio space on top of the purplish block doesn't exist?