University unveils $113-million capital expansion

The University of Ottawa will continue to be home to the sounds and sights of major construction.

Two major projects with a total construction budget of over $113 million were announced at the University's Board of Governors' meeting on July 19.

Volume measurement of multidisciplinary building

A new multidisciplinary building will be constructed on a lot currently used for parking and bordered by Laurier Avenue, Nicholas Street, and Waller Street. The seven-storey, $55.3-million building will be designed to allow expansion to be done in an efficient and cost-effective way, and will be the new home of the School of Management, and major departments of the Faculty of Social Sciences, including the new School of Political Studies.

Construction on that project will begin in the fall of 2004 and end in 2006.

On a lot of 41,800 square metres, the building will have a two-level parking garage with 141 parking spaces and seven floors of offices and classrooms. The ground floor will have seven lecture theatres with a total seating of 710, while the second floor will hold computer labs and undergraduate classrooms. Remaining floors will be essentially reserved for office space.

Architectural rendering of Roger Guindon addition.

The other construction project is a significant expansion of Roger Guindon Hall, located at the Health Sciences Centre. The four-storey addition comes on the heels of a $5-million expansion completed in 2001, and will add 8,825 square meters of laboratory and office space, as well as an animal care facility. The University will invest $56.6 million in the construction of this building. The project completion date is May 2007.

Roger Guindon Hall is the home of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Health Sciences. The building is home to approximately 5,000 students, as well as 1,500 teaching faculty and researchers. Many researchers are also affiliated with the Ottawa Health Research Institute and the CHEO Research Institute.