Cornett Building (1966)
Social Sciences
Essentially four linked blocks around a central cloistered quad, the building serves three clients: anthropology, psychology and sociology. The bones of the building are articulated with precast concrete elements filled in with breeze-block panels and decorative block screens.
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This is a three-storey reinforced concrete building, with exterior walls in expanded shale aggregate block, marble-type stucco, rubbed concrete beams and columns and local metamorphic rock. The design of the complex links four distinct architectural elements around a small and intimate inner quadrangle. From the outset, the complex has housed the classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices of the Social Science departments. A major addition was built in 1971, primarily to connect and expand accommodation on the third-floor level. For over 15 years, the interior courtyard was graced by two majestic totem poles that were carved by native artists Henry and Tony Hunt; in May 1982 these replicas of original Tsimshian poles were removed to a more visible location in the main quadrangle.
Name
Thomas Warren Cornett (1887–1924), a University of Toronto graduate, was an outstanding
teacher of history at Victoria College in the early 1920s; his death in a tragic drowning accident
on August 26, 1924, cut short an academic career of unusual promise.
Facts and Figures
Architect: John A. Di Castri
Structural: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.
Mechanical: F. T. Gardiner, P. Eng.
Electrical: Spratt & Associates
Contractor: Burns & Dutton Construction (1962) Ltd., [Richmond] [CANA Construction Company Ltd.]
Contract: $2,096,011 (May 26, 1965); $2,095,978
Gross area: 108,400 sq. ft.
Cost per
square foot: $19.32
Official opening: January 28, 1967, by Chancellor Richard B. Wilson and President Malcolm G. Taylor
Facts and Figures (1971 addition)
Architect: John A. Di Castri
Structural: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.
Mechanical: F. T. Gardiner, P. Eng.
Electrical: Spratt & Associates
Contractor: CANA Construction Company Ltd., [Richmond]
Contract: $122,500 (July 20, 1971); $129,969
Gross area: 5,500 sq. ft.
Cost per
square foot: $23.63
See UVic's maps and buildings description.
Schematic Drawings
Photographs
Model (by former Fine Arts 350 students Veronica Best, Joel Duifhuis, Morgan Homes and Kevin Jensen)
Plans