MacLaurin Building (1966)

Education

The largest building on the new campus, the plan envisaged a major concert hall as well as accommodating the largest faculty, Education, which previously had occupied most of the Lansdowne campus. The brick decorative cladding references the original Italianate 1913 Young Building at Lansdowne. Hodgson opened up the building on the ground floor where it opened out into the landscape and its own south-facing hard-surface square.

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This building consists of several wings of offices, classrooms and laboratories, rising to a maximum height of five storeys. Built of reinforced concrete, it has an exterior finish of concrete and integrally coloured brick. In 1969 a space on the main-floor level of the building, amounting to approximately 7,000 sq. ft., was enclosed to form a coffee shop served by vending machines. In 1971 a major addition created a second storey for the northern ("D") wing. Originally planned as an "Education-Arts" facility, the building at first accommodated the Faculty of Education (including its Curriculum Laboratory), various departments in the Faculty of Arts and Science (including its Language Laboratories) and the Office of the President. When programs in Fine Arts were established, most of these, too, were housed temporarily in MacLaurin. By the end of the 1970s, the Faculty of Education had become almost the sole occupant of the original building. In 1986, the main 323-seat lecture theatre (A144) was renamed the David Lam Auditorium, in honour of one of UVic's major benefactors.

Names

Dr. Donald L. MacLaurin (1881–1958) was the founding Principal of the Victoria Provincial Normal School, which he led from 1915 to 1932, when he became Assistant Superintendent of Education. In 1956 the Normal School merged with Victoria College to become its Faculty of Education.

After a successful banking career in Hong Kong, David See-Chai Lam came to Canada in 1967 with his wife Dorothy and their three daughters. Prospering in Vancouver real estate, he became President of Canadian International Properties Ltd. His gratitude to his adopted country has been reflected in an extraordinary record of good citizenship and philanthropy. On September 9, 1988 he became the 25th Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.

Facts and Figures (orginal building)

Architect: Alan. J. Hodgson

Structural: H. Greig

Mechanical: F. T. Gardiner, P. Eng.

Electrical: Spratt & Associates

Acoustical: C. A. Tiers, [Vancouver]

Lighting layout: John E. Baker, [Vancouver]

Contractor: Farmer Construction Ltd.

Contract: $2,017,000 (May 18, 1965); $2,032,945

Gross area: 118,500

Cost per square foot: $17.16

Official opening: January 28, 1967, by Chancellor Richard B. Wilson and the Hon. George R. Pearkes

Facts and Figures (1971 addition)

Architect: Alan J. Hodgson

Structural: Bogue Babicki [Vancouver]

Mechanical: F. T. Gardiner, P. Eng.

Electrical: Spratt & Associates

Contractor: H. E. Fowler & Sons Ltd.

Contract: $152,999 (Mar. 15, 1971); $160,815

Gross area: 6,209 sq. ft.

Cost per square foot: $25.90

MacLaurin Music Wing (1978)

Although identified as "B" Wing of the MacLaurin Building—to which it is linked by a bridge—this two-storey building of reinforced concrete and structural steel was planned as a separate and self-contained facility for the Department (later School) of Music. Its lower floor contains studios, rehearsal areas and individual practice rooms for a wide variety of traditional performance activities, together with well-equipped studios for electronic composition; its upper floor accommodates faculty offices and seminar rooms. The facility includes a public recital hall that seats 202.

Facts and Figures

Architect: Alan J. Hodgson
Structural: B. W. Brooker Engineering (BC) Ltd.
Mechanical: D. W. Thomson & Company Ltd.
Electrical: Spratt & Associates
Acoustical: Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc. (T. J. Schultz), [New York]
Theatrical: S. Leonard Auerbach & Associates, [San Francisco]
Contractor: Campbell Construction Ltd.
Contract: $3,167,526 (June 3, 1977); $3,206,010
Gross area: 35,800 sq. ft.
Cost per square foot: $89.55
Ceremonial sod-turning: June 8, 1977, by Professor Phillip T. Young, Chairman, Department of Music
Official opening: September 28, 1978 (with University Centre)

See UVic's maps and buildings description.