Clearihue Building (1962)

Original Classroom Block ("A" Wing)

A pillared ground floor supported the classroom floors above but allowed for circulation on the main floor to communicate directly with the landscape on both sides. The end stairwells feature stable/mobile sculptures by artist Bill West. Wurster Bernardi Emmons's guidelines supported commissioned artworks by local artists for each building.

———

The first permanent new structure on the Gordon Head Campus, this three-storey reinforced concrete building was designed as a general-purpose classroom block. Its original exterior was exposed concrete and pre-cast concrete panels that were finished with marble aggregate set in coloured cement; this surface treatment was altered in 1971 to conform with stage II (Clearihue "D" Wing). The ground storey of the original structure featured a glassed-in concourse (with slate floor) that surrounded two lecture theatres and administrative offices, with the inner walls of the concourse finished in broken rock. The northwest section of this concourse was modified upon the completion of stage IV (Clearihue "B" Wing) in 1979; the entire configuration of the main floor was changed by major alterations in 1987. In the two original stairwells are mobile sculptures by Victoria artist William D. West.

Name

Judge Joseph Badenoch Clearihue, BA, MA, B.C.L., LLD. (1887–1976), was a native Victorian and a student in the original Victoria College class of 1903–1904. As Chairman of the Victoria College Council from 1947 to 1965, he played a major role in creating the University of Victoria, of which he became first Chancellor (1963–1966).

Facts and Figures

Architect: Wade Stockdill & Armour
Structural: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.
Mechanical: D. W. Thomson & Company Ltd., [Vancouver]
Electrical: Simpson & McGregor, [Vancouver]
Contractor: Sorenson Construction Company Ltd, [Vancouver]
Contract: $396,400 (Jan. 31, 1962); $399.157
Gross area: 35,300 sq. ft.
Cost per square foot: $11.31
Ceremonial sod-turning: January 20, 1962, by Judge Clearihue
Dedication: September 5, 1962, by Dr. Claude T. Bissell, President, University of Toronto
Official opening: January 18, 1963, by Premier W. A. C. Bennett

Clearihue Building (1971–1979)

Extended Complex

In three additional stages, completed respectively in 1971, 1976 and 1979, the original Clearihue Building of 1962 was extended into a large, rectangular complex of classrooms and faculty offices around an open courtyard. Eventually the building would come to house all departments in the division of the Humanities, plus Mathematics, Computer Science, History in Art and Creative Writing. Chronologically, the growth was counter-clockwise: Clearihue I (south), 1962; Clearihue II (east), 1971; Clearihue III (north), 1976; and Clearihue IV (west), 1979. This chronology does not match the designation of the building’s four completed wings, which are labelled "A" to "D" in clockwise order (I, IV, III, II). It may be noted also that the westernmost end of Clearihue "A" (beyond the original stairwell) is part of the 1979 construction that completed the quadrangle.

The 1971 construction of stage II absorbed a pre-existing temporary Boiler Plant (built by Mathias & Nicol in 1962); the Clearihue Clock Tower was an attempt to disguise and embellish the necessary chimney of this plant. Stage II also established the overall exterior finish of stucco and exposed concrete. Like the original structure, Clearihue II and III are three-storey reinforced concrete buildings (with full basement areas that serve as the University’s Computing Centre). The final stage (Clearihue IV or "B" Wing) rises to a fourth storey. In the basement of wings "A" and "B" is housed the University’s Language Centre.

Facts and Figures

Architect: (Stages II–IV) Wagg & Hambleton
Structural: (Stages II–IV) Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.
Mechanical: (Stage II) F. T. Gardiner, P. Eng., (Stages III–IV) D. W. Thomson & Company Ltd.
Electrical: (Stages II–IV) Spratt & Associates
Contractor: (Stage II) W. Campbell Ltd., (Stage III) Farmer Construction Ltd., (Stage IV) Campbell Construction Ltd.
Contract: (Stage II) $995,814 (Nov. 16, 1970); $1,033,823, (Stage III) $2,339,700 (Aug. 1, 1975); $2,389,594, (Stage IV) $2,359,958 (Feb. 21, 1978); $2,534,040
Gross area: 45,800 (II), 57,613 (III), 55,070 (IV)
Total gross area of complex: (1–IV) 193,783 sq. ft.
Cost per square foot: $22.57 (II), $41.48 (III), $46.01 (IV)

See UVic's maps and buildings description.