March 28, 2007

Research

New research centre for UBC Okanagan

Peter Mitham

correspondent

Kelowna

A 68,000 square foot research centre adjacent to the existing science building at the two-year-old campus of UBC Okanagan is just one of the several projects slated for the site over the next five years.

Designed by Vancouver-based Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd. in partnership with HMA Architects of Kelowna with construction managed by Stuart Olson Construction Ltd., the Charles Fipke Centre for Innovative Research is approaching 40 per cent completion. Concrete is being poured for the third and final storey.

Securing trades has been a big issue in the Okanagan, said Joe Redmond, vice-president of UBC Properties Trust. Precast concrete workers were the most difficult to find, but there are now 45 to 60 people on site on any given day.

Redmond said that UBC Properties tries to contract local trades whenever possible, but this was a challenge in the Okanagan given the number of major projects on the go in the valley.

The most recent edition of the B.C. Major Projects Inventory reports $1.6 billion in building permits for the Thompson Okanagan region, down slightly from 2005. The majority of the activity is in residential activity, which accounted for $1.15 billion in permit values.

“We’ve had some difficulty in the Okanagan securing trades,” Redmond said. “In some cases (Stuart Olson) are having to bring trades in from the Lower Mainland or even Alberta.”

Tracking down trades has also meant challenges keeping the $30.5-million project on schedule for completion in spring 2008, as well as potentially boosting project costs. UBC Properties generally budgets for between a five- and 15-per cent increase in costs over the course of a project.

In the case of the Fipke Centre, Redmond said the contingency for the coming year forecasts escalations in design and construction costs averaging eight per cent.

The Fipke centre is the first building of several planned for the fast-growing campus.

Approximately $250 million in construction is in the works, including 320 student housing units, a $42-million arts and science building and a 75,000-square-foot student centre.

Doug Owram, deputy vice-chancellor of the UBC Okanagan, said the Fipke building is designed to serve a variety of purposes for the university while other buildings are developed to meet the needs of the campus.

PETER MITHAM

Trades are being brought in from the Lower Mainland and Alberta to work on the UBC Okanagan research centre site in Kelowna. The 68,000 square foot research centre is one of several projects slated for the site over the next five years.

Plans call for a tripling in the floorspace of the campus to 1.5 million square feet within five years as the student population grows to approximately 7,500 students.

“It’s bringing a full-scale research university to the valley,” Owram said of the construction plans. “We will become a major presence.”

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