The area in the vicinity of Anderson Hall provides suitable sites for future infill buildings both east and west of Anderson Hall. This area continues to provide for academic expansion within the 10 minute walk by placing buildings in the area of the Quad.
Additional academic and support building areas of 22,050 gsm can be provided in Buildings F, G and H and a dedicated Lecture Hall. In addition new research facilities would continue to be constructed at Exploration Place north of Valley Road. A total of 43,700 gsm of additional research space could be accommodated in this area.
Most of the University’s parking demand can be accommodated through the expansion of surface lots on the Exploration Place lands. However should parking demand continue at current levels it would likely be necessary to build a parking structure in the vicinity of Hepler Hall to allow for final build-out. Adequate parking could theoretically be provided to serve the full campus population of 11,300 through surface lots if for instance one of the Exploration Place buildings was eliminated and used instead for more surface parking. The disadvantage of locating even more parking in this area, to serve the core campus, is the distance required to walk from these lots to the main campus. It is likely that the University will require a facility closer to the core area in the form of a parking garage (providing approximately 600 stalls) as the campus approaches full build-out. A component of the ground floor of the proposed 4 level parking structure is suitable for use as office or campus commercial-type uses.
Approximately 50% of the lower floor (2,700 gsm) should be dedicated for active building occupancy to provide animation and safety at the Valley Drive campus entrance. The parking structure will likely not be required until the final phases of campus expansion. At this time Hepler Hall would be removed (its function would be accommodated in one of the new buildings) to provide a large enough site for the new parking structure. Initiatives to reduce parking demand should also be pursued, including improvements in transit service with incentives for increasing ridership and the development of more on-campus housing.
Based on the scenarios presented in the accompanying plans the new building area for academic, support and research buildings within the 10 minute zone is approximately 67,000 gross square metres assuming building heights of 3 and 4 floors. This represents a 52% increase in gross building area. Expansion in this area will have a direct impact on the University’s ability to support enrolment growth.
Further development of Exploration Place will provide an additional 43,700 gsm of new building area beyond the 10 minute zone. Expansion in this area is presumed to be for dedicated research uses and/ or non-University institutions which will have little impact on the University’s ability to support enrolment growth.
The combined expansion both within and beyond the 10 minute zone provides 110,700 gsm of new building area (excluding residences) representing an increase of approximately 87% from the present 127,700 gsm of on-campus buildings.
Expansion to the Aperture Park Residential Village is also illustrated in Figure 2.2. Assuming a split-level building format, approximately 15,000 gsm of new residence buildings yielding 600 beds could be comfortably provided in this area.