New Aviation Campus, Canadore College

Narratives

Architect Narrative

This new Campus represents the first step in the creation of the most comprehensive, educational aviation complex in Canada. Building upon its partnerships with local, regional and international organizations, the Campus will provide a full range of leading edge Aerospace Education, Transportation and Logistics Management programs in new facilities at the local Airport. This unique project is one of the first of its kind in Canada, and certainly the most state of the art facility planned thus far. The new $7 Million (U.S.) facility is being developed to support the aviation related programs offered by the College to students interested in pursuing a career in aircraft/avionics maintenance, aircraft structural repair, fixed wing and helicopter flight training. Its graduates go on to secure employment with companies such as Boeing, Bombardier, DeHavill and government agencies.

Design Criteria/Statement of Educational Program:
• Development of a design that supports programming excellence and encourages private sector partnerships with the aviation industry;
• The creation of a self-sustaining satellite college campus with a capacity for future expansion;
• Design of an airport-related airside/groundside facility that capitalizes on the existing airport infrastructure available at a national airport;
• Development of a design that optimizes user and public experience of the unique program and it’s relationship with the airside beyond.

Innovation of Educational Program:
This campus is the first of its kind in Canada, combining post-secondary educational components with hands-on on-site training. The program will offer it’s own set of ‘gold-star’ programs as part of a consortium of province-wide colleges that collectively deliver a comprehensive range of aviation related training.

This new facility will include avionics, computer, electronics and electrical laboratories as well as shops designated for sheet metal, paint, engines and engine test cells. Central to the programming is an 18,000 square foot hangar with the necessary support spaces for the maintenance and repair of the College’s collection of small fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. The hangar is an integral part of the program and is intended to function and operate similarly to the work-place environment found in the aviation industry. It will also include numerous classrooms, a multi-media lecture room, and a media retrieval resource center. In addition, facilities such as staff and student lounges, athletic/exercise spaces and dining facilities will be provided on this campus and integrated within the building.

Relationships of Instructional Areas/Spaces:
The educational planning challenge of this project was to ensure a highly pragmatic and operationally superior layout. The Aviation Campus derives much of its planning criteria from private sector precedents in the aviation industry. Combined with this challenge was the desire to showcase the achievements of the program as well as to encourage use of some facilities by other aviation companies currently located at the airport including Bombardier, Voyageur Airways and associated flight training operators.

The planning of the facility is organized around two major activity centers. The main entrance Foyer is an interconnected double-height space that links public areas on both levels. On one side of the foyer, the student-centered spaces include the main lecture hall, cafeteria on the entrance level, with the lounge, exercise room and resource center above. The opposite side includes the administration and pilot-training areas with the faculty offices directly above. The transparency of the foyer space, and the rooms adjacent to it, frame the view of the runway and helipads on the airside.

The second major space that was critical to the organization of the plan is the Hangar. The Hangar is the major space where academic classroom training is applied within a simulated workplace environment. In essence, the Hangar is the “engine” to the program supported by an extensive combination of labs and shops on the ground floor and classrooms above. Extensive planning was undertaken to ensure that the labs and shops were effectively positioned to support the complex movement of students, staff and major pieces of equipment from Hangar to shop/lab and vice versa.

Technology Integration:
The integrated use of technology has been an important design criteria in the design evolution of the facility. For instance, the highly technical and applied nature of the program dictated that a substantial resource centre be provided and equipped with computer terminals capable of providing quick access to aviation manufacturers product data, operations and maintenance manuals. This information is continually updated, and is accessed via the Internet and downloaded within the building’s Intranet data infrastructure. Laptop computers are an integral tool in the diagnostic and logistics components of the program, therefore computer drops are located at strategic locations throughout the instructional areas. Technology also plays an important role in security monitoring and building automation systems, relaying key information back to the Main Campus.

Community Use/Accessibility of Facilities/Barrier Free Design:
The plans for the facility were developed to maximize both the user and public experience of the program and it’s relationship with the airside beyond. This is particularly evident at the main entrance lobby and student support areas. The main entrance foyer is highly transparent using extensive glazing for views from the groundside to the airport and runway beyond. Internally, views were carefully considered to showcase certain program elements such as the large hangar, administration, gallery, and the student cafeteria. By locating rooms such as the lecture hall, cafeteria, gallery and resource center in proximity to the main entrance foyer, it is envisaged that the community and private sector aviation companies will utilize the building’s facilities for professional development seminars, conferences and special events. These areas are publicly accessible and the remainder of the building can be locked off during the day and after hours. The site and building are designed in compliance to ADA regulations providing equal access for persons with disabilities.

Flexibility/Convertibility/Expansion:
The steel column and beam structure is organized as a highly regular grid and will permit maximum flexibility in spatial adjustment for future curriculum and program changes (for ex. equipment, technology, program delivery). Future classrooms and labs may be added in a vertical configuration to one end of the building as additional program expansion is considered. Expansion of the aircraft hangar was also considered to be a potential scenario as the College’s programs continue to attract foreign national students, and therefore other types of domestic and international aircraft.