Construction and Design Inside and Outside of CCIS

     The land which CCIS was built upon was formerly occupied by the Avadh Bhatia Physics Building and the V-Wing. The Physics Building was an older six-storey building of 1960s vintage which was, by the early 2000's, in serious need of a renovation. V-Wing was a sprawling one-storey building composed of ten lecture halls. When considering the costs of renovating the old Physics Building, it was found that erecting a completely new building would actually cost less than upgrading the existing one. 

     By demolishing the sprawling V-Wing and incorporating eight lecture halls into the building itself, CCIS was able to reduce the area taken up by buildings, and thus increase the size of the Quad. The seven-storey building took five years to complete, from 2006 to its eventual opening in 2011. 

     Some 64% of the waste material produced during the construction of CCIS was diverted from the landfill. This led to a LEED credit for Construction Waste Management. CCIS itself was constructed of a large variety of materials, including over three-thousand aluminum composite (Alucom) panels and some thirty-seven thousand steel panels of various use. PCL Construction Management was the primary contractor, while HCG Engineering, ONPA Architects and Flad Architects also made contributions to design.

     CCIS was made with the environment in mind. The roof is reflective to keep the temperature down during summer months. The large glass panels allow large amounts of natural sunlight into the building, which lowers the need for electric lighting. Reflective panels enhance the effect of said natural lighting in the vast atrium, and the walls are well-insulated (R21) to reduce heating needs in winter.

     Of note in the CCIS design is in the way it fits in with the rest of Quad. The three buildings on the west side (Athabasca, Assiniboia, and Pembina) are among the oldest on campus, and are not the same size as the comparatively taller buildings on the east side of Quad. The designers of CCIS kept this in mind, as it is taller on the east side than the west side. This design choice allows CCIS to blend into the rest of Quad despite being newer than most of the surrounding buildings.

     Environmental design continue on the inside, as a large number of easily accessible ramps and stairwells in high-traffic spaces encourage students and faculty to avoid the use of elevators, saving energy. Carbon dioxide sensors are installed throughout the building. Ventilation is increased if CO2 levels increase (say, a 200 person lecture), while unused rooms are less ventilated to save energy.

     The floor plan is a large artistic representation of a Mobius transformation. It covers almost four-thousand square meters and is build with recycled glass and mining by-products. Its subject makes allusions to the faculty of which CCIS is a part of. That being said, the floor is not merely bound to science. Also depicted is a medicine wheel, which is a significant part of Native American culture and religion.

     Xeriscaping, a desert landscaping technique, is used on the outside of CCIS. Here one can find native drought-resistant plants which need little to no extra irrigation to keep alive. Mulch covers much of the soil (which is for the most part native) to prevent sunlight drying it out. This reduces weed growth and makes the outside landscape much less water and work intensive. A cistern with over 90,000 liters of capacity is located underground to the west of the building. This collects water that would be otherwise wasted during annual tests of the Fire Suppression systems, to be later used for the purposes of irrigation.