UBC Farm Centre
Vancouver, BC
Ongoing
MOTIV Architects has been working with UBC and Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CFS) to provide design services for a new Farm Centre - including a review of existing facility program, site analysis, engagement with project partners, design, space planning and early systems coordination. The design process has included input from the working committee, and consultation with Farm staff, associates and volunteers.
The proposed Farm Centre will enable CSFS and UBC to expand year-round programming to present a unique teaching environment aimed at improving the sustainability and resiliency of regional, national, and global food systems. The facility will help establish the site as a new model for an agricultural academic facility by providing multi-functional indoor and outdoor spaces that will expand the opportunities for knowledge sharing, workshops, and classes within a living agroecosystem, regardless of the weather. The new Farm Centre will help to connect leading-edge research and innovative practices to programs that engage learners, be they students, farmers, or the neighbourhood community and will contribute significantly to UBC’s reputation as a world-leading university in the field of Sustainability and Environment.
The new Farm Centre will include a large gathering space, commercial kitchen and outdoor kitchen, offices, a lounge for staff and the farm community, and a covered outdoor gathering space. Program areas are organize in a linear arrangement with a service bar to the north, prioritizing southern light and views to the farm fields for gathering spaces. A large gable roof with a lower single pitch roof over the service bar create simple formal gesture, and provides generous volume for interior gathering spaces. Material selection prioritizes natural and simple materials, including thermally treated wood cladding, heavy timber structural elements, and a standing seam metal roof.