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Surrey's New Complex

Sited next to a large featureless shopping center, surrounded by parking lots and garages, the building appears to have been dropped onto the site from a different time and place. Its curving forms and scale are alien to the area.

The connected building has three major components: a large office tower, the university, and the existing mall. All three are interconnected to maximize density and pedestrian activity on the otherwise suburban site. This is the third campus for Simon Fraser University, which will eventually have all departments represented in the new location.

Inside the new entrance, a wooden space frame tops a large atrium where office workers mix with university students and shoppers in a nearly urban atmosphere. Skylights admit the natural light that had been deliberately excluded in the electrically lit mall. A system of bridges links a galleria to the office tower, as part of a complex weaving of vertical and horizontal circulation.

The building is conceived as part of a shifting network of people and events from the nearby light rail station to the mix of new programs and forms, all linked together by multiple connectors.

Bing Thom explains his intentions in working with the existing mall. "To tear it down misses the point of the experiment here. The effort is to empower the suburban mall. In the act of addition, of building up, new relationships arise. The gesture is huge, and the risk is enormous."

Thom continues: "It is much easier to ignore the fact of suburbia or to stay in the city, but for architects to ignore these areas is to abdicate our responsibility to heal and ensure the vitality of suburbia in North America. This hybrid building becomes a new type of place — a neo-suburbia — a place in which the architect does not judge the present condition but accepts it on the condition that it provides a future of urbanity through the reconciliation of multiple differences."

The new campus, says Simon Fraser president Michael Stevenson, maintains the university's tradition of architectural excellence. The Burnaby campus was designed by Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey, while the downtown Vancouver campus is celebrated for its heritage preservation and innovative architecture.

Bing Thom is also the recipient of Canada's highest honor, the Order of Canada, for his contribution to architecture, and, more recently, the Golden Jubilee Medal for his outstanding service to his country.

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The MIPIM jury included Werner Welter, DB Real Estate (jury president); Silvano Pedretti, Orco Property Group, (Czech Republic); Christian Karaoglanian, Groupe Accor, (France); Ricardo Catella, Hines Italia, (Italy); Carlos Lamela Y de Vargas, Lamela Arquitectos, (Spain); Hans Jfj Van Veggel, Amstelland MDC, (The Netherlands); and Peter Cole, Hammerson, (United Kingdom).

Client: ICBC Properties Ltd.
Architect: Bing Thom Architects
Structural Engineer: Jones Kwong Kishi/ Structurecraft / Fast + Epp
Electrical Engineer: R.A. Duff Associates
Mechanical Engineer: Keen Engineering
Constructor: PCL Contractors Canada

The plaza at Central City, by Bing Thom Architects, ties together the new building and a light rail station. Photo: Nic Lehoux A large atrium space is dominated by a wooden space frame. Photo: Nic Lehoux Office tower, Central City. Photo: Nic Lehoux Floor plans, Central City. Image: Bing Thom Architects Wooden space frame topping the atrium. Photo: Nic Lehoux Skylight detail, galleria. Photo: Nic Lehoux Skylight detail, galleria. Photo: Nic Lehoux   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.