A Vibrant Physical and Virtual Hub where Innovation and Collaboration can Flourish

Fanshawe College engaged Architecture Counsel to explore design opportunities that aligned with the College’s new innovation-focused mandate. The challenge for us was how to translate this bold vision into a newly imagined space using the existing facilities.

High on the list of Fanshawe’s wants was a new kind of community space where the creativity of students and the wisdom of educators could converge to advance innovation; a place that disrupted the norm, pushed boundaries, and where passion was welcomed and supported. In this environment, Fanshawe intended to realize potential, solve real problems, and grow economies in Ontario and across Canada.

ACI, in collaboration with Educational Consulting Services, met with a diverse stakeholder group and reimagined the existing spaces as a hub of engaging, technology-enriched, convertible spaces where students could easily access one-stop supports and services. Our feasibility study and design concepts focused on developing a centre of gravity for Fanshawe’s main campus.

A newly renovated entry sequence, and an exciting suite of technology-enriched student and industry-friendly spaces, promotes experiential learning opportunities and showcases student work. As a student’s success in school is tied to feeling part of the campus community, a key program element was the inclusion of several social places where students could engage with their peers outside the classroom.

Our plan included a Welcome Hub with café space, a Discovery, Research, and Outreach Common Area with maker spaces, augmented/virtual reality visualization space, self-serve media-production rooms/booths, an Idea Market area of gallery and exhibit spaces, shared studio-style work rooms, library with support spaces, and a multi-purpose training workshop.