Conexus unveils design for new Wascana Park HQ
Lead architect predicts structure will be accepted as local landmark
James Youck and Donald Luxton had no easy task designing the University of Regina College Avenue Campus’s next structure.
Their goal was to complement the heritage of the historic campus, while drawing a building that a vocal group of Regina residents believe shouldn’t be built at all.
The plans for Conexus Credit Union’s new head office, to be constructed west of Darke Hall, were unveiled at a news conference on Wednesday morning.
At Queensbury Centre at Evraz Place, Conexus CEO Eric Dillon, U of R president Vianne Timmons, P3 architecture principal architect Youck and heritage consultant Luxton gathered to speak about the project, before presenting the design to Conexus members.
“I think it will be a new landmark in the city and I think it will really be accepted as part of the collection of buildings that make up College Avenue Campus,” said Youck.
Its style is not meant to replicate that of the 1929-vintage Darke Hall, but rather to echo the building’s Collegiate Gothic architectural style. “We’ve distilled what some of those key character defining elements are … and we’ve tried to represent them through a modern lens,” said Youck.
The 80,000-square-foot, threestorey building will have an open space at its centre, with a skylight, lots of wood and a living wall to reflect the park setting indoors. It is solar-ready, and Dillon hopes it will be solar-powered by the time Conexus moves in.
Dillon said he expects construction to start “very quickly” and be completed by early 2020.
Timmons hoped renovations to Darke Hall would be completed by then, too.
The Conexus building will be open to the public, with amenities including a cafe and a business incubator for local entrepreneurs.
It will also have office space for all of Conexus’s Regina employees, who are currently working at spaces across the city.
An atrium will connect Conexus to Darke Hall and will be used as an entrance and lobby for the theatre. It was designed to only minimally obstruct the view of Darke Hall, which is still clearly seen from three sides, said Luxton: The original idea was for a large atrium to the east of Darke Hall.
The lower level of Darke Hall will have new washrooms, amenities and crush space. An elevator installed in the northwest corner of the building will make the basement and theatre balcony accessible as well.
The U of R issued a request for proposals in January 2016 for partners to support its College Avenue Campus renewal project.
“Those buildings had deteriorated,” said Timmons. “We did not have a choice. It was either tear them down or spend some money on them. And thank goodness Conexus stepped up.”
Conexus has donated $8.25 million to the U of R. It is also saving the university approximately $10 million by covering shared costs, including the atrium’s construction and the buildings’ mechanical systems.
“We saw the university ’s request for help as a way to make a 100year impact on our community, at the same time while we’re solving a business challenge,” said Dillon.
The project has resulted in a public outcry, with a group called No Business In The Park protesting Conexus’s involvement as a gateway to more commercial enterprises in Wascana. About 20 protesters gathered at Evraz Place on Wednesday afternoon.
Since the Conexus project’s approval, the Provincial Capital Commission has allowed Brandt Industries to build an office elsewhere in the park, in partnership with CNIB.
Luxton defends the Conexus project.
“It’s hard to see this as a building like any other commercial building,” he said. “It’s very rare to see a commercial building that makes a performance venue function.
“These buildings were derelict,” he added.
Timmons agreed: In Darke Hall, “The seats were unsafe. There’s no crush space in Darke Hall. The flooring, the steepness, did not meet building codes. So we couldn’t really have it as a functioning performance hall.”
With the renovation — which has been ongoing since May 2016 — she hopes it will become the “Massey Hall of Western Canada.”
Dillon said the Conexus building
It’s very rare to see a commercial building that makes a performance venue function.
will not have a sign touting “Conexus.”
“We’re very respectful of it not becoming a retail centre,” he said.
The project involved removing trees from the park, at the Provincial Capital Commission’s recommendation, some of which were replanted elsewhere. Dillon said that for every single tree that was permanently removed, Conexus is paying to have three new trees planted in Wascana Centre.
A new water line to Wascana Pool will be part of this project, said Dillon, as will a realignment of Wascana Drive — which Youck said has been a city and PCC priority for years.
Dillon said the building’s site was one of three possible sites, as outlined in the U of R’s request for proposals.
The other two were a site immediately east of the College Building and a site in between Darke Hall and College Avenue.