Chemistry Building

Location:
2036 Main Mall
Date:
Original construction 1914-15, 1923-25
Chemical Engineering Annex early 1940s
Undergraduate (south) wing 1958-59
Graduate (north) wing 1961-62
Undergraduate laboratories (east) 1962-63
Chemistry/Physics annex 1989
Architect:
1914-15, 1923-25, 1940s - Sharp & Thompson
1958-63 - Thompson, Berwick & Pratt
1989 - Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners
Cost:
1914-15 - $79,800.00
1923-25 - $880,978.43
1940s - n/a
1958-59 - $1,659,665
1961-62 - $1,300,000
1962-63 - $1,287,379
1989 - n/a
2008 - n/a
Sources of funds:
1914-15, 1923-25 - B.C. Government
1940s - Surplus from Federal Government grants for courses for men in the services
1958-62 - Part of $5mil. development fund begun in 1956
2008 - UBC Renew Project: UBC and B.C. government
Use history:
Originally designed for Chemistry alone, housed in the beginning also Physics, Bacteriology, and Public Health.
Chemistry/Physics annex - offices, laboratories, mechanical rooms, and laboratories.
Name history:
Science Building until 1949
Demolition Date:
Chemical Engineering Annex demolished in 1962 to make a place for Labratories.
Architectural features:
Original construction: concrete skeleton, grey B.C. granite relieved by small quantity of field stone of darker shade; Tudor style - English Gothic; windows - leaded glass in steel sashes; interior - brick and tiles in brown tones, oak panelled doors.
Wings: reinforced concrete, brick and glass.
Laboratories: reinforced concrete structure, grey glazed brick finish.
Chemistry/Physics Annex: exposed sandblasted and sealed coloured architectural concrete. Concrete Columns, suspended concrete slabs, Low E tin glazed windows, wood interior doors, steel doors for mechanical rooms. Both roofs - gravel/filter fabric, rigid insulation, fiberboard, gypsum board. Small roof - steel deck over concrete beam
Renovations: lecture theatres, student space, open laboratories with enhanced safety features and a building seismic upgrade.
Notes:
The first permanent building started at the Point Grey Campus. Due to financial problems of the provincial government due to the onset of the First World War, the construction was interrupted in 1915. The concrete skeleton stood unfinished until, following successful students' 1922 campaign that climaxed in a parade from downtown Vancouver to Pt. Grey, known as "The Great Trek", government floated a loan for the construction of University Buildings at Point Grey.
Sources:
Thompson, Berwick, Pratt & Partners fonds; UBC Reports April 2008; , Chemistry Physics Annex- Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment by Victor Eduardo Padilla Perez

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