UBC AMS Student Nest

The UBC Student Union Building is be a central piece in the entry and urban design of UBC. A $103 million project of approximately 255,000 sq ft, the building includes extensive food and retail uses, club rooms, meeting rooms and the offices of the Alma Mater Society (the UBC student society), in addition to 30,000 sq ft of existing renovations.
LEED® Platinum certified, the building incorporates aspects of the Living Building Challenge.

The project included extensive student engagement, on a pedagogical level. Designed in association with B+H (formerly Bregman and Hamann), DIALOG installed a “Design Cube” in the existing Student Union Building to act as a site office with a focus on student engagement. Student engagement also included an extended social media communication strategy.

Wood is featured through the sawtooth roof system, comprised of CLT panels and inclined glulam trusses, and allows skylights to face north and support rows of solar panels facing south. Structural glulam columns at the glazed curtain wall system on the west side extend up from the lower level to the underside of the sawtooth roof. At the east side of the building, curving structural glulam members arch over three stories to support the “cowl” roof wall system. Structural glulam columns and beams are also used to support both the walls and roof at the child-minding facility on Level 4, using wood to create warmth in a daycare setting.

Locally sourced, certified wood products was part of ours' and the students' call to create a project that was mutually beneficial to the environment. Other sustainable design features included the use of wood used as a non-combustible structural element displayed in strategic and highly visible locations, incorporating aspects of the Living Building Challenge that place a priority on minimizing consumption.