NANAIMO, B.C. — Construction is officially underway on a new student housing and dining hall project at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Nanaimo campus.
The new addition will provide 266 new beds, a 200-seat dining hall, study rooms, lounges, shared kitchens, a multi-purpose room, bike storage, shared laundry and office spaces for staff, explains a release.
The 10-storey building will use mass timber and construction plans have achieved Step 4 of the BC Energy Step Code. The project will also achieve Rick Hansen Foundation accessibility certification as it offers extensive accessibility features for students, such as seven accessible units and multiple barrier-free facilities, including washrooms, kitchen and lounge areas on each floor.
The development is expected to be complete by 2027 and the Province of B.C. is committing up to $103 million to support construction.
The campus is connected to a geo-exchange system, which circulates water from the flooded, abandoned Wakesiah coal mine underneath the VIU campus, which significantly reduces its carbon footprint by decreasing output for heating and cooling several VIU buildings to near zero, the release reads. The new student housing building will connect to an expansion of the system, which will provide the capacity to connect the rest of the student housing buildings in the future.
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