University of British Columbia Opens Gateway Health Building

The University of British Columbia opened the CAD 207.9 million Gateway Health building in Vancouver in February of 2026. Designed by Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the 270,550-sf facility showcases a six-story atrium connecting two five-story wings. This interdisciplinary nexus provides advanced teaching labs, flexible classrooms, and four large lecture halls, with interconnecting stairs reaching from the basement to the highest level to encourage physical activity.

Creating a new home for the School of Nursing, the project features high-fidelity simulation suites, two skills lab bays, four research centers, and four specialized faculty research labs. The School of Kinesiology’s instructional venues, labs, and faculty offices are now collocated in a single interactive milieu that includes the Centre for Sport and Sustainability and the Balance and Falls Research Centre. The holistic development also accommodates UBC Student Health and Wellbeing services. On the fourth floor, an interprofessional teaching clinic will enable students from nine programs to train together in the delivery of team-based care.

With mass timber on display throughout, the radically sustainable facility is targeting WELL certification and a minimum of LEED Gold. The building was constructed to meet the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building - Design Standard (ZCB-Design) and achieve Gold through the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification program. Advanced mechanical systems and passive design strategies optimize energy performance, enhanced by a prefabricated panelized envelope forming a façade that aligns with the structural timbers. A DELTABEAM® framework connects elements such as glulam columns with the CREE composite panels, which were assembled offsite and craned in. Absorbing the required tolerances contributed by diverse components, this innovative solution provided a slim floor with integrated fire resistance and superior vibration mitigation capabilities.

The project team included Heatherbrae Builders, Urban One Builders, Stantec, RJC Engineers, GHL Consultants, CREE Buildings, Con-Force, Vaagen Timbers, Peikko Group Construction, and UBC Properties Trust. Construction began in December of 2022 and the facility was completed in December of 2025.