UBC Facilities responds to the ever-changing needs of the academic mission, from innovative research and teaching methodologies to operational changes to shifting priorities in student services. Facilities Planning provides comprehensive planning services that support and accommodate academic and research growth and change at UBC while ensuring the best and highest use of campus space.
Facilities Planners engage with academic, administrative and ancillary units to address shifting space needs, identifying opportunities for intensification or reorganization and translating functional requirements into reality. The scope of Facilities Planners’ work ranges in scale from a single room to a full building and encompasses all academic, administrative and ancillary space on campus including but not limited to space for research, teaching, administration, library facilities, informal learning, recreation, washrooms and events.
Facilities Planners are responsible for the coordination and development of detailed Master and Functional Programs for major capital projects through direct consultation with project stakeholders (faculty and/or staff). The functional program describes the unique functional requirements of a unit and communicates the need for facility expansion, contraction, relocation or renovation which assists the capital planning process in gaining support for project funding and financing. Planners remain involved throughout the subsequent project to ensure client and user needs are represented, and to ensure any changes in scope align with UBC and industry best practices.
In addition, Facilities Planners also support the campus by:
- Undertaking building reviews to evaluate space use and recommend opportunities for improved utilization;
- Managing swing space and develop swing space strategies for renovation projects;
- Work with researchers to develop scope for capital funding proposals such as CFI applications;
- Providing planning input to develop construction project budgets and timelines and to develop routine capital, seismic upgrade, and renewal priorities;
- Liaising with Development & Alumni Engagement to develop material that can be used to attract donors to projects.
Facilities Planners, along with Facilities Managers, are the first point of contact, on any projects that involve space use on campus. This includes all academic and administration spaces (i.e. research and teaching spaces, offices, libraries, study and informal learning spaces, recreation spaces, meeting and event spaces).
Together with the Provost, Facilities Planners ensure that space is allocated fairly across campus and across disciplines, that it meets user needs and is designed and occupied efficiently and effectively to serve UBC’s academic mission.
Learning Spaces
The Learning Spaces team within Facilities Planning is responsible for day-to-day stewardship of approximately 350 General Teaching Spaces (GTS). They provide planning and oversight for an annual maintenance and upgrade program, which includes AV system upgrades and furniture renewal. The team represents GTS classrooms in new capital projects, from functional programming through design and construction, ensuring that GTS are aligned with the UBC Learning Space Design Guidelines. They also advise on the planning and design of other learning spaces, such as teaching labs and informal learning spaces.