Beaty Biodiversity Centre Addition

The planning and design for the Beaty Addition has been shaped by the academic needs of the users and an emerging landscape approach, called Connected Landscapes, that supports ecology, integrated systems, inclusion, and a strengthened Musqueam presence in the landscape beyond individual project sites. 

UBC’s forests, gardens and green spaces are a distinguishing feature of the campus highly valued by the community. As the campus continues to change and grow, and we begin to plan for the future through Campus Vision 2050, the community and Musqueam have expressed a desire to see campus green spaces and biodiversity preserved and enhanced. This is of particular relevance to the Beaty Biodiversity Centre Addition as the project will result in changes to the surrounding green space including the removal of trees.  

With the interests of the community and Musqueam in mind, UBC initiated a landscape planning initiative to go beyond a typical site-specific biomass replacement approach for this project, using the opportunity to develop a holistic strategy, called the Connected Landscapes project, that enhances the natural, ecological and cultural systems connected to this area.  

The Connected Landscapes project establishes design direction for landscapes in specific areas of campus – the Central Connector and the North Connector. This work is distinct from, but related to, Campus Vision 2050 as it will inform, through project implementation and testing, the larger campus landscape character. The intention is to realize broader, long-term ecological gains for the campus by applying design strategies to campus corridors that can be delivered through individual projects, such as the Beaty Biodiversity Centre Addition. By applying ecological, social and Musqueam presence strategies to key opportunities within an area, the biodiversity and ecological health of the area will improve beyond what would otherwise be possible. 

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