Shawenjigewining Hall at Ontario Tech University embraces hybrid learning

The new Shawenjigewining Hall at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario, is a recently completed 110,000 square-foot addition to the campus designed to create the sense of gravity and community.

With hybrid learning having now become the new norm and as students balance remote and in-person learning methods, higher education institutions have identified a need for campus spaces that promote socializing and an elevated on-campus experience.

The name “Shawenjigewining” means “a place of kindness and friendship,” and comes from a vision received during the sacred sweat lodge ceremony. A plaque with the building’s name, its meaning, and the image of a deer, which came during the vision and is Shawenjigewining Hall’s visual identity, is displayed in the front foyer of the building.

The architectural design was completed by Montgomery Sisam Architects in a joint venture with Architecture Counsel. The campus facility serves as a mixed-use student hub and contains a series of spaces for students.

The building incorporates different types of spaces, both active and quiet options, which have all been designed to cater to a variety of student needs as well as build an environment that complements hybrid learning. The new campus facility also accommodates the school’s Faculty of Health Sciences and features tech-enhanced student classrooms and lounge areas.

Mobile lectures were also created to facilitate easy movement for the professors within the classrooms.

The idea of wellness was at the centre of the design, which is why the architectural teams maximized daylight and created a visual connection within the building.

The building’s facade is designed to facilitate passive lighting, shading, and heating to optimize the quantity and quality of the sun coming in. To help draw light deeper into the building, four concrete panel types were arranged differently on each side of the building that differ from the solar path. The program spaces were also distributed within the campus building according to their individual daylighting needs.

The project takes a sustainable design approach and was designed to minimize energy consumption requirements, and the consumption of high carbon fuel sources. This was done to reduce embodied carbon emissions, and integrate opportunities for natural lighting, shading, heating and renewable energy generation.

Some of the building’s sustainable design features include a high-performance building envelope, a 30 per cent window-to-wall ratio, high-efficiency systems for artificial heating and cooling, and the use of LED fixtures and a heat recovery chiller to generate heat by connecting to the neighbouring geothermal field.

The design features a blend of manmade and natural products where concrete is paired with local limestone. This aims to create a play between the two and gives the building a simple yet elegant look and feel.

The building also offers a home away from home for Indigenous students, as well as a space for all students to connect and learn from Indigenous culture and resources. It also includes an Indigenous space, called Mukwa’s Den.

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