Emily Carr University Announces Shortlist Proponents For New Campus At Great Northern Way

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The Emily Carr University of Art + Design ^[1] Campus Redevelopment Project reached a critical milestone today with the announcement of the three proponents shortlisted following the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to design, build, finance and maintain the new state-of-the-art campus at Great Northern Way. Eight national and international proponent teams responded to the RFQ. Following evaluation, three teams were shortlisted (team constituents listed in attached backgrounder):

• Applied Arts Team
• BC Education Partners
• Tandem Education Partners

A request for proposals (RFP) will be issued to the three companies in Fall 2013 and Emily Carr will award the contract in the Summer 2014. Construction will begin in the early Fall of 2014 and the new university campus is expected to be completed in 2016.

“Announcing the three proponents is an exciting milestone as we move towards the redevelopment of the Emily Carr University Art + Design Campus at its new site,” said Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk. “Throughout British Columbia we are investing millions of dollars in new and upgraded post-secondary education facilities to benefit future generations of students and educators.”

“The diversity and calibre of all the proponents that submitted was very high and representative of some of the best national and international talent in their respective fields,” said Dr. Ron Burnett, President and Vice-Chancellor, Emily Carr University. “The three proponents chosen will have a very challenging and intriguing assignment to design, build, finance and maintain an art and design school that represents the creative campus of the future.”

The capital cost is up to $134 million for the project and will be provided by the B.C. government (up to $113 million) and the remainder through a capital campaign by Emily Carr.

Founded as the Vancouver School of Art in 1925, Emily Carr is the only specialized post-secondary institution in British Columbia offering programs in Fine Arts, Media Arts and Design exclusively. Emily Carr is one of only four such institutions in Canada, and is consistently recognized nationally and internationally for the excellence of its faculty, students and alumni.

The new facilities for Emily Carr University will further B.C.’s reputation as a destination for world-class post-secondary education, by allowing the university to enhance the education and skills training in media, design and art programs in ways that have not been possible due to site constraints of the current Granville Island campus.

Quick Facts:

• The Project site is situated at the Great Northern Way Campus, located at Great Northern Way and East 1st Avenue in Vancouver. The Site of the new Emily Carr Facility comprises 3.4 acres west of the new Centre for Digital Media.
• The new building will be designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards, and will maximize the interior and exterior use of wood, in keeping with the B.C. government’s Wood First Act.
• Emily Carr University of Art + Design, established in 1925, is a world leader in education and research. Encouraging experimentation at the intersection of art, design, media and technology, our learning community merges research, critical theory and studio practice in an interdisciplinary environment. Alumni and faculty are internationally recognized as award-winning creators and thought leaders who have enormous impact on both the cultural sector and economy. We engage students, industry, and society to continuously explore and think differently about creativity and how it shapes our world.  Emily Carr is building a state-of-the art campus for 21st century learning at Great Northern Way. The University will be at the centre of a new social, cultural, educational, and economic engine for British Columbia.