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PHOTOS: Proposed design unveiled for UBC Okanagan downtown Kelowna campus

The project aims to create healthy vibrant communities by rethinking mixed-use spaces

UBC Okanagan’s massive downtown Kelowna campus is starting to take shape.

Unstudio, a Netherlands-based architecture company, has released concept renderings of the three-tower development’s proposed design.

The project is a new mixed-use development that will combine university programming, residential, office, commercial and amenities into one space.

The development features three towers and a plinth designed to reflect the cliff landscapes across the Okanagan. The building surface will be more than 80,000 square feet and will take up the entire block of 550 Doyle Avenue. The project aims to bring a “fresh approach” to mixed-use buildings by creating sustainable strategies for density and healthy vibrant communities.

“Each tower features a varied expression, which reflects the different internal functional zones within the plan, but also create a distinct urban character, linking the building’s identity back to the environment of Kelowna and the surroundings,” reads the project’s website.

UBCO’s plans for a downtown campus were first unveiled in June 2020 when university officials announced preliminary plans for the new space. The space will allow the university to continue growing, which university officials say is sorely needed. The expansion would ease the density in the main campus and allow other programs to move into vacated buildings, according to university officials.

Construction is expected to begin in spring 2022 with completion anticipated by the fall 2024 semester.

READ MORE: Kelowna’s new downtown campus to help alleviate UBCO’s space crunch


@paulatr12
paula.tran@kelownacapnews.com

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