This entrance of the Life Sciences Centre will be re-done and fitted with pressurized doors to help keep heat in the building during the winter. Photo: Nick Pearce, Dalhousie.

Aging Dalhousie building getting brought up to code

Federal funds mean big upgrades for 35-year-old Dalhousie Life Sciences Centre.

A recent $27-million federal grant to Dalhousie means the Life Science’s Centre will get much-needed improvements.

The money is part of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, a federal incentive given to universities across the country to improve campuses and programs.

“We’re not the only one in the country who got it but we’re a regional centre for learning,” explains Charles Crosby, a spokesperson for Dalhousie.

Crosby says the LSC is one of the most used buildings on campus and it is a building the university has wanted to revamp for a long time.

“It’s more of a retro-fit than a renovation,” he says.

The retrofit will include bringing air circulation, lighting and temperature control up to modern standards. “The building is 35 years old and there has been no serious upgrades since it was built,” says Ray Egginton part of the retrofit team, “There’s been no attempt to upgrade equipment.”

One of the biggest things that will be tackled is lighting. “The lighting is abysmal, nowhere near up to code,” Egginton explains, “We want to make it so you can walk down the hallway without feeling like you’re in danger.”

Bringing in modern lights and re-assessing the design and layout of lighting in the building will make them an estimated 60 per cent more cost efficient.

Jeff Lamb, the associate vice-president of facilities management, says although this project is not adding any new space to the building they will be reclaiming some lost space.

“Lots of spaces were designated as labs when it was built but are used as storage since the air system could never support a lab.”

Basic changes, such as lights and air circulators, are slated to be completed by spring 2011 but other work will continue past that.

The project team is working out construction schedules to minimize noise disruptions or ousting students from classroom spaces.

Biology professor Elizabeth Welsh, who has an office in the LSC is not too worried about the construction plans. “It’s always a concern that space will be lost,” she says.

All work in public spaces will be done after hours. During the day students will hardly know we were even there,” says Egginton.

Lamb explains that most of the work will be taking place behind the scenes, in penthouses, basements and storage rooms.

Egginton believes all of these changes will mean more money saved by the university.

“It’s definitely not the construction of choice today...it’s not welcoming or at all efficient from an energy point of view.”

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