Smith + Andersen engineers Humber College Cultural Hub

Image courtesy Smith + Andersen.

Consulting engineering firm Smith + Andersen is helping redevelop Humber College’s Lakeshore campus in Toronto with the new Cultural Hub multi-use facility, set to host arts and entertainment programs and festivals.

The 360,000-sf, timber-based facility will feature the college’s new Centre for Creative Business Innovation, computer labs, classrooms, retail spaces, a cafeteria and athletic spaces. Delivered under an integrated project delivery (IPD) model, it is being completed in two phases, with the first ending and the second beginning this year.

As part of the project team, Smith + Andersen was engaged to provide mechanical and electrical engineering, lighting, communications, security, audiovisual (AV) and intelligent integrated systems design. The building automation system (BAS) design for the project focuses on connecting technology in the teaching and performing arts spaces with the building’s systems design, both to optimize comfort and to minimize work for the college’s operations team.

The scope includes professional-grade multimedia production and post-production facilities, three-dimensional (3-D) animation spaces, music labs and a recording studio. The communications system is designed to share media over a common network through various broadcast systems. As such, Smith + Andersen’s AV designs will allow the hub to record and route audio and video from multiple venues to control rooms and destinations, such as a control room and a broadcast truck.