The new School of Business involves both the adaptive reuse of an existing building and a new addition. By the simple addition of one building, two new quadrangles are created. The siting of the project reinforces existing campus circulation paths. The new, south-facing, monumental, public entrance stair acts as a ‘hood ornament’ for the campus on University Avenue. The new business school is envisioned as a place where ‘town’ meets ‘gown’; or where the private sector business community in Prince Edward Island meets the academic research community.

The reused Marian Hall component of the project contains the cellular office and meeting spaces that for the School of Business, due to its fine grain existing structural grain. The new pavilion addition contains the social and the public gathering spaces like the lecture theatre, classrooms, and seminar rooms that are the amenities for both the School of Business and the larger university.

An agenda of social agency drives the design. The temple-like addition creates the central block of gathering spaces, surrounded by a natural light flooded perimeter, ambulatory zone, for informal gatherings. The entry terrace/stair makes a sunlit outdoor microclimate. The double height ‘market square’ provides a place for large public events near the entry. The new ‘market street’ provides yet another venue for public functions adjacent to a newly formed quadrangle. Natural light is employed as a signifier of public life. In fact the new whole addition is treated as a ‘lounge’ for the university and the business community.

The University of Prince Edward Island has a traditional brick campus which reflects the island’s red clay soils. In addition to the existing Marian Hall, the base plinth of the new pavilion, as well as exterior stairs, and service core are constructed of brick. Curtain wall glazing creates transparency and a feeling of public accessibility. The copper building envelope is a 400 year high quality skin, which compliments the warmth of the brick. Cherry wood is employed as an interior ‘skin’ of public-ness, and at the point where the users touch the building.