Validation, Prototyping & Manufacturing Institute

Brock University

Validation, Prototyping and Manufacturing

Institute

Opportunity

Brock University’s chemistry team is regularly working with industry partners to develop solutions for a range of challenges from self-healing polymers to the study of tea and its correlation with bone health. Its facilities, spread out over a large campus, often meant researchers and their industry partners were not aware of the full range of equipment at their disposal, nor the potential collocation represented.

Response

The modern two-storey addition to the existing Inniskillin Hall brings a wide range of equipment and laboratory space under one roof and combines it with areas for training and mobilization as well as hosting for community events. The light-filled labs are a welcoming space to work, connecting visually with a main pathway through the campus and creating a showcase of its science. An efficient new stand-alone air HVAC system connects with the University’s Central Utility Plant (CUP), working alongside a high-performance envelope that minimizes thermal bridges, limiting the use/depletion of energy inputs.