Asper School of Business Lecture Theatre Redevelopment – University of Manitoba

1x1 architecture inc.

The Drake Centre building, located on the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry campus and home to the Asper School of Business, was designed by renowned Winnipeg architect, Etienne Gaboury in 1987. In 2016, the school began a substantial interior refresh project to sequentially upgrade the staff office spaces, staff and student support areas, public areas, seminar rooms, and lecture theatres throughout the building.

In 2019, 1x1 architecture was engaged to design the first of nine (9) lecture theatres as part of a multi-phase classroom refresh project scheduled to take place over several years. The work included the complete demolition of the existing interior finishes, furniture, and equipment and the provision of new floor, wall, and ceiling finishes as well as new acoustic treatments, millwork and furniture, lighting, and audio-visual technology.

1x1 worked closely with the stakeholder group (including UofM Architectural and Engineering Services, the Asper School of Business, and the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning) to develop a new interior design scheme template that was to be used as the basis-of-design for all future classroom renovations. The design scheme was based on the Asper School’s new branding strategy using colours derived from the school’s logo, as well as custom wood accents to highlight feature areas of the space. Subtle refinements were made to the design of each classroom providing a unique quality to each.

The result has been the creation of a series of inspiring, modern learning environments that are professional in nature and an extension of the public image of the school.

Client: University of Manitoba Architectural & Engineering Services / Asper School of Business

Type: Interior Design

Construction Value: $3.0M

Date of Completion: August 2024

Classroom Area: Varies

Consultant Team

Prime Consultant: 1x1 architecture inc.

Architecture / Interior Design: 1x1 architecture inc.

Structural: KGS Group

Mechanical: KGS Group

Electrical: KGS Group

Environmental: Tesseract Environmental Consulting Inc.

Photography: Lisa-Stinner Kun

Filed under Educational Institutional