Living with Lakes Centre. Demonstrating Laurentian University's core values of environmental stewardship, the Centre utilizes state-of-the-art energy efficient technologies and green building design concepts.

In the spring of 2006, Busby Perkins+Will, in association with JL Richards, was selected to design the new Living with Lakes Centre for the Freshwater Ecology Coop at Laurentian University. The Co-op is located on the shores of Ramsey Lake, a reservoir that provides drinking water for the city of Sudbury. The Living with Lakes Centre represents the next step in the evolution of the Co-op as an internationally recognized research centre. In turn, the laboratories, data management systems, and IT multimedia capabilities of the facility will extend its outreach to the million lakes of the Boreal Shield ecozone of Canada and beyond. Located near the gateway of the university, the building must be elegant and timeless, serving as both a vibrant scientific facility and an integral portion of the campus as a whole.

The Centre will reflect the University's core values by demonstrating environmentally responsible shoreline management and water quality protection in an urban context. The building will use state-of-the-art energy efficient technologies and practices, and its architectural design will reflect sustainable and green building design concepts.

The Living with Lakes Centre will attain a Platinum LEED designation for green building design, the highest level of LEED accreditation possible. This designation, consistent with the world class status of the Co-op, reflects the core values and practices that Sudbury, northern Ontario, and Canada will require if they are to be truly environmentally sustainable.

Our project approach and methodology are sharply focused on our client's goals, and consider the different needs of undergraduate programs, graduate programs, research efforts, and new outreach activities that occur within the Co-op. We will enhance student, faculty, and staff recruitment and retention, while supporting faculty members’ ability to teach, conduct research and provide service.