flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Red River College Polytechnic’s new Manitou a bi Bit daziigae opens

University Buildings

Red River College Polytechnic’s new Manitou a bi Bit daziigae opens

Diamond Schmitt and Number TEN Architectural Group designed the project.


By David Malone, Managing Editor | November 15, 2021
Manitou a bi Bii daziigae exterior
Images courtesy Diamond Schmitt

The Manitou a bi Bii daziigae at Red River College Polytechnic has officially opened on the university’s Winnipeg campus.

The project, formerly known as the Innovation Centre Project and designed by Diamond Schmitt and Number TEN Architectural Group in a joint venture, will bring together students with education and industry professionals in new ways that facilitate social innovation, enterprise, and innovative research.

The 10,000-sf facility unites a repurposed downtown concrete framed heritage building and a new construction to create an engaging crossroads in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District. The building will house a combination of Indigenous and international student spaces, long distance teaching equipped classrooms, digital media labs and events spaces, and faculty offices.

Manitou a bi Bii daziigae skylight

The heart of Manitou a bi Bii daziigae is the agora. The agora is conceived as a place for campus-wide events as well as for group and quiet study. All programs overlook the agora while diagonal circulation invites its crossing and is supported by the collaboration areas that surround it. The sky-lit atrium above the agora blinds diffuse light to the center of the plan. A collaboration zone acts as a front porch between classrooms, the agora, and the atrium. The porch can be used by the classrooms, as a breakout room or project room, or independently booked by students for study groups.

The west corner of the new building is anchored by the 210-seat Roundhouse auditorium. The auditorium has a high degree of flexibility with an acoustically isolated space for ceremonial events, instruction, or celebration. At the roof level is the City Room, a beacon enveloped in a canvas of color representing traditional Indigenous teachings and local history.

Manitou a bi Bii daziigae circulation

The building’s facade is made of Kromatix Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) panels that change color depending on the angle of view and the weather. The facade, which is the first in Canada, conceals the solar cells behind nano-coated glass panels.

The facility’s name translates to where creator sits (Manitou a bi) and brings light (Bii daziigae).

Related Stories

| Oct 15, 2014

Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities

The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.” 

| Oct 14, 2014

Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows

This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement. 

| Oct 12, 2014

AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030. 

| Sep 24, 2014

Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector

On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.

| Sep 22, 2014

4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations

Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.

| Sep 22, 2014

Sound selections: 12 great choices for ceilings and acoustical walls

From metal mesh panels to concealed-suspension ceilings, here's our roundup of the latest acoustical ceiling and wall products. 

| Sep 17, 2014

New hub on campus: Where learning is headed and what it means for the college campus

It seems that the most recent buildings to pop up on college campuses are trying to do more than just support academics. They are acting as hubs for all sorts of on-campus activities, writes Gensler's David Broz.

| Sep 15, 2014

Ranked: Top international AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]

Parsons Brinckerhoff, Gensler, and Jacobs top BD+C's rankings of U.S.-based design and construction firms with the most revenue from international projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.

| Sep 9, 2014

Using Facebook to transform workplace design

As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.

| Sep 7, 2014

Behind the scenes of integrated project delivery — successful tools and applications

The underlying variables and tools used to manage collaboration between teams is ultimately the driving for success with IPD, writes CBRE Healthcare's Megan Donham.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




Student Housing

The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility

The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021