The University of Ottawa’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Complex brings together science and engineering for a future focused on collaborative interdisciplinary research, experimental learning and entrepreneurship. It’s the kind of building that inspires students to count down the days before they head back to class.

The design of the new 300,000-square-foot building incorporates open spaces and transparent views that invite streaming natural light to flow through public, teaching and office spaces and the six-story atrium.

As a company keen on building the future for our clients, we easily relate to the University of Ottawa’s desire to embrace the future of research. The STEM building contains experiential laboratories, including those for prototyping, fluid dynamics, chemistry and physics, as well as makerspaces and numerous undergraduate teaching and study spaces. The facility also has postgraduate and faculty research and office spaces. 

Before PCL demolished the former MacDonald Hall to make room for the STEM Complex, the university asked us to preserve “Les Yeux” (The Eyes), a 1973 mural by Canadian artist James Boyd, which graced an exterior wall. As a tribute to the artist, our design team reinterpreted the mural in blue fritted glass on the STEM’s west-facing façade.

PCL has worked with the University of Ottawa on numerous projects, including student residences, renovation work and a sports complex. We also support various student co-operative education programs and have hired many of its graduates.