University of Victoria - Campus and Grounds

Campus and Grounds

The main Campus is located in the Gordon Head area of Greater Victoria. With a total area of 403 acres (163 ha), the campus spans the border between the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich. The original campus plan was prepared by the San Francisco architecture and planning firm of Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons. The general concept of the original design is still being followed with the academic portions of the campus located inside Ring Road which forms a perfect circle 600 m (1,969 ft) in diameter. Outside of Ring Road are the parking lots, Student Union Building, residence buildings, the sports facilities as well as some of the academic facilities that are more self-contained (Law and Theatre for example).

The University's Cornett Building is an acclaimed example of architectural modernism on the campus. Home to many of the humanities, the Cornett Building boasts a long history of befuddling students who find themselves lost within its long corridors.

The following is a list of the more prominent buildings on campus:

• Administrative Services Building – accommodates the university's executive team as well as other administrative functions such as accounting, research services, pension and payroll.
• Bob Wright Centre – the School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling & Analysis, Chemistry and Astronomy labs
• Business and Economics Building – besides the obvious, this building also houses the offices of senior university administrators.
• Campus Services Building - includes the Bookstore, Campus Shop and Computer Store, Career Services, chaplaincy, disability resource centre and a café.
• Clearihue – includes classrooms and the Faculty of Humanities, including the Departments of English, Philosophy, Linguistics, Greek and Roman Studies, Medieval Studies, Slavonic Studies, History, Women's Studies, Pacific and Asian Studies, and languages. It is also the location of the Department of University Systems, which largely responsible for the systems, networking and support of the university including student computing facilities and language labs. Clearihue is the oldest building on campus, originally constructed in 1962 and augmented by an addition in 1971. It is named after Joseph Clearihue, who was chairman of Victoria College from 1947 until it gained university status in 1963.
• Cornett – includes classrooms and the Departments of Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology.
• Cunningham – includes the Department of Biology, a herbarium, numerous specialized research laboratories and the Centre for Forest Biology.

• David Strong – classrooms, seminar rooms and the Mathews and McQueen auditorium.
• Elliott – includes the Departments of Chemistry and Physics and Astronomy, as well as a number of classrooms and laboratories. The building is topped by the Climenhaga Observatory.
• Engineering Buildings – includes the Engineering Office Wing (EOW), the Engineering Lab Wing (ELW) and the Engineering/Computer Science building (ECS) – home to the Faculty of Engineering, which includes the Departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
• Fraser – formerly known as the Begbie building – houses the Faculty of Law, the Institute for Dispute Resolution and the Centre for Pacific-Asia Initiatives. The building also houses classrooms, seminar rooms, a moot courtroom and the Diana M. Priestly Law Library.
• Hickman – formerly called the Centre for Innovative Teaching – includes "Smart" classrooms featuring closed-circuit cameras and remote projection systems to link teachers and students with other classrooms.
• Human and Social Development Building – Classrooms and offices for Child and Youth Care, Dispute resolution, Health Information Science, Indigenous Governance, Nursing, Public Administration, and Social Work.
• Ian Stewart Complex – the main fitness facility. Includes tennis courts, an ice rink, an outdoor pool and a gym.
• MacLaurin – includes the Faculty of Education and School of Music, as well some classrooms and the David Lam Auditorium.
• McKinnon Gymnasium – the School of Physical Education, the main Gymnasium and an indoor swimming pool.
• William C. Mearns Centre for Learning

• Medical Sciences Building – the Island Medical Program.
• Petch Building – the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry, and School of Earth and Ocean Sciences.
• Phoenix Theatre – the Theatre department.
• University Centre – includes many administrative offices (Accounting, Payroll, Advising, Record Services) as well as the main public cafeteria, Maltwood art gallery and the Farquhar auditorium.
• Sedgewick – Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI), Centre on Aging, Centre for the Study of Religion in Society, Centre for Global Studies; administration offices.
• Social Sciences and Mathematics – houses the Departments of Geography, Political Science, and Mathematics, as well as the School of Environmental Studies.
• Student Union Building – popularly known as "the Sub", it houses a movie theatre, food services, a bookstore, and the headquarters of several clubs and campus organizations, including a radio station (CFUV). There is also a student pub, Felicita's, and a defunct nightclub, Vertigo, which is now study space.
• Army Huts – nine single-storey wood-frame utilitarian Second World War buildings (1940) on the northern part of the University of Victoria campus are on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada
• Halpern Centre for Graduate Students – colloquially known as "The Grad Centre" the building houses the Graduate Student Society (GSS) general office, "The Grad House" restaurant which is open to the public, and the David Clode lounge. There is also a meeting space (boardroom) that can be booked by contacting the GSS Office.
• First Peoples House – Anthropological Building in dedication of the First Nations peoples of British Columbia, and of all Canada.

The university also offers on-campus housing for over 3,200 students. An extensive variety of housing is available, including single and double rooms, apartment-style housing with four people per unit (Cluster Housing) and family housing (Lam Family Housing). One of the oldest buildings is named for General Sir Arthur William Currie. Construction on the South Tower Complex was completed in January 2011. The largest residence building in terms of capacity is Ring Road Hall, which holds 294 beds and is split into three wings.

Much of the university estate has been dedicated to nature, notably Finnerty Gardens and Mystic Vale, a 4.4 ha (11 acres) forested ravine. The campus is home to deer, owls, squirrels, the occasional cougar and many other wild animals native to the area. A large population of domestic rabbits, which likely descended from abandoned house pets from the surrounding community, was a memorable feature of the campus in years past. In May 2010, the University began trapping and euthanizing the rabbits as they have been known to put athletes at risk in the playing fields. It has been documented that local veterinarians have offered to perform neutering of the male rabbits. As of July 2011 the UVic campus is free of rabbits. 900 rabbits have been saved and sent to shelters.