University of Victoria South Tower Residence

The Opportunity

The construction of the South Tower Residence increased the University of Victoria student housing capacity by 106 beds. The project was constructed on an area of surplus paved parking lot and was designed and constructed to LEED Gold standards.

The Approach

Westbrook Consulting was responsible for site servicing design and parking lot and pedestrian walkway grading around the new building.  As part of the site servicing and LEED requirements, Westbrook prepared an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan and designed a series of rain gardens to provide storm water attenuation and treatment.  During construction, Westbrook was responsible for the monitoring of the erosion and sediment control plan and the inspection of the installation of site services. Following construction, Westbrook assisted the team in preparing documentation in support of LEED Credits SSc 6.1, 6.2 and 7.1.

The project required Westbrook to work closely with the project architect and landscape architect to design the rain gardens. The area available for the rain gardens was limited footprint and includes regions of significant grade changes. For these reasons, two smaller rain gardens were designed and extensively landscaped to provide the required treatment within the limited footprint in a visually appealing manner.

The Result

Design work commenced in the spring of 2009, with construction following from the summer of 2009 until the summer of 2010. 

LEED Gold accreditation was granted for the project in early 2013.