A five-storey civil, mechanical and electrical engineering building will open at York University in August 2015. The $60-million project, known as the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, will be the primary learning space of York’s Lassonde School of Engineering.

Spanning 16,000 square metres, the development will include teaching and research labs, workshops, collaborative classrooms, studio spaces and social areas for students and faculty.

“This bold new home for engineering at York University defies conventional wisdom and gives students the opportunity to learn in ways that were unthinkable before the dawn of the information age,” says Doug Bergeron, founder and CEO of Opus Global. Doug, a York University alumni, and his wife, Sandra, are contributing $10-million to the development.

The design for the project, which is intended to mimic a cloud and a rock, is inspired by the geology of northern Canada. ZAS Architects + Interiors and Arup Engineering & Scott Torrance Landscape Architects will be working together to create the appearance of a building that blends with its natural surroundings. The lower level of the building will be reserved for students of the civil engineering program, while the upper levels will accommodate electrical and mechanical engineering students.

Construction of the Centre will be managed by the Laing O’Rourke and Gillam Group.