A Space for Students

What the Birch building’s renovations are going to look like

The Surrey campus’ Birch building will soon be undergoing major renovations to accommodate the Kwantlen Student Association, its constituencies, and the university’s clubs. Students from Kwantlen Polytechnic University can also expect to benefit from the revamping of Birch, which will create a more accessible common space for them to convene in.

Rooms for the KSA, Women Organizing Opportunities for Women, and Pride Kwantlen will be set aside, as will a general social justice centre and bookable areas for other groups to use.

“I think that having a women’s centre at KPU is just important for us to have, and so when we got the new space in Birch, it was something that we identified as a priority,” says KSA President Alex McGowan. The same can be said for Pride Kwantlen’s soon-to-be headquarters and the social justice centre.

KSA Women’s representative and vice-president student life Natasha Lopes says that she hopes the women’s centre will be a safe space for KPU students.

“If somebody has been through a traumatic situation at school or at home, they will be able to come to the space and know that they are safe and know that if they need someone to talk to them, somebody will most likely be there,” she says.

WOOW will be meeting during the second week of August to solidify further details of what the women’s centre will offer.

In the social justice area, there will be a public kitchenette, which will be shared by the other organizations in the building. The area will also provide the opportunity for like-minded individuals to get together on-campus—an option which could boost student morale and productivity.

“By giving constituencies space, we’re able to give them the area and essentially the resources they need to plan and to grow,” says Lopes. “It’s the same thing that we’re seeing with clubs […]. We’re going to see them grow and we’re going to see them change and we’re going to see a lot of new initiatives come from those.”

Approximately $405,000 has been approved in funding for the project, which will cover everything from door and wall construction to a new electrical and HVAC system. That also includes furniture and the aesthetic design of Birch, among other categories.

“What we’re looking to do generally with the Birch space is to divide it up into a bunch of rooms. What that means is putting in walls and all of the electrical that comes with it,” says McGowan.

“There’s going to be a hallway down the middle and a whole social justice centre, and a big classroom-sized room for multi-purpose functions like club activities, a meeting room designed to be for clubs, and a recreation room.”

McGowan adds that the recreation room—which will be equipped with televisions, outlets, and high-speed wifi—could be used by the Kwantlen Gaming Guild, a popular club at KPU.

The KSA will be getting a large amount of space in the building, with the entirety of where the cafeteria used to be becoming theirs. McGowan believes that having a larger space will improve what the Association can do for the students it represents.

The kitchen and cafeteria will remain where it is, but the seating will be moved to where the social justice space used to be.