Building Updates, Improvements, & Renewals

Below is a collection of many different projects that have been completed across our Residence Spaces since 2018.

CMH Green wall

A student voted on project based on student feedback that provided a living Green Wall within Claudette Millar Hall. The initial planning of the project occurred at the end of Fall 21 and was voted on by students living within residence. This project was able to be completed before the Winter 22 semester that allowed our students the ability to enjoy this beautiful relaxing space within Campus Housing. 

Village 1 Tunnel Reconstruction

This Project was completed over two separate phases and was originally initiated in 2017. As of the end of November 2022 the second and final phase was completed. The overall scope resulted in the rehabilitation of a service tunnel that provides Village 1 it’s steam, data, soft water, chilled water, and high voltage which are all required for V1 to operate. This also included extensive landscaping, improved parking, and traffic circulation, as well as repairs to exterior pathways in V1 North, West and South.

Security Enhancements

Campus Housing has implemented additional safety measures across our residence buildings to ensure the safety of our students. This all falls under a handful of different projects that high level include:

• Installation of Security Cameras across Ron Eydt Village
• Installation of Side Door Alarm Monitors at UWP
• Installation of 1^st Floor Window Privacy at UWP
• Installation of additional Watcard and Security Cameras across UWP
• Additional Exterior Lighting

Campus Housing Facilities Strategy

Campus Housing aims to provide University of Waterloo students with the residence experience they’re looking for — an experience that can significantly contribute to their success, both academically and personally. But right now, the age and condition of the majority of its buildings make this challenging.

Over the past three years, Campus Housing has been developing a Facilities Strategy to guide revitalization of its residence buildings. This document offers a vision and potential pathways forward for the next 20+ years, ensuring Campus Housing residences allow the department to fully achieve its mission: enabling students to learn where they live.

Beck and Eby Floor Lounges

Campus Housing provided an additional 4 floor lounge spaces within our Beck and Eby communities for our students to enjoy.   

Furniture Enhancements

Due to systematic long-term planning the Residence Facilities team identified spaces where furniture enhancements where needed. These enhancements over the years have been completed across many different spaces within our buildings.

• Student Bed Spaces within Beck Hall, Waterloo Court, Wellesley Court, and part of CLV South have all been enhanced.
• Common Spaces have included Rev great hall, Village 1 Cafeteria, Laundry Rooms, CLV Central Complex, and UWP Front Entrances  
• Floor Lounges - Rev, Village 1, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot, Beck, and Eby   

Fire Alarm Systems: Due to systematic long-term planning the Residence Facilities team identified key infrastructure upgrades that where needed in relation to our Fire alarm Systems.

• UWP and Village 1 have brand new systems  

Roofs: Multiple roofs across our infrastructure have been repaired and replaced.

• Rev, Village 1, and Grand Commons

Rev Blinds: The replacement of all blinds across our Ron Eydt Village building were completed over a two-year period.  

Supporting Programming Spaces: Many spaces that our needed to continue improving our programing spaces across Campus Housing have been altered and improved to help provide the best level of service to our students.

• CMH Front Desk and Office Reno, Village 1 Office Reno, and Rev Campus Housing Office

Network Infrastructure: Multiple projects that have ensured our network infrastructure meets the needs of our students.

• Access Points and Network cabling

E-Sports at Village 1: The addition of 8 PC gaming stations and 3 Nintendo Switches within our central student space that our students can utilize and enjoy while living in residence.  

AODA Accessible Upper Year Suite: Waterloo Court suite renovations. This was intended to provide accessible space to students with a documented medical need.  

New Multi-faith Space: Provide an additional Multi-Faith room for Campus Housing residents. This project was based on student feedback and was created to provide a more convenient faith-based space in residence.   

UWP Tunnel Repair: Rehabilitation of a service tunnel that provides critical services to the UWP community.

Kitchen Appliance Renewal: Appliances have been updated across our Wellesley, Waterloo, and Beck Communities. With the plan to continually phase out old appliances within our buildings.  

Music Room: Increase level of sound absorption and update space in Village 1 music room.   

Claudette Millar Hall pedestrian pathway: Redesign of the parking layout and construction of a wide walkway from CMH to University Avenue West. The purpose was to improve traffic flow and provide safe pedestrian access at UWP and increase accessibility with a new ramp. 

Beck and Eby Elevator Modernization: All four elevators within the Beck and Eby communities were modernized and replaced with new.

Beck Hall Roadway: Create a permanent paved roadway by Beck Hall, intended to improve circulation of traffic throughout UWP. 

Water Conservation Project-Faucet Upgrade: In partnership with the Sustainability Office, we strived to help reduce our Environmental footprint. We implemented new low flow showerheads and faucets throughout our Campus Housing spaces.

Accessible Bedroom Enhancements: Continuing planning to incorporating AODA bedroom enhancements across our campus Housing spaces to provide accessible spaces to students with a documented medical need.

Site Lighting Enhancements-Continual work and effort continues to improve the exterior lighting across our communities across multiple locations (UWP, Rev and MKV).

Comprehensive Building Condition Assessments: Continual work to have a comprehensive review of our systems/buildings/spaces to allow for future planning of work that contributes to improving the student experience.  

Desk Chair Replacement- Improve student experience by replacing old, outdated desk chairs with new desk chairs across our communities.  

Upgrades to our Infrastructure and Building Systems- Multiple projects are planned to update our current infrastructure and building systems across all residence spaces. These projects allow Campus Housing to continue to operate and provide a student experience across our buildings. These projects include:

• Electrical Feed to our buildings
• Electrical Switch Gear Replacement
• Boiler Replacement
• Sanitary Line Upgrades
• IST Upgrades

Over the past three years, Campus Housing has been developing a Facilities Strategy to guide revitalization of its residence buildings. This strategy provides foresight and direction for how strategic long-term planning could look within Campus Housing. The suggested roadmap suggests building new residences over the next 20 years with the focus on the following principles:

• Leveraging underutilized buildings
• Utilizing unoccupied sites
• Taking advantage of proximity to complementary buildings and amenities
• Strengthening existing facilities
• Taking advantages of high-traffic locations

The strategy provides priorities that Campus Housing should focus on over the next 5 years. They include:

• Improving the Campus Housing student experience
• Reconsider low performing buildings  
• Provide additional beds to allow for buildings to undergo renewal  
• Reduce our CO2 emissions
• Continuing ongoing maintenance across our aging buildings

We use a variety of methods to collect feedback and make decisions on which projects to move forward, including but not limited to:  

• Student feedback 
• Facilities assessments 
• Structured stakeholder engagement