Opening Gateway Health: A New Home for Health, Learning, and Community at UBC

Gateway Health opened in late 2025. This six-storey academic, research and services facility brings together the School of Nursing, School of Kinesiology, UBC Health, and Integrated Student Health Services under one roof with faculty and services moving in throughout December 2025 and January 2026. The building officially welcomes students, staff, and researchers as they begin a fresh semester in a new space designed to support reconciliation, collaboration, well-being, and innovation.

Located at the northwest corner of University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall, the Gateway Building occupies a site of deep significance. As the university’s principal point of entry and historic arrival route, this location offered a rare opportunity to create not just another academic building, but a memorable gateway experience. A welcome that reflects UBC’s identity, values, and future-focused ambitions.

A Shared Home for Health and Education

The Gateway Building was designed as a place where disciplines intersect. By integrating Nursing, Kinesiology, Integrated Student Health Services, and UBC Health, the facility supports a more connected approach to teaching, learning, research, and care.

Inside, the building houses:

• Four large lecture theatres
• Advanced simulation labs
• A team-based primary care, interprofessional teaching clinic prototype
• Purpose-built academic, research, and clinical spaces that encourage collaboration across faculties

For both the School of Nursing and the School of Kinesiology, the new space represents a significant step forward providing modern environments that enhance hands-on learning, interdisciplinary teaching, and research that responds to real-world health challenges.

Design Rooted in Place, Culture, and Care

Designed by Perkins + Will in collaboration with Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the Gateway Building draws inspiration from the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the surrounding UBC campus. Locally sourced wood is celebrated throughout the structure and cladding, particularly within public spaces, reinforcing a strong connection to place.

At the heart of the building, a skylit atrium creates a powerful spatial experience and place for connection, echoing the feeling of moving through the Indigenous west coast forest that surrounds the site. This biophilic approach, combined with natural materials and abundant daylight, creates a welcoming, health-promoting environment for everyone who passes through the building. The project is also pursuing a Rick Hansen Gold Certification for accessibility.

The project is grounded in collaborative engagement with Indigenous communities, ensuring that Indigenous values, cultural elements, and ways of knowing are meaningfully embedded in the building’s design and expression.

Commitment to Sustainability and Net-Zero Carbon

The Gateway Building stands as a tangible expression of UBC’s leadership in sustainability. Designed with Passive House principles, the building features:

• A high-performance building envelope
• High-efficiency mechanical systems
• Strategies to significantly reduce embodied carbon

The project features Glulam Columns and a pre-fabricated terracotta envelope. It is targeting LEED Gold certification and the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building – Design Standard, reinforcing UBC’s commitment to a net-zero carbon future.

Delivering a Complex Vision

As Development Manager, UBC Properties Trust (UBCPT) played a central role in bringing this ambitious vision to life. Like many large, complex projects, the Gateway Building faced its share of challenges  and the completed building speaks to the power of collaboration, perseverance, and shared purpose. The outcome is a facility that not only meets functional needs, but elevates the academic and community experience at UBC.

“Gateway was a very challenging project as it was fully designed during the pandemic and required the mixing of multiple diverse programs within a unique and innovative structure and flooring system,” shares Sepehr Rad, Director of Development for UBC Properties Trust. “The project’s ambitious goals required innovative thinking and resulted in many lessons learned. Despite the numerous challenges, the end product has been well received.” 

Looking Ahead

The Gateway Building represents UBC’s dedication to sustainability, Indigenous reconciliation, community well-being, and interdisciplinary collaboration. As students, faculty, clinicians, and visitors move through its spaces, the Gateway Building will serve as both a literal and symbolic entrance to the university, one that reflects where UBC has been, and where it is going next.

The opening of the Gateway Building is more than the completion of a project. It is the beginning of a new chapter in health education, research, and community at UBC.