Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre & Beaty Natural History Museum
UBC Point Grey is home to the Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre — a research building project managed by UBC Properties.
The Centre is dedicated to understanding and conserving the diversity of life on earth through research, education, and community programs.
Laboratories, offices, meeting rooms, and support spaces that are peppered throughout the building facilitate research, collaboration, and administrative functions.
Part of the Centre, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum brings world-class researchers and UBC’s natural history collections together for public display and education. As Vancouver’s only natural history museum, it houses over 500 exhibits and 2 million specimens in a 20,000 square-foot space. The 26-metre blue whale skeleton is suspended in the glass atrium, drawing visitors from far and wide as one of the world’s few remaining. Also in the atrium is a gift shop and cafe, and educational screenings are shown in the onsite theatre.
A research centre dedicated to biodiversity needs an environmentally conscious building to match. UBC Properties worked with the architects to ensure the building aligned with UBC’s commitment to sustainability. The living roof with a reed water garden reduces pollutants and improves stormwater drainage while supporting a natural habitat for flora and fauna. The building does not have air conditioning other than in a few laboratories and instead uses natural ventilation and sunshades for cooling. The building is optimized for natural lighting to reduce electricity consumption, which also helps preserve some light-sensitive specimens.
