As construction continues on the new St. Paul's Hospital in the False Creek Flats area of Vancouver, Providence Health Care appears to be ready to move on to the second project planned for the hospital campus: the Clinical Support and Research Centre (CSRC) that was approved by the Province in December.
The hospital campus is set for a site just north of Pacific Central Station — 1002 Station Street — that's bound by Prior Street on the north, a new street to be constructed on the east, National Avenue on the south, and Station Street on the west.
The main hospital building will be situated in the southeast corner of the site, while several auxiliary buildings will make up the western and northwestern portion of the site. The new Clinical Support and Research Centre is planned for the middle of the site and will be directly adjacent to the main hospital building. It will also be connected to the main hospital building via a skybridge.
An overview of what's planned for the new St. Paul's Hospital campus at 1002 Station Street.(Diamond Schmitt Architects / Providence Health Care)
"The Clinical Support & Research Centre (CSRC) will be an integrated facility that fosters a spirit of innovation while providing support to the functions of the New St. Paul's Hospital (NSHP)," Providence Health Care and Diamond Schmitt Architects said in its development permit application, which was published by the City of Vancouver on Monday. "The CSRC will host medical professionals, researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs working in the adjacent fields of biotechnology, clinical science, pharmaceuticals, and digital health."
The planned CSRC will be a 13-storey building with a two-storey podium and approximately 398,392 sq. ft of space. The lower four floors will primarily consist of public space, retail space, a 49-space childcare centre, as well as medical and clinical offices. The middle four floors will then consist of administrative offices, more clinical offices, and an Innovation Centre. The upper four levels will then consist entirely of research offices and labs. Underground, the P1 level will house various support spaces.
Just outside of the CSRC building will also be a new civic plaza that is being constructed as part of the main hospital building project, but changes have been made since work on the main hospital building began as the boundaries of the CSRC project have been amended and now extends into the originally-planned civic plaza area.
"Careful coordination between the two projects has been a continuous part of the design process," the applicants say. "As the design of the Civic Plaza has been completed and the plaza functions as a part of the NSPH project's water retention design, LEED design scopes, and City of Vancouver rezoning requirements, the reduction of any of these components will be addressed on the CSRC site so that the overall results and requirements are the same. There will also be minor changes to the remaining plaza that will be coordinated with NSPH project team to knit CSRC and the Plaza into one cohesive public space."
A rendering of the new St. Paul's Hospital Clinical Support and Research Centre.(Diamond Schmitt Architects / Providence Health Care)
A rendering of the new St. Paul's Hospital Clinical Support and Research Centre.(Diamond Schmitt Architects / Providence Health Care)
In December, the Province approved the business plan and funding for the construction of the CSRC, which will have a total capital cost of $638.3M. The cost will be shared between the Province ($331.7M), Providence Health Care ($215.6M), St. Paul's Foundation ($88M), and the ChildCare BC New Spaces Program ($3M).
The Province also said that existing research programs that will relocate to the new CSRC will include the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the BC Centre on Substance Use, the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes; and more.
The cost of the new St. Paul's Hospital building is $2.174B, with the Province contributing $1.327B. The St. Paul's Foundation committed to raising a total of $225M, while Providence Health Care will invest the balance of the cost from the sale of the current St. Paul's property, the Province said in 2021. The property was acquired by real estate developer Concord Pacific in August 2020 for $850M.
Construction on the main hospital building is scheduled to be completed in 2027. The applicants did not say when they expect the CSRC building to be completed.
The City of Vancouver is accepting public comments on the development application from now until Friday, May 10.
A rendering of the CSRS building and new St. Paul's Hospital building.(Diamond Schmitt Architects / Providence Health Care)
