About the building

Welcome to 2375 College Avenue, Regina

Our Conexus Building Communities project is part of our partnership with the University, which started back in 2016 when the University issued a request for proposal looking for a development parter. Sharing similar values as the University, Conexus submitted a proposal and became the chosen partner.

Located west of Darke Hall, the Conexus building is 80,000 square feet. A new atrium link connects Darke Hall and the Conexus building, increasing accessibility and expanding the functionality of Darke Hall. The atrium also enables us to help the University save an estimated additional $10 million on infrastructure, maintenance and utilities like shared heating/cooling infrastructure. 

The building houses Conexus' corporate employees and over 15,000 square feet is used for Conexus' business incubator, Cultivator. Since launching in early 2019, Cultivator has incubated over 75 Saskatchewan companies resulting in 300+ jobs being created, $22.8 million in private capital raised and $14.4 million in revenue generated. This new space allows us to grow even more startups and provide resources to grow our entrepreneurial ecosystem.

More than 20 per cent of the building is shared, public space. The main floor is open to the public during regular business hours and public amenities include public washrooms, ATM, water filling stations and seating areas. Learn more about the public amenities here.  

Design

Our design was recommended by P3Architecture Partnership (P3A) and Donald Luxton, a heritage consultant who worked closely with College Avenue Campus Renewal Project. Together, P3A and Donald Luxton created a look that harmonized Darke Hall, the campus and Wascana Centre, while ensuring a bird-friendly design of the building. This is a reflection of combining heritage aspects and the innovative design for the future that aligned to the building's facade. 

Read message from the architect here.

Interior & Exterior Design Components

The driving concept of the building is ‘the pavilion in the park, and a park in the pavilion”, seamlessly blending the inside and outside to form an accessible and innovative addition to the evolution and revitalization of Regina’s CAC. The building exterior draws inspiration from the original structures of the historic campus, expressing strong vertical lines of aluminum color matched to the historic masonry. The highly transparent exterior building design utilizes modern, consistent approach and material for all building facades.

Bird-Friendly Design Components

We consulted with Friends of Wascana Marsh early in our design process to discuss bird-friendly design.

For the design of our building, the majority of the second and third floor windows have coloured bands (frit) baked into a portion of the glass which will bring more colour to the exterior and reduce the reflection of the windows. The windows also have a 12 inch mullion – between every second window on the second floor, and between every window on the third floor – which significantly reduces the reflection of the glass and from certain angles, gives the illusion that the walls are solid.

As to our first floor, we do not have any color integrated into the glass, however the second and third floor cantilever over the first floor helping to reduce/eliminate the reflection in the first floor windows.