Robert H.N. Ho Research centre opens in Vancouver

The Robert H.N. Ho Research Centre officially opened at the Vancouver General Hospital last month. Located on the hospital campus in Vancouver’s west side, the seven-storey, 6,400-sq.m building houses 150 researchers. It is joined at every level to the Jack Bell Research Centre, allowing staff to pass easily between the two facilities.

The new building is being used for research in prostate cancer and ovarian cancer. It also is home to the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility and includes special laboratories and infrastructure for assessing mobility patterns, including balance platforms, virtual reality and motion capture. It also has a “GAITRite” station which is the width of a two-lane roadway, with thousands of sensors to detect footprint location, pattern and pressure.

The building cost $38 million to build and was a partnership between the provincial and federal governments, Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine.

Stantec Consulting was the project manager; the architect was Musson Cattell Mackey with CEI; the structural engineer was Bush Bohlman; mechanical engineer was Cobalt; and electrical engineer was MMM Group. The general contractor was Scott Construction Group.