University of Calgary’s Mathison Hall earns LEED Platinum
March 11, 2025
By Peter Saunders
Photo by Joel Klassen, courtesy Diamond Schmitt Architects.
Mathison Hall, which opened two years ago at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, has earned the Canada Green Building Council’s (CaGBC’s) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification.
The $90-million, four-storey, 111,900-sf facility was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects in association with GGA-Architecture. Other members of the project team included Entuitive (structural engineering), Smith + Andersen (mechanical engineering), SMP Engineering (electrical engineering), O2 Design (landscape architecture), ISL Engineering and Land Services (civil engineering), Transsolar KlimaEngineering (sustainability), Footprint (energy modelling), EllisDon (construction) and Duke Evans (project management).
Photo by Joel Klassen, courtesy Diamond Schmitt Architects.
Developed as a new wing of Haskayne’s existing Scurfield Hall, Mathison Hall was specified to ensure it would be among the most energy-efficient buildings on the campus, contributing to the university’s carbon-neutral commitments. Its full-height atrium is lined with fully glazed classrooms to maximize daylighting, while a south-facing double façade, thermal mass, natural ventilation and advanced mechanical systems also contribute to sustainability goals.
The building envelope features a terra-cotta rainscreen panel system, high-performance glazing and metal. Locally and ethically sourced wood clads the building with an undulating timber louvre pattern. On the interior, the use of wood continues with a veneer flat-cut white oak pattern on the ceiling, a white oak-clad staircase, a maple veneer-clad sawtooth clerestory and wood louvres installed adjacent to the sawtooth ceiling to disguise ventilation and enhance acoustics.
Photo by Joel Klassen, courtesy Diamond Schmitt Architects.