Goodes Hall

Goodes Hall, the new home of Queen's School of Business, combines an exquisitely restored 45,000 square foot 110-year-old Victorian schoolhouse with 68,000 square feet of bold new design and construction. Goodes Hall houses all faculty, staff and most students of Queen's School of Business, including undergraduate Commerce, Queen's MBA, PhD and MSc programs. Queen's Executive Development Centre courses continue to be offered at the nearby Queen's-owned Donald Gordon Conference Centre. Executive MBA students continue to enjoy the flexibility of studying at Queen's facility in Ottawa, or connecting by real-time videoconference with their Queen's professors in Kingston from major cities across Canada.

With the growth, progress and international success of all Queen's School of Business programs in recent years, Goodes Hall is essential to maintaining the school's leadership position among business schools for years to come. The generosity of Mel Goodes, a Commerce '57 alumnus and former Chairman & CEO of Warner-Lambert worldwide, and other benefactors, made Goodes Hall possible.

Size: 113,000 square feet.

Construction cost: $25.5 million.

Amount contributed by Queen's Alumnus Mel Goodes: $10 million.

Location
143 Union Street, corner of Union and Albert Streets, just west of Stauffer Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.

Architect
Peter Berton, partner-in-charge of the Toronto office of architectural firm The Ventin Group, was the lead architect on Goodes Hall.

A unique blend of old and new
Goodes Hall combines the history of Victoria School, a preserved 1892 schoolhouse, with the contemporary design, architecture and cutting-edge learning tools of a modern business school.

Numerous historical elements of Victoria School have been preserved and incorporated into Goodes Hall. For example, plaques and room signage recognizing the building's donors have been custom-carved from the original slate blackboards that were first installed in Victoria School in the 1890's. During construction of Goodes Hall, the original 1892 schoolhouse blackboards were uncovered, revealing a handwritten honour roll dating back to 1934. This honour roll has been preserved and was showcased at the opening of Goodes Hall.

Many other original architectural details have been preserved and refinished, such as the grand maple staircase, maple wainscoting and tin ceilings. Original design elements have been maintained as well. For example, the original circa-1892 classrooms continue to be used as classrooms in Goodes Hall, complete with airy 14-foot ceilings, and the school's original exterior doors have been preserved as a ceremonial entrance to the building.

The design of Goodes Hall is consistent with Queen's University's philosophy of "construction with respect for history," and the belief that new buildings should be tastefully integrated with the historic surroundings of Kingston, Ontario.

Preparing for the future
While respectful of its past, Goodes Hall was also designed and constructed to meet the full range of needs of a modern, leading-edge business school. Digital conduits have been run throughout the building to allow students to plug laptop computers directly into the Queen's University computer network from any of the 1300 ports on their desks or in the numerous team breakout rooms, lounges and more. Once completed, Goodes Hall will also be the new home of the School's renowned Executive MBA program and its impressive video conferencing studios, which allow professors to see and converse with their Executive MBA students in boardroom learning centres in 14 cities across Canada - and vice versa.

The Goodes Hall vision - creating a community
Goodes Hall was conceived, designed and constructed not just as a building, but also as a community. The guiding principle from the outset was to create a space that would enable maximum interaction between faculty, staff and students in all of Queen's School of Business' programs. Design features include a dramatic central "hive" of the building that uses an atrium to bridge the streetscape exterior of the old schoolhouse to the new section of the building. This expansive glass atrium area houses a lounge and the main Goodes Hall reception area, and is used as a central space to post news and hold events.

Classrooms and meeting rooms in Goodes Hall were designed with space to walk, talk and sit between them. Small lounges dot the building. In addition, office space is provided for professors emeritus and visiting scholars in order to build a sense of community.

The classrooms and lecture halls themselves were designed for optimal sightlines and communication. Rather than traditional semi-circular seating structures, the seating in Goodes Hall classrooms resemble a horseshoe, with the professor in the middle of his or her students, rather than in front of them. In addition, the horseshoe design allows students to see each other's faces during class.

The Victoria School
Built in 1892 on the occasion of Canada's 25th birthday and named after Queen Victoria, Victoria School is one of the oldest and most ornate in Canada. It served the Kingston community as an elementary school until it was closed in 1985. Queen's purchased the property in the early 1990's, using it for the Registrar's office until it was designated as the site of Goodes Hall in 1999.