Not only is the award-winning facility demonstrating the best in energy and water saving technologies, the center is also helping to train top young scientists and drive innovation that is helping to create jobs, preserve and protect the environment, and improve our quality of life: Photo @ Tom Arban
Project update 2011 "Living with Lakes Center for freshwater restoration and research, Sudbury, Canada": The building will use 77% less energy and 80% less potable water than a conventional building, and will be LEED Platinum certified.
Holcim Foundation Awards Bronze 2008 North America presentation (l-r): Philippe Arto, CEO St Lawrence Cement; winners Peter Busby, John Gunn and Jeff Laberge; Adèle Naudé Santos, Head of jury and Dean of Architecture, MIT; Benoît-H. Koch, Executive Committee member Holcim Ltd; and Rolf Soiron, Chairman of Holcim and of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation.
Holcim Foundation Awards Bronze 2008 North America prize presentation (l-r): Master of Ceremonies Dennis Trudeau congratulates prize winners Peter Busby, architect, Peter Busby and Wills Architects, Vancouver BC, Canada; John Gunn, scientist, Laurentian University, Sudbury Ont., Canada; and Jeff Laberge, architect, J L Richards & Associates, Sudbury Ont., Canada.
A building born of water and light—where pine forests once stood and glacial sheets once scraped the earth—now stands as a testament to renewal. The Living with Lakes Centre rises beside Lake Ramsey, echoing Sudbury’s journey from environmental damage to restoration, and shaping a future of sustainability through science, design, and community.
By John Gunn - Laurentian University, Sudbury, Canada and
Completed in 2011, the Living with Lakes Centre (LLC) is a LEED Platinum-certified facility at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. It serves as a hub for freshwater research, environmental restoration, and sustainable design innovation—bringing together scientists, students, and community leaders to advance ecological resilience in Canada’s Boreal Shield.
Project authors
Laurentian University
Canada
Perkins&Will
Canada
The Living with Lakes Centre (LLC) for applied research in environmental restoration and sustainability is being built at Laurentian University beside Lake Ramsey, Sudbury’s drinking water reservoir. Sustainability is the focus on many levels. Restore, Reduce, and Renew are the guiding principles not only for the building’s design but also for the important research it will support—focusing on the protection of precious freshwater for future generations.
Sudbury, with its history of environmental damage and subsequent restoration, and its location at the centre of over a million lakes in the Boreal Shield ecozone, is an ideal setting for a green building of this calibre. For the first time, internationally recognized scientists with expertise in ecosystem restoration are collaborating with a design team to create a facility that reduces ecological impact, helps restore local ecosystems, and supports community sustainability.
The LLC is a long-term investment in sustainable design. Constructed to meet LEED Platinum standards, it aims to maintain low operational costs, protecting the viability of research programs from rising energy prices. With climate change a central focus, the building is being designed with 2050 climate conditions in mind.
The Centre includes a range of advanced features for energy and water conservation. These include a green roof to reduce stormwater runoff, high-performance thermal envelope, ground source heat pump, biomass-powered heating, hydronic radiant floor heating, passive heating and cooling, wind turbines with net metering, solar domestic water heating, and storm and grey water treatment. Additional elements include permeable paving for driveways and parking lots, natural daylighting, energy-efficient lighting and appliances, smart building systems, and the use of non-toxic materials.
The entire site will be instrumented to monitor the effectiveness of these systems. Performance data will be shared through web-based platforms and interpretive exhibits at Science North, Sudbury’s internationally acclaimed science centre, allowing for transparency and public education.
The Living with Lakes Centre is more than a building—it is a hub of creativity, research, and innovation for northern communities in Canada and abroad. It will demonstrate how cost-effective, sustainable design can improve health and well-being, enhance productivity, reduce societal costs for healthcare and utilities, and highlight the essential links between social, environmental, and economic well-being.
Completed in 2011, the LLC is a LEED Platinum-certified building designed with sustainability at its core. Features include geothermal heating, green roofs, and the use of locally sourced, non-toxic materials. The Centre serves as a model for green building practices and continues to inspire environmental research and education.
In January 2025, Laurentian University sold the LLC to the Province of Ontario for $8 million as part of its post-insolvency restructuring plan. To ensure continuity, the university entered into a 10-year lease agreement, paying approximately $496,254 annually to maintain full use of the facility. This arrangement allows the university to continue its research and educational activities at the Centre without disruption.
Main Author
Scientist & Project Manager, Laurentian University
Canada
Architect, Perkins&Will
Canada
The outstanding strengths of this project are twofold. Firstly, the new research and exhibition center will be built according to the most stringent criteria of sustainable construction minimizing the ecological footprint and assuring self-reliance with regard to energy and heat supply. Secondly, the research to be conducted in this center will contribute to the restoration of Sudbury’s ecosystem with an emphasis on guaranteeing the drinking water quality and quantity for future generations.
The interior spaces provide a beautiful, healthy, and quiet work environment, offering views to the lake. 90% of spaces are naturally day-lit and are provided with natural ventilation: Photo @ Tom Arban
The center and the water reservoir will be fitted with instrumentation to monitor all the effectiveness of the array of technical features and the consequent impact on lake water quality. The results will be communicated to the public through web-based media and exhibitions at the nearby science center of Sudbury. The jury has commended this project due to its high potential as a practical demonstration of sustainable construction in action, and the broad dissemination of the gained knowledge.
World-renowned environmental scientists working with award-winning designers to ensure that the ecological footprint is minimized such that the site’s water run-off is better than if left in a natural state and addresses the climate in 2050 is a quantum change in sustainable design. This group has an excellent track record in transferring their knowledge to academia, government, students and in engaging the public in sustainable activities. This project has led our municipal leaders to understand their role in building a more sustainable community through by-laws and other measures. The high-quality indoor air and natural daylighting evident to all and captured in a beautiful building will catalyze these initiatives and help put the images of bleak environmental damage firmly into the past.
The LLC scientists are also educators, believing deeply that they must walk the talk and work in a building that does not violate their stewardship principles. They lead staff dedicated to enabling future generations who live on the Boreal Shield of Canada and those living in similar environments elsewhere on the planet, to live sustainably with the beauty and wonder of freshwater environments.
Water, the blue gold of the 21st century, and its protection is central to this project and a focus for many of the design features. A watershed approach within the project team has engaged a group of scientists from a variety of departments to map the institution’s watershed and establish benchmarks in order to measure the effectiveness of the building and future operations in mitigating adverse effects on water. Energy conservation is critical not only to ensure society’s sustainability but also for water protection, especially in the context of global warming—a major stressor of freshwater ecosystems and research focus for the group. This project and the research that will go on in the buildings will make the important link between energy conservation and freshwater protection.
This facility will be 70% more efficient than a conventional building—a remarkable statistic that will boost the eco-industry in northern Ontario and make a significant economic impact locally in the areas of construction, employment, and specialized technologies. Moreover, the savings will be invested in the research program and in scholarships for the next generation of environmental leaders.
The iconic design reflects the prominence of the site on Ramsey Lake, drinking water reservoir for the City and its premier property. The building is reminiscent of a glacial sheet that once scoured this rugged landscape. The wood exterior tells the story of the pine forests that once dominated the region. The magnificent views across the water from the buildings celebrate living with lakes.
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