Request for Expressions of Interest (EOI)

For McGill groups and units interested in moving into the RVH

In the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site, we have a unique opportunity to create
initiatives that will bring McGill into the future.1 When we consider the academic
vision for the RVH, we are in effect asking the questions, What do we want the
McGill of 10, 20 or 50 years to be? How can we dream big?
Beyond our obvious need for space, the RVH provides an opportunity to build and
invigorate an academic neighbourhood with increased collaboration and
interactions. Creativity and fresh ideas often arise when we connect people with
different backgrounds, education and perspectives. Diverse neighbourhoods are
healthy and inspiring, capable of nourishing creativity.
The Principals Task Force on the Academic Vision and Mission of the RVH Site is
calling on McGill units and groups interested in moving or expanding to the RVH to
submit a vision for their neighbourhood. These groups can be academic,
administrative or student organizations. A groups need for space will, of course,
form part of the consideration as to how the RVH might be occupied. However, to
advance McGills mission well into the future, the RVH needs to be much more than
a collection of units that currently have space requirements.
We invite bold, imaginative expressions of interest to serve as a starting point for
discussion and exploration of broader collaborative opportunities. This EOI will
signal the units or groups willingness to work with the Task Force to explore their
vision and partnerships, and, if chosen for the RVH, to take a leadership role in
developing the initiative. While it is too early in the process to make firm
commitments, the Task Force asks units to have the dean(s) or vice-principal(s)
responsible sign off on their submission to indicate the facultys or portfolios
willingness to explore the idea.
The earliest time that space would be available in the RVH is 2021. Therefore we
need to look far beyond short-term needs. The Task Force asks interested units to
take into account emerging directions, either in their discipline or across the
university sector, such as:
the central role of universities as a source of skilled talent, ideas and
innovation for social, cultural and economic development in a global
knowledge society

1 The decision as to whether or not McGill will in fact acquire the RVH site has not yet
been made, and will depend on the results of the feasibility study and availability of
funding. For more information and background, please see
https://www.mcgill.ca/principal/rvh-task-force
1

increasing interactions and integration among disciplines in teaching and

research
increased student desire to learn across disciplines and academic institutions
increased student focus on enhancing the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of their communities through teaching, learning and research designed
for impact
growth in digital learning and blended learning
rapid growth of new opportunities associated with emerging digital
technologies

Submissions should be a maximum of five pages (in font size 12), and answer the
five groups of questions below, as appropriate. Units may include any other
information to help describe their initiative within the page limit. Sample questions
and information are provided in Appendix 1 to assist units in refining their vision.
Appendix 2 provides an overview of the types of space available on the RVH site.
Submissions are due February 12, 2016, and should be emailed to
rvh_vision@mcgill.ca.

EOI Template
1. What is your vision?
2. Which units, groups or organizations would be good partners to create your
ideal neighbourhood? Would their proximity within the RVH help advance
your initiative? With which McGill groups have you spoken or worked to
develop this vision? Are there any external partners that you envision as
natural collaborators?
3. What type of space would you need to foster this increased collaboration and
interactions in service of academic excellence and scholarship with enduring
impact? How would your initiative use the unique characteristics of the RVH
location?
4. How would your vision add value to the University as a whole and advance
its academic mission?
5. How would your vision benefit the communities we serve off campus, locally,
nationally or internationally?
**************************************************************************
To be completed by the appropriate dean(s) or vice-principal(s) responsible for the
unit or units involved:
I am comfortable with the Task Force exploring this initiative as a possible
candidate for space in the Royal Victoria Hospital site:

_____________________________
Signature

Appendix 1: Developing Your Vision

The information and questions below are provided to assist groups in developing
their vision. Submissions should answer only the questions that are relevant to
their proposal.

Future Directions:

What directions, themes or technologies do you see emerging that will have
an impact on the way your group will work in the future? How does your
vision take these into account?
How does your vision encourage creativity to anticipate or create future
academic or administrative innovations?

Integration of Student Life and Learning

How does your unit currently integrate student life and learning, and how
would your initiative enhance those activities?
With which partners or groups might your initiative interact to foster an
increase in student-community or peer-peer connections, through activities
such as experiential learning, learning communities, informal exchanges,
community partnerships, or connection with mentors?

The Neighbourhood

Which units, groups or organizations would be good partners to create your

ideal ecosystem? Would their proximity within the RVH help to advance your
initiative?
How might those interactions encourage innovation, excellence and impact,
whether in learning, research, community service, administrative services or
some combination of these?
How would your initiative connect to other parts of McGill to ensure an
integration and flow of people and ideas? What type of physical, virtual or
program connections might you need?
Would your initiative involve other Montreal post-secondary institutions? If
so, how?
How would your initiative strengthen McGills flagship academic areas?
How could your initiative help advance key thematic clusters in Montreal and
Quebec, such as international NGOs, pharma/biotech, sustainability and
green/clean tech, arts and culture, aerospace, IT and gaming, or social
entrepreneurship?

Hubs of Attraction

How will your initiative attract people, either from the McGill community,
other academic institutions, partners or the general public, to the RVH site?
What types of spaces (e.g. a central agora, exhibition and event space,
conference centre) would be needed to help your initiative to attract people
and encourage them to interact?
What are the advantages for Montreal, Quebec and Canada to bring people
and partners here?
How would you leverage the unique advantages of Montreal, Quebec and
Canada to help attract people and partners to the RVH?

Effective and Efficient Services

How would your initiative use the RVH space to bring together or reorganize
administrative services to make them more effective and efficient? E.g.
Shared service hubs
Data/computing centers
Specialized service offering

Appendix 2: Overview of Space at the RVH

Site (see attached map Appendix 3)
If it acquires the RVH, McGill would design the site to create three types of spaces:
A. Heritage buildings that will be used by McGill, but have certain constraints
due to the need to preserve their historic character
B. New buildings that can be designed to accommodate most purposes
C. Heritage buildings that will be occupied by partners
Further details on the three types of spaces can be found in the tables below. For
more background on the site and its possible uses, please see:

The video at the bottom of this page: https://www.mcgill.ca/principal/rvhtask-force

A PowerPoint presentation found here:
https://www.mcgill.ca/principal/files/principal/mcgill_and_the_future_of_the_rv
h_site_.pdf

Abbreviations used in the tables below:

GSM = gross square metres
CR/Dry = classroom / dry lab
Wet = wet lab

A. McGill Heritage Buildings |Wing A (part); Wing E, L, H |~25,000

GSM

SPACE
CHARACTERISTICS

POSSIBLE USES

EXAMPLES

OF

SCALE

Heritage exteriors have to be retained and renewed.

Exterior walls will not fully support modern sophisticated
temperature/humidity controls.
Interiors will be totally gutted and renovated with new
infrastructure
In the A and H wings (Administration and Hersey Pavilions)
the relatively low ceilings (3.5m slab to slab) and compact
existing structural elements limit accommodation of large
classrooms, large open spaces, and the HVAC services for
wet labs.
E and L wings (East and West wings flanking the main
entrance) narrow, but with high ceilings (4.7m slab to slab)
and very high percentage of glazing, though constrained by
limited ways of egress
Offices, administrative centres
Narrow wings best for offices, open study, limited
partitioning etc.
Small (<100 seat) classrooms
Dry labs, with limited services
Student offices, study space
Reading rooms, lounges, small cafeterias
Some wet lab possibilities in H wing, but would be limited,
and not high quality.

As an administrative/office centre, this space could

accommodate approximately 1000 staff (equivalent to 3
times the James Buildings number of staff)
As an academic centre, without wet labs, these buildings could
accommodate approx. 300 academic staff and 1500
students (equivalent to 2 Leacock Buildings)

B. McGill New Building | Wing A (part), M, S | ~40,000 GSM

SPACE
CHARACTERISTICS

Wings A (part), M, S will be demolished and replaced by

new buildings that can be custom designed for any
University purpose.

POSSIBLE USES

All major University uses: classrooms, teaching labs (dry

and wet), offices, research labs (dry and wet), library,
student services, food services etc.
Convocation hall (5000 seats)

EXAMPLES

OF

SCALE

If the facility was divided evenly between an administrative

office building, an academic dry discipline unit, and an
academic wet discipline unit, the capacity would be:
o Admin offices: 550 staff
o Academic (dry): 175 acad. staff; 2000 students
o Acad. (wet lab): 75 PIs; 450 grad students

C. Heritage Buildings Used By Partners | Wings P, R, F | ~25,000

GSM
SPACE
CHARACTERISTICS

POSSIBLE USES

EXAMPLES

OF

SCALE

Heritage exteriors must be retained and renewed. Exterior

walls will not fully support modern sophisticated
temperature/humidity controls.
Interiors will be totally renovated with new infrastructure
Relatively low ceilings and compact existing structural
elements limit accommodation of large classrooms, large
open spaces, wet labs.
Potential to demolish some of wing P (the AMI) and replace
with new construction.
Partners would occupy these buildings for 40-50 years,
after which the usage reverts to McGill.
Partners must have the financial means to refit and operate
buildings.
A recent study by Altus Inc. showed the highest economic
impact for Quebec would be occupancy by scientific
laboratories.
Corporate offices
International research centres
Housing, including student housing
Hotel/conference centres
As an administrative/office centre, this space could
accommodate approximately 1000 staff (equivalent to 3
times the James Building)
For housing, each of the R and F wings could accommodate
approximately 250 students.

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Appendix 3: RVH Site Map

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