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Laurentian research centre open for business

Event organizers looking to bring a fresh take to meetings and workshops have a unique new option in the Vale Living With Lakes Centre at Laurentian University in Sudbury .
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The classrooms and foyer at the Vale Living With Lakes Centre in Sudbury are available for meetings and workshops, but its location on the shore of Lake Ramsey is the main attraction.

Event organizers looking to bring a fresh take to meetings and workshops have a unique new option in the Vale Living With Lakes Centre at Laurentian University in Sudbury.

Perched on the shore of Lake Ramsey, the centre offers a scenic alternative to break up the monotony of boardrooms and meeting rooms.

It’s an intimate venue conducive to small gatherings. But even though it doesn’t host a large amount of space, its atmosphere is having a big impact on clients, said Julie Ceming, manager of conferences and event services for Laurentian University.

“The appeal about this place is that it’s right on the water and there are different uses of the space. It has the flexibility for whatever a group is looking for,” she said. “We’ve set press conferences up here, it offers a great backdrop for interviews, and just adds a little warmth to any event instead of doing it in your standard hall or any space that might be very industrial-looking.”

The centre houses researchers with the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit and, through the school year, host lectures and student classes. But during evenings, weekends and the off-season, the space is open to hosting events.

Two classrooms, one on the ground floor and one on the upper level, can hold between 40 and 80 people each, depending on how the room is set up, while the foyer, which has a capacity of between 100 and 120, is often used for breakout meetings or cocktail receptions.

The lower-level classroom enters out onto a large patio, leading to walking trails along the shoreline, which are ideal either for teambuilding exercises or for participants to take breaks throughout the day. Fully equipped with webcasting and streaming capabilities, the classrooms feature large-format and presenter screens, audio-visual capabilities, and lectures can be streamed between the classrooms.

“The equipment’s there to use, but we also provide the support and the IT that goes along with it,” said Ceming, who noted the centre will aim to bring in any equipment needed.

“We have a great team and we work with any client based on what they need, and that’s prepared as part of a package of their rental agreement.”

Ceming said the centre challenges the idea of a classroom as a staid, stuffy box with fixed seating. With movable furniture, the space can be set up in classroom-style, theatre-style, or as a boardroom. Catering for events is provided by Aramark, the in-house food services provider.

Clients can arrange for light or full breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as bar services for cocktail parties and evening events.

“The building’s two years old, in terms of it being open to the public, and in the last year we’ve been slowly, quietly introducing it to the public in terms of a meeting space and a venue for events,” Ceming said.

“With any new space, you want to learn how it flows when you’re using it and get to learn the ins and outs before going out and promoting it. Now that we have a good understanding of what’s required for events down here in terms of logistics, we’re ready to go full force in promoting it with people, and not just this location, but the campus itself.”

Because the centre is part of Laurentian University, clients also have access to the dining halls, athletic facilities, lecture rooms, and auditoriums on campus, amenities the Maintenance Engineering/Mine Operators conference took advantage of when it hosted its annual gathering at the school in 2010.

An educational tour of the centre can also be incorporated into the package, Ceming said. It was designed to LEED platinum standards, integrating several environmentally sustainable building practices as part of the process.

Comprised of glulam and post-and-beam construction, wood—sourced from Chapleau, Thessalon and Temiskaming—is featured extensively throughout the building.

Designed to be 70 per cent more energy-efficient than a traditional building of comparable size, the centre also includes geo-exchange wells and heat pumps for heating and cooling; a green roof, which will have blueberries planted on it to filter stormwater runoff and repurpose it as grey water; and a series of sensors and controls throughout the building to monitor temperature and humidity.

www3.laurentian.ca/livingwithlakes