Emily Carr College of Artwork + Design (ECUAD) is proposing a significant homecoming to Granville Island, practically a decade after relocating its campus to a brand new purpose-built complicated off the island.
As a part of a partnership led by The Slim Group — a Vancouver-based firm recognized for its community of artist areas, eating places, and lounges — ECUAD introduced at the moment that its proposal has been shortlisted by the bidding process launched by CMHC Granville Island, the group that manages the location. The plan goals to repurpose the historic 125,000 sq. ft. building at 1399 Johnston St. into a brand new inventive and cultural hub.
Up till 2017, it served because the north building of the ECUAD campus on Granville Island, earlier than the college’s transfer to its present residence on Nice Northern Approach within the False Creek Flats. In 2021, Arts Umbrella took over ECUAD’s former south constructing throughout the road, persevering with the realm’s long-standing connection to arts training and creativity.
For years, CMHC Granville Island has been searching for an operator to rework this constructing into an “Arts and Innovation Hub.”
Former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design at Granville Island. (CMHC Granville Island)
Future arts and innovation hub; former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design, as seen in July 2025. (Kenneth Chan)
To realize this, ECUAD and The Slim Group state their proposal includes renovating the constructing to allow a college operations growth providing new arts and innovation applications, workshops, and group training, present new inexpensive artist studio areas for each rising and skilled artists, and create new retail and small enterprise alternatives, together with galleries, a restaurant, a restaurant, and an arts provides retailer.
There would even be occasion house for performances, exhibitions, and group gatherings, and devoted areas for Indigenous cultural programming and workshops. This consists of making a devoted theatre venue.
These makes use of are supposed to create a full of life, accessible constructing that invitations the general public inside, contrasting with its former configuration as a non-public, enclosed academic facility.
Former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design at Granville Island. (CMHC Granville Island)
Former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design at Granville Island. (CMHC Granville Island)
Former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design at Granville Island. (CMHC Granville Island)
The proponents describe a reimagined constructing that’s “vibrant from morning to nighttime,” with ECUAD’s applications and The Slim Group’s artists and enterprise tenants offering Granville Island with extra exercise through the daytime. Within the night, the constructing could be a venue for group gatherings, cultural occasions, and personal leases, successfully supporting the native occasions business.
It’s instructed that there could be a whole bunch of open studios all through the constructing, the place guests can work together immediately with artists, observe their inventive course of, and buy authentic works.
Furthermore, the partitions of the constructing’s lined outside corridors would change into a canvas for ever-changing murals.
“It is a once-in-a-century alternative to rejoice Emily Carr College’s previous, current and future. By having Canada’s premier arts and design establishment increase its public applications and humanities innovation technique to Granville Island, we’re opening the door for brand new alternatives, partnerships, and group engagement, whereas guaranteeing arts training stays accessible to everybody,” mentioned Trish Kelly, president of ECUAD, in a press release.
David Duprey, CEO of The Slim Group, added, “Our imaginative and prescient is to create an area that honours the historical past of Granville Island whereas guaranteeing it thrives with new power… The aim is to create an animated and interactive expertise all through the constructing the place guests are drawn to a endless labyrinth of artwork, music, dance, food and drinks — and most of all: enjoyable. We consider that this multi-use format will present long-term financial help to Granville Island.”
Future arts and innovation hub; former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design, as seen in July 2025. (Kenneth Chan)
Future arts and innovation hub; former north constructing of Emily Carr College of Artwork and Design, as seen in July 2025. (Kenneth Chan)
If chosen, this might be The Slim Group’s largest challenge thus far. The corporate states that it presently owns, operates, or is partnered in over 170,000 sq. ft. of artist house throughout Vancouver, offering inventive working house for over 400 artists and making it one of many largest artist house operators in British Columbia.
ECUAD’s campus was beforehand situated on Granville Island from 1980 to 2017. It’s now situated at a contemporary 286,000 sq. ft. constructing it owns, located subsequent to SkyTrain’s future Nice Northern Approach-Emily Carr Station.
ECUAD and The Slim Group have famous that they may current the following stage of their proposal to CMHC Granville Island later this month.
In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized this past summer, Thomas Lancaster, the Common Supervisor of CMHC Granville Island, mentioned his group’s 2024-launched procurement course of for repurposing the constructing obtained seven “actually good” expressions of curiosity. That quantity was later narrowed all the way down to a shortlist of two proposals, whose proponents — not publicly recognized on the time — have been then invited to participate within the detailed Request for Proposals (RFP) stage.
He additionally famous on the time that discovering a brand new tenant that permits public entry to the constructing could be very best, versus ECUAD’s earlier enclosed, personal use.
CMHC Granville Island is hoping to have a particular proponent and finalized lease by early 2026, which might then result in the tenant-led upgrades of the ageing facility.
Lancaster additionally acknowledged that since ECUAD’s departure, CMHC Granville Island has been in search of to fill the void left behind — not solely in the usage of the previous campus areas, but additionally within the youthful power the college delivered to the island. ECUAD had an enrolment of about 4,000 college students, a lot of whom supported and labored at Granville Island’s companies and humanities organizations throughout their research.
Future web site of the brand new market constructing and elevator/staircase and remark deck tower; Granville Island, as of July 2025. (Kenneth Chan)
He famous that CMHC Granville Island is now aiming to advance more of the components of the Granville Island 2040 master plan, created in 2017, which envisions changing ECUAD’s former north constructing into an “Arts and Innovation Hub.” That plan requires areas for artists, makers, and inventors, together with public facilities similar to a state-of-the-art auditorium, gallery, cafe, and restaurant services. The proposal by ECUAD and The Slim Group seems to align intently with this authentic imaginative and prescient, checking the containers outlined within the long-term technique for the constructing’s future use.
One other main element within the 2040 grasp plan now being prioritized for implementation is a significant mixed-use development on a large under-utilized parcel situated between the east facet of the Granville Avenue Bridge and ECUAD’s former south constructing (now Arts Umbrella). This features a substantial new extra market constructing to offer CMHC Granville Island with extra leasing income, an elevator and staircase tower connection to the Granville Street Bridge’s new Granville Connector pedestrian and cycling pathways, an remark deck attraction, and an underground parkade.
