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What had been the largest private donation to a cultural institution in Canadian history made the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts possible. Enveloped by greenery within the University of British Columbia campus, the Bing Thom Architects-designed venue marked its official opening on May 11, 1997 and is highly regarded as one of the world's best concert halls.
In addition to contributing the primary funds for the erection of the revered cultural complex, philanthropists and businessmen Tom and Caleb Chan set up an endowment fund that supports arts organizations and performances across the country. After immigrating to Canada in the 1980s, the brothers approached UBC president David Strangway to conceptualize a performing arts centre. Approximately $25 million was secured through donations from the Chan Foundation of Canada, Telus, the Royal Bank of Canada, and the provincial government.
Bing Thom Architects formalized the overall building design, with Artec Consultants designing the concert hall and acoustics, and Theatre Projects Consultants handling the studio theatre. The facility takes the shape of two adjoining drum-shaped sections, the larger drum containing the 1,400-seat Chan Shun concert hall and foyer. The smaller drum holds the 250-seat Telus Studio Theatre, modeled after London's Globe Theatre, plus a black-box studio and a 150-seat cinema.
The Chan Shun concert hall is defined by a palette of concrete and wood surmounted by a 37-ton acoustical canopy. over 6,500 cubic metres of concrete was utilized in the building's construction, with concrete convex walls in the concert hall stippled to prevent reverberation. Though the building is more than twice the height of others on the campus, the thick forest of cedars, firs, azaleas and rhododendrons that surround the complex obscures its true scale.
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