A GUIDE TO CRUCIAL SPOTS ON CAMPUS
writer Tyler Bélanger | illustator and designer Tatiana Yakovleva
BCIT has made its mission to provide over 300 unique credentials in six highly varied fields of study, available to full- and part-time students across the five campuses year-round. When it comes to describing the main campus (Burnaby), there’s no easy way to put this: it is very irregular. As somewhat of an amalgamation, it’s home to not only classrooms and libraries but also amenities such as a robotics manufacturing facility, a broadcast studio with its own radio signature, and even a functional pulp mill.
This means that for you and other students new to this campus, those first weeks of getting oriented to your surroundings can be difficult. Still, you’ll have to navigate it like everyone else, whether you’re studying trades or media. To ease your way into this, Link is providing you with handy maps of must-know spots throughout your time at BCIT.
Burnaby Campus Bookstore
This is an important location, and thankfully it’s not the hardest to find. Technically in SE2, it sits immediately facing the Motive Power building and is attached to the Great Hall. Take into account, however, that it’s only accessible from the outside.
Being as close as you’ll get to a central location, the bookstore (along with the pub around the corner) is a noteworthy spot , as it can provide you with solid grounding while you get acquainted with campus. Think of campus as an elaborate rectangle (the centre being the bookstore), with four territories split by the cardinal directions. These vaguely quadrisect other buildings by field of study.
For example, on the north side of campus (tucked to the north of Goard Way) are the northwest designations (such as NW1) and the trades-oriented northeast buildings (such as NE1). In the opposite direction, every building from the bookstore down to student housing is zoned by the southwest and southeast sections. These are where you’ll find the Gateway building (SW1), the Business and Media building (SE6), and the Broadcasting building (SE10). Housed farther in the southeast are places like the recreation centre (SE16) and the library (SE14).
AV SERVICES
If you’re searching for microphones, cameras, or clickers, then be prepared to keep looking. The AV Services desk (SE12 – 104) offers BCIT students free audiovisual equipment — if you can find them. Their office is practically hidden beneath the stairs outside SW3, right next to where BCIT stores its dumpsters. Nice.
Directions to AV Services can widely vary depending on where you ask. If you start at the library, you might be sent down the hall where you’d then take two flights of stairs and a sharp left. But if you’re starting on the north side of campus and aren’t familiar with the south section, you might be given a set of directions that leave you walking in circles. Not to mention the lack of signage indicating the main entrance.
The easiest way is to follow the advice from earlier: start from the bookstore . Then, round the corner of SE2. Keep walking straight, continuing past the patio of the Habitat Pub. Straight down the road you turn onto, you’ll see a concrete overhang beneath which service vehicles are usually parked. Head in that direction, and beneath the overhang is a set of red double doors. Inside, you will find AV Services.
PLANETARIUM
Did you know the Burnaby campus also has a planetarium? It’s true! Beneath SW3 is a fully functional planetarium that’s been on campus since 1964. It currently doesn’t see much use outside of events organized by third-party studio Roundhouse Productions. If you’re interested in lasers and music, keep your eye out for updates on their website Roundhouse Productions (roundhouseproductionsshows.com)!
