The Cairns Complex supports Brock University’s mandate as a regional centre of academic excellence and cutting-edge research, with health science, biotech and biology labs, and facilities for the Niagara Campus of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. The Centre connects north and west to adjacent buildings via elevated bridges over rolling terrain and allow students and researchers to move easily between buildings. Angled columnar supports beneath the bridges screen a protected courtyard, echoing the modern monasticism of architect Raymond Moriyama’s original plan and architectural designs for the Brock Campus.

The Complex achieves LEED® Silver accreditation with ‘green’ design features that include construction waste diversion, a building-wide recycling system, and locally-specified building materials chosen for low VOC, low embodied energy and recyclability. Fritted and sandblasted glass curtain wall elements articulate the different faces of the building, while an aluminum ‘honeycomb’ screen that wraps the south and west facades further mitigates passive solar gain.