Mathison Hall: A new era of business education awaits

A new and growing home for business education in Calgary is here. Mathison Hall is a $90-million four-storey building connected to Scurfield Hall and has just received its occupancy permit.

The stunning facility includes new classrooms, group work spaces, study spaces, an event centre and student services for undergraduate and graduate students. Combined with Scurfield Hall, the Haskayne School of Business will be able to host all business classes and create a true home for our students, faculty, and staff — one that proudly welcomes the business community to the school.

On Nov. 4, Haskayne faculty and staff got their first look into the building to see Mathison Hall. It was a true celebration of the team’s collective hard work, and the energy buzzing throughout the building was palpable.

Knowing Mathison Hall will completely transform Haskayne’s delivery of business education by elevating students’ learning experiences and enhancing the quality of teaching, it was exciting to see faculty and staff tour the space. Feelings of pride, optimism and excitement for what’s to come when the building officially opens in January resonated throughout the event. 

“It has been a long, challenging and rewarding journey to get here,” says Haskayne Dean Jim Dewald. “The need to expand our school was prevalent for some time and seeing everyone from the school explore the space feels surreal. I am inspired by the tenacity, agility and positivity every team member injected into this project.”

“It was a true collective effort through and through.

I’m thrilled to share our expanded home with the community and show how this space will transform our ability to deliver on our mission of providing an unparalleled learning experience.

The building was completed on time and on budget. This alone is a major accomplishment, but when you factor in immense external factors like a pandemic, inflationary pressures and global supply chain shortages, it’s an extraordinary feat — a true testament to the incredible work of two companies: Duke Evans, our project manager and construction company Ellis Don. Their work in bringing to life the vision of our architects — Gibbs Gage and Diamond Schmitt — was astounding.

Bringing the community together to celebrate

On Nov. 7, the Haskayne School will welcome donors and key external stakeholders to a first public showcase of the space. It is an opportunity to recognize the incredible generosity of its community in contributing $33.7 million to bring this project to life and to proudly showcase their direct involvement in creating a warm, functional and student-centric business home for generations of business students.

To date over 200 people have contributed to the Capital Expansion Project — and the school is still actively fundraising to achieve the $40-million target with a variety of giving opportunities still available.

Mathison Hall will also host the Haskayne Alumni Awards on Nov. 24.

A campus landmark in sustainability

Beyond its stunning design, Mathison Hall also excels in the realm of sustainability. As a building that’s aiming to achieve LEED platinum certification, Mathison Hall was built with incredible consideration.

Mathison Hall features active double façade on the south elevation, which reduces solar heat loads and maintains the views and natural light, and active single façade on the east and west elevations to help naturally ventilate and pre-condition the large atrium and event spaces.

The entire active façade system is also integrated into the building automation, blind controls and smoke exhaust systems to improve building safety, performance and efficiency. Due to thoughtful building performance modelling during the early design phases, our partners optimized every system and design aspect of Mathison Hall.