University of Calgary architecture students are calling for more funding to address what they consider to be inadequate conditions at the new downtown campus. 

Since students in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) switched buildings in January, they said the experience has been less than satisfactory, citing structural concerns and a lack of administrative transparency. 

The building, located at 801 7 Avenue SW and named The Valentine, is an “award-winning high-rise” renovated as part of the city’s office tower conversion program, which the school has since rented to centralize the program downtown instead of between campuses.

“This relocation and expansion downtown will enrich the educational journey of our students, providing a dynamic urban context for learning within the fabric of our city,” said John Brown, dean of SAPL, in an earlier news release. 

“Being immersed in the heart of the city provides opportunities for students and researchers to work with our professional community, the City, and others on collaborative projects.”

Despite appreciating the added convenience of the move, students have expressed dissatisfaction with the building, particularly its limited operating hours and workshop characteristics. 

FANS — Funding for Accessible and Necessary Services — of SAPL, an informal, student-led initiative, was founded at the start of the 2026-27 school year in response to these grievances. 

A spokesperson from the group, who agreed to be interviewed by LWC on the condition of anonymity because they were “genuinely concerned about how SAPL might treat me afterward,” explained that it started with a confusing damage-deposit fee and later snowballed. 

“They said it’s to ensure that our desks stay tidy and undamaged, but there’s no way to identify whose desk is whose,” he said. 

“So, that sort of upset a whole bunch of people initially, and then we’re just discovering more and more things.”

‘Serious’ safety and accessibility concerns, says student

The second-year student in the Master of Architecture program explained that the nine-storey tower includes workshops and studios with equipment for digital design, robotics, and woodworking.

He said that, because the program is hands-on, these resources are critical to student success. Although students can typically access the spaces at any time, he said the building’s ventilation is turned off outside the 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. operating hours.

Because students often work with devices like laser cutters, spray paint, and electric tools, he said adequate HVAC systems are essential to ensure user safety due to the smoke and debris they produce. 

“It can get quite hot in the workshop — like dangerously hot,” he said. 

“Especially when you’re doing physical labour and stuff like that.”

While the building offers a standard 12-hour workday, he said students are typically expected to attend lectures then, leaving early mornings and evenings as the only time they can complete projects. 

“It’s not just an inconvenience thing, which is easy to brush off that way,” he said. 

“For me, I think it’s actually a major league accessibility issue.”

He said he has raised the issue with faculty, student government leaders, and the official complaint channel, but has yet to receive a response. He said that although professors are aware of the restrictions, the workload has remained the same. 

“There’s a very clear understanding from all faculty that they expect you to be working in the evening,” he said. 

“Sometimes it’s not explicit, other times it fully is explicit…they expect you to be in [the] studio at nighttime.”

University maintains ventilation hours are industry standard

UCalgary said in an email statement that administrators have not been made aware of student complaints. As a tenant, the university said ventilation falls under The Valentine’s purview, confirming that the building’s systems operate within standard industry practices.

“While building systems may reduce output or shut down after hours to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs, and support the longevity of the equipment,” read the statement.

“Acceptable and safe comfort levels are maintained throughout the building at all times.”

The university did acknowledge some “technical challenges” with workshop systems, they said that faculty have adapted course objectives to ensure that learning objectives can still be met.

“We take student feedback seriously and encourage students to share concerns through established channels, including the Students’ Association, town halls, and the Dean’s Office. To date, these specific concerns have not been raised through those avenues,” read a UCalgary response to follow-up questions.

The FANS SAPL representative said he knows classmates who have had close calls with heat exhaustion while using the spaces during transition periods when the system is closed. 

With this happening in recent months, while the systems were used for cooling, he questioned what would happen in the near future as extremely low winter temperatures approach. He said that he asked a faculty member about this.

“I was like, ‘So, how does that work for heating? Because right now it’s cooling, but how does that work for heating,’” he said.

“And they were like, ‘I don’t know.’ I was like, ‘What?’”

He said university officials allegedly told him that extending the operating hours would subject the school to an additional fee, possibly paid by students.

It’s unlikely that students would be open to paying this, he said, especially since a portion of the resources they pay for through tuition hasn’t been made available yet, including some table saws and other wood-related tools. 

“We also pay this $150 fee per semester, called a studio fee,” he said. 

“The workshop isn’t even fully open — half of it, we don’t have access to, and it’s been almost a year that we’ve been in the program.”

He said that a resolution to the concerns of students would look like the “university dealing with this,” proposing seeking out sponsorships as a potential way of obtaining funds that is not the responsibility of students. 

“One of the very common topics around SAPL [is] how we’re paying for our fees since we moved in here,” he said.

“But we have way less access to way less stuff than we were kind of initially expected to.”