Does this concrete facade speak to you? This is Burnside Hall, a McGill University building. It stands at 805 Sherbrooke Street West on McGill’s downtown campus in Montreal. Burnside Hall is named after Burnside Place. Burnside Place was the Montreal estate of James McGill, the university’s founder.
Completed in 1970, Burnside Hall was designed by Marshall, Merrett, and Associates. The building accommodates the Faculty of Science. This thirteen-story building stands just northeast of the Roddick Gates in the center of McGill’s campus.
Today Burnside Hall houses several departments. These include Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Geography, Mathematics and Statistics. You’ll also find Network and Communications Services, the Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre, and the Edward Rosenthall Mathematics & Statistics Libraries here.
Let’s explore the layout of Burnside Hall. It is located south of the Schulich library. The Schulich library was formerly the Macdonald-Stewart Library. Before that, it was the Macdonald Physics Building. Burnside Hall stands southeast of the Pulp and Paper Research Institute. It is northeast of the Otto Maass Chemistry Building. An underground tunnel system connects Burnside to these buildings. You can also enter Burnside directly from McGill’s Lower Field. This is through the building’s main entrance.
The largest classrooms are in the basement, under the concrete terrace. This basement space is open to students 24/7. It’s a popular spot for tutorials, group study, and lunch. You will find a café, computer labs, tables, and sofas down there. The first floor serves as a lobby. The second floor is home to the Computing Centre. It contains computing and graphic laboratories and facilities.
The Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences occupies three floors. The Department of Geography spans floors three through seven. The Walter Hitschfeld Geographic Information Centre is on floor five. The Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the Network and Communications Services, and the Edward Rosenthall Mathematics & Statistics Libraries are spread throughout the rest of Burnside Hall.
On the roof, you’ll find meteorological equipment. It belongs to the Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences. They use it to study wind, clouds, and precipitation in the city. This equipment includes a radar wind profiler and a laser ceilometer.
Burnside Hall was built in the Brutalist style. The architecture firm Marshall, Merrett and Associates designed it. The facade has no ornamentation. It features a repetitive pattern of precast concrete slabs. Fixed, glazed windows run throughout. The concrete shell was intended to blend with the Leacock Building and McLennan Library. The building was designed for a possible expansion of five stories.
Water has always been important to McGill. James McGill named his estate Burnside in 1798. This came from the Scottish word “burn” for the stream that crossed his land. The tennis court Leacock mentioned used to be near Burnside Hall. Burnside Hall is named after James McGill’s original estate.
Groundwater still runs under the McGill campus today. Minor water infiltration can be found in many greystone buildings.
Burnside Hall stands as a testament to functional design. It serves as a hub of learning and research at McGill University. Its concrete facade may not be fancy. But it represents the solid foundation of knowledge within its walls.