Building a University: The Architecture of UNB

The University of New Brunswick started in 1785 with a formal petition to the Crown. From its initial shared schoolhouse accommodations to the opening of its own monumental stone quarters overlooking the town of Fredericton in 1829, UNB enjoyed slow but steady growth in the early 20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Fredericton campus quadrupled in size, often using traditional red-brick Georgian designs, while the new Saint John campus pursued a more modernist direction. The meandering course of UNB's architectural development embodies the hopes, dreams, and occasional disappointments of the University in a way that deserves a long overdue appraisal.

Generously illustrated with current and archival photographs, drawings, and maps, Building a University traces the development of the two UNB campuses. From its tentative wood-frame structures to landmark buildings such as the Richard J. Currie Centre at UNB Fredericton and the University Commons building at UNBSJ, Leroux captures the personalities of UNB's builders and architects and the character and value of their built legacy.

An alumnus of UNB, architect, and art historian John Leroux has worked at several award-winning architecture firms in Toronto, Atlanta, and Fredericton. He also teaches at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and St. Thomas University. He is the author of A Fredericton Alphabet, Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History, and St. Andrews Architecture: 1604-1966. Leroux writes a regular architecture column for the Telegraph-Journal.