crafts in discrete parts of the campus. “One of the big objectives was to
bring the Police Academy closer to the other departments,” confides the
Institute’s architect, Richard Henriquez. The Police Academy is one of the
JIBC’s original divisions.

“Another aim,” says Henriquez, “was to create an urban gathering
point at the stream that flows along the south edge of the campus. I wanted
to foster community and ritual and special events.” So the Institute has a
wider community role as well as its core educational focus. The atrium’s
third-floor balcony overlooks a proscenium stage at ground-floor level,
an invitation to produce a small, intimate production of Romeo and Juliet.
The atrium has also been a sound stage for television series such as The
X-Files and Viper. The facilities, such as the gym, have been available to
public groups. Being open and available to its community was among the
Henriquez firm's highest design priorities for the campus. Asked a dozen

years later if he thought his purpose for the JIBC had been fully realized, iha Victoria Campus
Henriquez smiled and said, “We're still working for them” serves Vancouver

As welcoming as the Institute’s home is, there’s an air of mystery Islenders in the neart
about it. Even if you knew this is a public post-secondary provincial insti- of British Columaic’s
tute (province-wide and having certain responsibilities the regionally based capital. Tie courses
colleges do not have), you would not necessarily be aware of its purpose. range fro: peramedic
The JIBC is dedicated to the training and education of guardians of the training io notice jerensic
public good. They will learn how to risk going in harm's way to save lives. interviewing, jrem
Even knowing that much, you still might be hard-pressed to say exactly conpici resolution ia
what goes on in those modernistic multimedia glass, wood, aluminum and lecaership sxills.

masonry halls of learning.

While the opening of the main campus was cause for congratulations
to everyone who had a hand in its creation, the JIBC takes equal pride in its
ability to bring its skills and street smarts to the farthest reaches of British
Columbia as well as the surrounding Lower Mainland. For example, the
Fire and Safety Training Centre at the Maple Ridge campus, about sixty
kilometres east of Vancouver, also has extraordinary architecture—in this
case, a three-storey concrete building that burns almost every day but never
burns down. Eleven derailed tank cars, used in disaster-response simula-
tions for fire fighters from across Canada, are scattered down a trackside
hill. Hectares of derelict cars await one last role, for practice rescuing acci-
dent victims. Even better than can-opening wrecks is preventing accidents
in the first place, which is the purpose for the Pacific Traffic Education
Centre, with an interim test-driving facility at Fraser Mills in Coquitlam,
dedicated to preparing drivers to seize that vital last second when a colli-
sion can be avoided.

The JIBC’s Vancouver campus was relocated in 2008 with four class-
rooms and five breakout rooms (serving various class sizes and purposes)
in the heart of the city. The Victoria campus serves learners and clients in