Sustainability has long been a priority for McGill and rightly so, as climate action is essential now given the rapidly increasing climate emergencies occurring globally. It’s fantastic that there is so much work happening in this area at our university. For example, McGill recently ranked in the top ten along with University of Toronto and University of British Columbia in the QS World Sustainability rankings. There is also excellent work being done by the McGill Office of Sustainability (MOOS). Two of MOOS’ major initiatives have won awards:  their sustainability learning module and the sustainable workplace certification program. And, of course, the Sustainability Park, McGill’s revitalization of a portion of the former site of the Royal Victoria Hospital to create a state-of-the-art research, teaching and learning hub dedicated to sustainability and public policy, is getting closer to reality every day!

You might be more familiar with the Sustainability Park by its previous name: the New Vic Project. The new name was launched in the fall: Le Parc du développement durable McGill/McGill Sustainability Park. The new name heralds the exciting developments that are moving forward on the project.

To learn more about the project, consider attending the upcoming information session open to the entire McGill community this Thurs. Dec. 11 from 12-1:30pm. A recent What’s New for faculty and staff points to details about the meeting and provides information about how you may submit your questions in advance. You can also watch a short video to learn more about the project.

Since 2024, I have had the privilege to serve on a Community of Practice related to the academic aspects of the project. It has been really interesting to learn about the plans and to provide feedback to the project team, as well as to work with faculty, staff and students all across campus who are so vested in sustainability. As the McGill Libraries’ representative, I have helped to integrate the Libraries within the project.

So, what exactly does the Sustainability Park have to do with the McGill Libraries? Well, most notably, the McGill Libraries will open a Grand Reading Room in the space. This is the first time in my many years at McGill Libraries when we will be getting a new library space! Given how highly in demand our current library spaces are, with two million in-person visits per year (PDF booklet at: https://www.mcgill.ca/libraries/about/planning/strategic-priorities), we surely can use the extra space!

The Grand Reading Room will be located in one of the Nightingale Wings in the heritage portion of the site. With its large dual aspect windows, the space was originally a ward for patients. Dual aspect windows are windows that are on at least two walls of a space, which allows for natural light to enter and for there to be increased cross ventilation and outside views in multiple directions. The space had (and will continue to have) lots of natural light, which was helpful in the well-being of patients before there was electricity.

The reason the wards were called the Nightingale Wings was because of Florence Nightingale, the famous founder of modern nursing. In fact, she was even consulted on the design of these kinds of hospital wards, including those in the original Royal Victoria Hospital! (Table 1 at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1937586720931058). Her Environmental Theory emphasized the importance of clean air and natural light in speeding up patient recovery. Her “signature innovation [was] large windows that allowed cross-ventilation and abundant natural light.” (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-florence-nightingale-can-teach-us-about-architecture-and-health/). The design of the Grand Reading Room honours her legacy in its continued adherence to her foundational principles.

Nightingale was ahead of her time in understanding how much human health depends on a healthy environment – a message that certainly rings true today when what we need more than anything is a clean and healthy planet. In the Sustainability Park, researchers will study how best to deal with the most tackling issues of sustainability while practicing sustainability within its walls, in much the same way the wards Nightingale helped design were places both for healthcare research and for applying the research to treat patients.

Here is what one of the Nightingale Wings looked like when it was part of the hospital in 1897 and used for hospital patients:

Image: Ward D of the Royal Victoria Hospital and the staff during Christmas. (photo 1897). MUA PR023861. From: archives.mcgill.ca/public/hist_mcgill/nursing/nursing04_lg.htm

Here is what the future Reading Room looked like when I had the opportunity to go on a site visit in fall 2024:

Image: Taken by Tara Mawhinney.

Here is a glimpse of what the future holds for this important historical space when it opens as part of the Sustainability Park:

Image: Architectural rendering of the Grand Reading Room, courtesy of the Sustainability Park Project Office.

The library space will include study space and library staff on site, but no physical book collections. The space will be open to the public. However, as with existing McGill Libraries’ spaces, students are expected to be the main clientele.

To find out how the project is progressing these days, check out this sneak peek video of the Park as of Oct. 2025. If you pay close attention at the 2 minute 55 second mark, you’ll even get a view of how the Grand Reading Room space is coming along!

So, when will the McGill Libraries get to welcome you to the new Library space? The Sustainability Park will officially open in 2029, which might seem a long way off, but it will be here in no time. I hope that you will join the Sustainability Park project team on Dec. 11 to learn all about what they have in store for McGill!