The school faced some initial controversy when it announced its preferred campus location in
Downtown Sudbury, which would displace the city's existing
farmer's market. Both the city and the school have proposed alternate locations such as the local watering hole Peddlers Pub to resolve the relocation as the school will occupy the former Market Square, including the CP Telegraph Building (1914) for faculty offices and the CP Rail Shed (circa 1905) as its design studio and classroom for the first two years. The city voted on November 9, 2011, to accept the school's request to purchase the site, and struck an advisory panel to make recommendations on the relocation and development of the farmer's market. The panel ultimately decided to relocate the farmer's market to the
Sudbury railway station. In a new chapter in Sudbury's history marking downtown revitalization, the School of Architecture site incorporated, rather than demolishing, the former market building as well as the neighbouring CP Telegraph Building, which has a
heritage designation and which housed offices and a restaurant. In a presentation to
Greater Sudbury City Council in April 2012, Galvin announced that the site plan design by
LGA Architectural Partners would involve four distinct buildings — the two existing buildings and two new structures, arranged around a central courtyard, with above-ground walkways connecting the buildings to allow pedestrian and bicycle traffic through the site. The landscape plan and the building performance matrix are aimed at referencing the
boreal forest while addressing ecology and the
impact of climate change in architecture. The $27 million project included
adaptive reuse of the existing buildings and a new building. An entire wing of the new building is constructed in
cross-laminated timber (CLT), the first building of its kind in Ontario. The campus also houses the studios of
CKLU-FM, Laurentian University's
campus radio station. ==Curriculum==