About
Hobbies Building, now the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity
The “Hobbies” building was an innovation of C.W. Lonsdale, built in 1934. Lonsdale placed high value on a “creative educational system” that developed a boy’s ability to fashion things out of the materials at hand. It originally housed a small museum of natural history, a printing press, a falconry club, rooms for manual training in both wood and metal, a drafting classroom, a large open room used to store cadet equipment and, later, outdoors club equipment.
In 1990, a donor offered to renovate the original building, but the building was sinking into peat, so architects advised building new instead of renovating the existing building. Once the sinking structure was demolished, a proper stable foundation was built, and a new building was constructed to look as much like the original as possible. The original distinctive half-log siding was even saved, refinished, and reinstalled. The only noticeable exterior change was a small roof along the front, including a gable over the entrance similar to the original. Fittingly, the stained glass window designed and donated by the School's first art teacher, Robert Rose, was moved from the Chapel to the entrance to the Hobbies Building.
The woodwork shop moved back into the large room on the west end, while the art studio moved into the east end. Smaller rooms contained an office and studios for sculpture, silk screening and pottery. The upper floor was renovated to accommodate the photography studio with darkroom, a computer graphics studio, and yearbook activity space. When digital cameras became more common than film cameras, the darkroom was removed and a film screening room was added to accommodate the growing filmmaking classes. These visual arts were just part of a robust Fine Arts program, which also included performing arts and service activities in other locations throughout the campus. In recognition of how the original Fine Arts program expanded to include many creative endeavours, it was renamed as the 360 Program in 2020.
In 2023, the hub for the arts on the Shawnigan campus was renamed the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity in recognition of the outstanding service to the School delivered by former headmaster Simon Bruce-Lockhart (1990-2000) and his wife Joanne (1990-2007), both exceptional teachers and inspiring educators far beyond the classroom. In addition to acknowledging the Bruce-Lockharts, the new name may better reflect the endeavours of its students as being much more than "hobbies."
The information presented in this write-up is based on current information available in the School's Archives and consultation with key people who have some relevant connection to this "object." If you have further information about this "object" that you would like to contribute, please contact the School’s Advancement Office at alumni@shawnigan.ca.
The woodwork shop moved back into the large room on the west end, while the art studio moved into the east end. Smaller rooms contained an office and studios for sculpture, silk screening and pottery. The upper floor was renovated to accommodate the photography studio with darkroom, a computer graphics studio, and yearbook activity space. When digital cameras became more common than film cameras, the darkroom was removed and a film screening room was added to accommodate the growing filmmaking classes. These visual arts were just part of a robust Fine Arts program, which also included performing arts and service activities in other locations throughout the campus. In recognition of how the original Fine Arts program expanded to include many creative endeavours, it was renamed as the 360 Program in 2020.
In 2023, the hub for the arts on the Shawnigan campus was renamed the Bruce-Lockhart Centre for Creativity in recognition of the outstanding service to the School delivered by former headmaster Simon Bruce-Lockhart (1990-2000) and his wife Joanne (1990-2007), both exceptional teachers and inspiring educators far beyond the classroom. In addition to acknowledging the Bruce-Lockharts, the new name may better reflect the endeavours of its students as being much more than "hobbies."
The information presented in this write-up is based on current information available in the School's Archives and consultation with key people who have some relevant connection to this "object." If you have further information about this "object" that you would like to contribute, please contact the School’s Advancement Office at alumni@shawnigan.ca.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
