DEVELOPMENT GIVE MCCD STRATEGIC PLAN | TEACHING AND LEARNING STUDENT
Behind the construction: A peek inside the McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery
May 28, 2025 ·
Contributed by: Joanna Williams, Marketing and Communications Strategist
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Wondering what is happening behind the scenes at DeGroote’s new McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery?
DeGroote Commerce Society president, Adrita Banik, along with several staff and faculty, took a hard hat tour to explore progress being made in the new home for DeGroote and McMaster students.
“This building really excites me because now students have a place to go where there are multiple floors that are dedicated to us, and it’s a space that is made to enrich the student body’s experience,” says DCS president Adrita Banik.
Adrita said she can already begin to see the community that will develop within this building. “This building has a lot of meaning to the student body because we are bridging the gap and building a connection between the student body and faculty,” she said. “There’s going to be so many students coming and enjoying the space that’s being created.”
Adrita shares that students are looking forward to collaborative spaces to meet, participating in club activities and connecting with fellow students across the university.
“Right now, within DeGroote, we have very limited space for that collaborative experience,” explains Adrita. “I’m really excited for students to be able to get that collaborative experience and have all of this open space to mingle and learn from each other.”
Student clubs will have a dedicated area on the ninth floor and will be located next to DeGroote leadership. “When it comes to the actual sense of community for the students, I think that’s where the student groups play such a vital role,” she says.
“And that’s where students that come to DeGroote in first year start feeling that sense of home and community when they get involved, or when they go to our events.”
Behind the scenes of a construction site
Occupancy within the new McLean Centre building is expected for Fall 2025, and DeGroote programming is expected to be fully activated as of Spring 2026.
Come along with Adrita as she tours several floors currently under construction.
Level 10: Events on 10
This top-floor space will become Events on 10, in partnership with McMaster Housing and Conference Services, accommodating 200 guests for banquet-style events. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide spectacular views of Cootes Paradise, the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, the City of Hamilton and McMaster’s campus.
Level 8: DeGroote Learning Hubs
The eighth floor will feature active learning spaces including the Sustainable Futures Hub, Data Analytics and AI Hub, Sales and Marketing Analytics Hub, Allen H. Gould Trading Floor, KPMG Ignition Lab and DeGroote IT Services.
Take a peek at the new space that will be known as the Sustainable Futures Hub. This hub will immerse learners in global climate conversations, empowering them to co-create sustainable solutions through hands-on, interdisciplinary collaboration.
This will be the future home of the Data Analytics and AI Hub. This hub will empower students to make ethical, AI-informed decisions by immersing them in applied learning, high-performance computing, and real-world, data-intensive analysis. This hub prepares students to lead with innovation and integrity in today’s data-driven world.
Located in these rooms will be the Sales and Marketing Analytics Hub. This Hub will offer immersive, analytics-driven experiences that will prepare students to lead in strategic selling and marketing with a competitive edge.
These images feature construction progress of the Allen H. Gould Trading Floor. The trading floor will provide students with real-world experiences in the financial services industry, helping them build skills, insights and confidence to succeed in this fast-paced sector.
Level 7: DeGroote Learning Hubs
The Marinucci Entrepreneurial Bridge—encompassing the seventh floor of the McLean Centre—will feature several DeGroote Learning Hubs and spaces, including the Teresa Cascioli Entrepreneurial Teaching Studio, the Social Impact Hub and the Design and Innovation Hub.
The Marinucci Entrepreneurial Bridge will be the physical home of entrepreneurship at McMaster. This dedicated space will support innovation at every stage—from ideation to scale—through mentorship, resources and experiential programs that turn ideas into impact. It includes three distinct spaces: the Teresa Cascioli Entrepreneurial Teaching Studio, an Ideation Lounge and a Collaboration Studio.
Also located on the seventh floor will be the Social Impact Hub (pictured left and top right) and the Design and Innovation Hub (pictured bottom right).
The Social Impact Hub will empower government, for-profit and social purpose changemakers by facilitating cross-sector collaboration. It actively involves students in the hub’s mission by enabling them to drive meaningful change through practical, hands-on activities that focus on measurable impact.
The Design and Innovation Hub will advance equity-forward, collaborative design by equipping students with the skills to co-create inclusive solutions to complex problems.
Level 6: DeGroote Graduate Research Cluster and R.J. Welke PhD Studies Lounge
The sixth floor will be a dedicated place for graduate students. The DeGroote Graduate Research Cluster will provide workstations and collaboration rooms for students while the R.J. Welke PhD Studies Lounge will offer PhD students a café and lounge space.
Level 3: Innis Library and active learning classrooms
On the third floor we found what will soon become the brand-new Innis Library.
Innis Library is McMaster’s business library. It closed its doors in March 2020 in preparation for demolition and the construction of the McLean Centre. This new space will offer students access to resources, collaboration rooms and a quiet study area to learn and collaborate.
Pictured above on the left is the entrance into Innis Library with the large feature staircase on the right.
Above right, one of the active learning classrooms. This floor will include two digital classrooms: The Douglas Classroom and the Feather Family Classroom. Both are active learning spaces that will be outfitted with multimedia and collaboration technology. In these new classroom spaces, students will participate in experiential courses and activities at DeGroote. On the bottom right image, we can see the entrance to the classrooms on the right-hand side.
Level 2: Auditorium & Student Services Offices
Top right, the Auditorium will be a modern, state-of-the-art learning facility with a wall of digital screens. In this photo, tiered seating will be on the right, and the large screens will be on the wall on the left.
Located near the Auditorium will be the new home of DeGroote’s Student Services, featured in the top left and bottom images.
Notable spaces
A few notable spaces that were not included on the tour include:
The Power Corporation Leadership Hub. Located on the ninth floor, the Leadership Hub builds real-time leadership capabilities using leading-edge neuroscience technology and evidence-based practices to foster strong leadership characteristics.
And the BMO Connection Zone will be located on the main floor lobby. This open space and atrium will encourage unstructured connections between students, faculty and industry and community partners.
About the McLean Centre
The McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery will prepare students for the future of business by fostering collaboration, creativity and a hands-on approach to learning. This innovative space is where DeGroote and McMaster students, faculty, staff and community partners will come together to solve authentic problems and tackle challenges facing society. Visit McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery for more information.
@degrootebiz Come with @DeGroote Commerce Society’s incoming president, Adrita Bank, as she takes on the McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery (MCCD) building tour. #fyp #buildingtour #tour
