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Centre Planning Update

May 10, 2026 

Where we are with the centre — a first look at the master plan

A note from the centre planning group. For old students who have been wondering, asking, or quietly waiting for news — here is a first update on where things stand, and where we are heading. Over the past months a small group of us has been steadily working through the practical questions a centre needs answered before any ground gets broken. This post is the start of a regular update, so that the wider community can travel along with us as the work moves forward.

The land

The centre sits on two adjoining lots totalling approximately 13.5 acres in North Cowichan on Vancouver Island. The main lot — 3.5 acres, zoned Private Institutional (PI) — holds the existing meditation-centre building on a knoll at its heart. The second lot of 10 acres, zoned Rural Zone (A2), extends the property into forested land with walking trails for students. The land is gently sloping from north-west to south-east. A registered land survey (April 2026) provides the boundary, contours, and existing footprints that guide all planning.

What is being built

The plan is a phased build — careful, sequenced, and designed so that students sitting courses during construction are not disturbed by the work going on around them.

Upper septic field. A new septic system in the upper, southern portion of the property closest to Calais Road, designed by Spring and her team, set three metres clear of the east boundary.

Management residences. Self-contained homes for management, each with kitchen, living, bedroom, bathroom and a mudroom suited to our climate. Each includes a flexible back room — one used as a full laundry facility for management, the other as a guest bedroom and en-suite for visiting old students, ATs on early steps, or short-stay guests.

AT Suites. A small block of dedicated suites for assistant teachers serving courses, positioned in the quiet middle zone between the management residences and the Dhamma Hall.

A new Dhamma Hall. The heart of the centre will be rebuilt with a capacity of 80 students and servers, so the hall is built once, properly, and serves the centre’s full future — not only the courses we are running today.

Two residential blocks for 20 students each. Two new residential blocks run along the east side of the property, parallel to Wicks Road, on the north side of the Dhamma Hall. Each room has its own private bathroom.

What this build means for student capacity

When the work in this master plan is complete:

  • 40 students per course — the 2 new residential block plus the renovated existing accommodations will be developed to support servers/part-time students and double the centre’s current sitting capacity.
  • 80 student-and-server capacity in the Dhamma Hall — the hall is being built for the centre’s full future, not only for present demand.
  • 40 private bathrooms — every room in the new residential block is en-suite.

What’s next

We are working through the questions that come before a shovel: Choosing an architect — we are exploring British Columbia’s catalogue of pre-approved residential designs, alongside two architect leads. The Dhamma Hall will need its own custom architect when its time comes. Engaging a contractor or build partner — ideally someone who can grow with the project, from septic through residences to the hall. Producing a proper master plan drawing — now that we have the registered survey, we can lay every proposed building, path and zone over the real boundary and contours. The first version of that will appear here shortly.

Walking with us

The Dhamma is built on Dana, and so is this centre. If you would like to receive these updates by email as they go up, you may subscribe to the local Announcement by sending a blank email to [email protected]. 

There will be opportunities, large and small, to support the build as we move into each phase, and we will share those clearly when the time is right. If you wish to find out more and speak with the planning group please email [email protected].

Dana can be given toward the centre at any time, you can do so through the official donations page; Dana. Every contribution, however small, supports the work of bringing this centre into being. For now, thank you for your patience and your good wishes. We are taking the time to do this properly — the way the tradition asks — and that means moving carefully, not quickly. Every careful decision now is an offering toward a place where countless students will one day sit.

With metta, on behalf of the centre planning group.

Posted in: All News, Announcements on May 2026
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