Watercolour of the James Ferrier Building -- Canadian Architecture Collection

In 1909, Percy Erskine Nobbs, who designed many of the campuses structures and was the Director of the School of Architecture at the time, was commissioned to build a Power House for McGill to provide heat and electricity to many of the campuses buildings. These facilities, located on Dr. Penfield Avenue, had previously been in the Macdonald Engineering Building and enabled the students to see engines at work. The building was expanded in 1926 and 1936 to keep up with the demands of the campus. In 1963, Fleming and Smith were hired to construct a modern power plant for the University on the same site as the old one. This purely functional, concrete edifice was named the James Ferrier Building after a chancellor of McGill.