The Toronto Catholic District School Board and Archdiocese of Toronto submitted a proposal to City Planners to replace the school's existing facilities at 56-66 Bond street and consolidate its overall program into a new building on the site. The design will also include the heritage elements and retain the Gothic Revivalist-style facade while still having modernized learning spaces.
Urban Toronto reports that the contemporary, 6-storey building will include:
- Classrooms
- Musical spaces
- Gymnasium
- Rooftop playground
- Integrated all-boys elementary and secondary school
The 0.5 acre site is located on the west side of Bond Street, just north of the intersection with Shuter Street and directly opposite St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica. It is bounded by St. Michael's Hospital Institute to the south, Victoria Street Lane to the west and a 5-storey office building to the north.
The current 2 1/2 storey 66 Bond Street building was designed in a gothic revival, collegiate style and finished in red brick with grey Indiana limestone detailing. Its main facade has a central clock tower. The facade and the clock tower will be conserved and incorporated into the new design.
KPMB + VG Architects in joint venture are the same team behind the 2010-2020 rehabilitation of St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica across the street and have now designed the single six-storey, 7,230m2 building which will be the new home for the 300 pupil boys' school and choral institute of music for grades 3 to 12.
The building is organized as a vertically stacked campus and will feature:
- The gymnasium, administration areas, library and resource centre will be located on the ground floor
- The public and social spaces, including cafeteria and auditorium will be located on Level 2
- Music classrooms, practice, and rehearsal spaces will be located on Level 3
- High school classrooms will be located on Level 4
- The elementary school program will be located on Level 5
- Rooftop playground on Level 6
The main exterior wall finish is a buff-coloured brick, much like the cathedral. The building's upper levels are stepped back from the heritage facade, preserving the legibility and integrity of the existing building, and maintaining the historic scale on Bond Street.
"Physical and cultural heritage associations of the site and its surroundings have been central to the conceptual design and organization of the new building. Visual and spatial connections are created to reinforce the associative links between the school and St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica on the other side of the street, and throughout the new building, views of the Cathedral are framed. By maintaining this continuity of use, conserving the most valuable elements of the existing structure and incorporating them into the new building, the proposed development will promote and enhance the heritage value of the site as it relates to the Cathedral, and within the wider context of Bond Street."
The Heritage Impact Assessment
The replacement school is an urgently needed upgrade of the existing facilities and will alleviate having everything split between four separate buildings.
