A new University of Toronto building is being proposed for downtown Toronto that will create a hub for urban and cultural engagement. The nine storey building will be designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro as well as ArchitectsAlliance and ERA Architects per Construction Canada.
This building will give the School of Cities a permanent home for its urban-focused research, education and outreach initiatives. The building will be designated for classrooms and public spaces and will also have a number of academic units for the arts, science, law and music streams as well as space for the Royal Ontario Museum.
One of their showpieces will be a music recital hall with a large window that will be a backdrop to the stage and provide the audience with south facing views of the Toronto skyline. There will be a 400 seat event space above the hall as well as a cafe on the ground floor and a multi-storey atrium leading up to the recital hall.
The building will incorporate the 118 year old Falconer Hall, which is part of the Faculty of Law, into its design.
"This 'campus within a campus' is revealed in the building's dual identity - a smooth, cohesive block of faculty offices and workspaces that give way to a variegated expression of individual departments as the building is sculpted around Falconer Hall, the historic home of the law department. Several public programs are revealed in the process. At the heart of the building is a dynamic central atrium and stairs linking all floors with clusters of lounge spaces, study spaces and meeting rooms, mixing the various populations of the building with each other and the general public."
Partner-in-charge at Diller Scofidio + Renfro | Charles Renfro
The new University of Toronto landmark will be constructed on the site of the McLaughlin Planetarium, which was closed in 1995. The university's department of astronomy and astrophysics has included a state-of-the-art planetarium theatre in its plans for a new building.
According to Dezeen, the newly released renderings show a nine-storey building that has a dual construction in which one-side of the exterior is flush with floors stacked evenly on top of one another, while the other side is made up of staggered indented volumes.
Some portions are single-, double-, and triple-height to create a layered effect, while others are glazed to give the appearance of the exterior peeling away.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro told Dezeen that the northern facade is comprised of a fritted vision glass and metal panel that reads as fairly uniform in tonality to contrast to the stepped, eroded side of the building which features low reflective glass and aluminum. The building is proposed to be built with glass and masonry, drawing on brick structures in the surrounding area.
The University of Toronto has a dynamic combination of building styles, ranging from contemporary to Romanesque and Gothic Revival.
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