Henning Larsen Architects, a Danish architecture firm is working with Toronto-based KPMB Architects and has unveiled its proposal for a new
research and educational facility at the University of Toronto's campus in Mississauga, Ontario.
The Architect's Newspaper reports that the building is being marketed as the Arts, Culture and Technology (ACT) Building. The project will occupy a site in the northwest corner of the university across from the Perkins+Will-designed Deerfield Hall.
Early renderings of the building show:
- Asymmetrical, star-shaped structure with five spokes of varying floor areas and heights
- Include natural construction materials such as wood
- Substation natural lighting
Henning Larsen and KPMB's building will help the university make deeper forays into technological research such as state-of-the-art robotics. The facility will also include the following:
- An extension of the existing Blackwood Gallery
- An Indigenous center
- A lecture theater
- A restaurant
- Offices for the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology
The new ACT Building represents an addition to a long list of past educational projects. Henning Larsen has completed work for several institutions of higher learning in Europe and Australia and KPMB has done projects at the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toronto and others.
This project will still require a series of approvals from the University of Toronto and the city of Mississauga before it can break ground - a process that UTM has already started.
The university aims to attain approvals from the city early this year, with construction slated to begin in 2022 and finish in 2024. No estimated cost of construction has been released yet.
According to the University of Toronto Mississauga, the University is currently undertaking soil tests in the area and informing internal and external communities.
Tammy Cook, Facilities Management and Planning executive director states that they are testing and assessing the property to make sure that it is viable for future development.
The University hopes to start site plan approval discussions with the city in early 2021.
