university College Revitalization

University College Revitalization

This project is the strategic and surgical revitalization of University College—an iconic landmark and one of the oldest buildings at the University of Toronto. One of the main challenges was to maintain a comprehensive and cohesive design vision of the project over a scope that is disparately distributed throughout the building fabric, over 3 levels.  The keystone of the project is the re-introduction of the University College Library into the two historic Great Halls located on the second level of the building, where the library had originally existed prior to the fire of 1890.

This was a project with many design mandates, but most significantly, the design needed to address the building’s history as inaccessible. The project dismantles the legacy of physical barriers by not only providing the requirements for universal access, but by celebrating the architectural insertions that achieve it. Various strategies were implemented including the judicious use of ramping surfaces to navigate a gordian knot of level changes within the heritage circulation system. Accessibility merges seamlessly with the historic circulation, using lighting and materiality to provide enhanced and dramatic experiences. Additionally, a new elevator was added to the building; visible within the historical courtyard of the college, the design of this element engages and complements the eclectic and whimsical gothic style of the architecture, while creating a new icon expressing a new era of inclusivity and accessibility.

Our approach to this project was driven from the outset by a significant respect for the historic building and a reverence for the spaces within. Supporting the main space of the library are a new reading room, a conferencing center, rejuvenated classrooms, student writing center, and a new café. Of course, serving all the above, was the challenge to integrate new IT, lighting, A/V and mechanical systems within a century old building without it imposing itself on the beloved heritage spaces and 19 century architectural details.

Every effort was made to approach the existing fabric deftly, to ensure the requirements for access and program modernization did not overwhelm or compromise the qualities of the building the community holds so dear. Every new element was carefully considered in its relationship to the historic fabric, but also in how it could service the requirements of contemporary education, both now and mindful of the future.  

The mezzanine, conceived as large-scale furniture element, barely touches the historic plaster walls, while embedding significant layers of new infrastructure. Yet is not merely a means of integrating and distributing new technologies, but also brings users into intimate contact with existing historical features of the space which previously would have only been viewed from a distance. Our design style neither mimics nor rejects the history of its host but plays off its eclectic material palate, celebrating the College by bringing it into the present while preparing it for the future.

Collaborators
ERA architects in association

Photo Credits
Doublespace

Recognition
Canadian Architect
The Globe and Mail
OLA Library Architectural Design Award, 2021
OAA Design Excellence Award, 2022
Excellence in Conservation, Lieutenant Governor’s Awards
Best of Canada, Canadian Interiors
IES Illumination Awards
Peter Stoke Restoration Award
Dezeen
Global Design News
NACIA Custom Fabrication Award, 2023
Toronto Star