Since celebrating its topping off ceremony back in November, the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, the newest addition to the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University, has continued to make steady progress through the last six months, despite the harsh winter we had in Toronto. The traditional, celebratory fir tree from the topping off and the tower crane it was on have been replaced by portable cranes and other heavy equipment as the structure's signature, intricate cladding work has become the focus of the exterior work.

Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, York University, Toronto, image courtesy of ZAS Architects

Here, a close-up shot of the glazing, closer to completion, can be seen:

Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, York University, Toronto, image courtesy of ZAS Architects

Another angle, showing the structure from further away, highlights the rapid progress underway:

Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, York University, Toronto, image courtesy of ZAS Architects

Nicknamed "the Cloud," by faculty and fellow students, the ZAS Architiects-designed building aims to deliver upon the designer's bold vision of a thoroughly modern, 21st-century space for free-form innovation and creativity. Once completed, the Bergeron Centre will encompass 169,000 sq. ft. of mixed, open-concept, fluid, highly flexible classroom spaces, alongside study rooms and labs spread across 6 floors. Putting a whole new meaning to the well-worn phrase "blue sky," the new structure promises to be a place for the type of immediate, free-flowing thought that is essential for fostering a creative, collaborative, and invigorating, educational environment to be enjoyed by tomorrow's engineers and city builders. 

Below is a rendering of what the interior, open-concept learning environment will look like once complete:

Interior, Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, York University, Toronto, image courtesy of ZAS Architects

Assuming the continuation of what has been a steady pace of construction, the $60 million structure will aim to open in August, 2015, just in time for September classes. Built in part from a generous, $8 million donation from Doug and Sandra Bergeron—from whom the Centre for Engineering Excellence gets its name—the new building promises to be a one-of-a-kind addition to what has in recent years been an exciting time for development at York University. Together with all of this new construction are of course, the long-anticipated opening of the Spadina Subway Expansion to York University in 2017, along with the upcoming participation of the campus with the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games this summer. 

Stay tuned for future progress updates, and check our dataBase file, linked below, for all information about the ongoing construction of the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence for the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University. Want to get in on the discussion? Choose the associated Forum thread link, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.