A school with a constantly growing student population, Ryerson University has undertaken many initiatives to tackle the ever challenging issue of providing student housing. Although long regarded a commuter school nestled in a couple blocks of Toronto's downtown, Ryerson's Master Plan has set out directions by which the school can expand and grow its facilities to accommodate new students. As of the 2015/16 school year, there were just shy of 7,700 first year students; the only year group allowed to live on campus in the three existing student residences that currently totals a mere 850 beds. As the Master Plan aims to boost the number of beds up to 2,000, construction is rapidly progressing at Ryerson's Jarvis Street Residence. 

Jarvis Street Residence towering above the surrounding buildings, image by Greg Lipinski

In our last update provided in October, construction of the Ryerson-MPI Group project has reached the building's sixth level. Now in the second half of February, much has changed at the site just steps south of Dundas and Jarvis. Thanks to the relative simplicity of the repetitive tower floor plates and the building's narrow footprint, construction workers have been able to produce just over a floor per week. This has equated in the building rising more quickly than most high-rise projects. At the same time, the building has become visible from multiple vantage points around the neighbourhood. Now at 24 storeys tall, only 6 more floors are needed before the building reaches the mechanical penthouse, presumably in late March or early April.

The tower's floorplates rising at a considerable pace, image by Greg Lipinski

More recently, installation of the cladding has begun on the lower levels. The north and south faces are being treated with a black-framed window wall system, while the north facade will also see distinct swiss pearl composite paneling, not yet installed. Most notably, the distinctive blue spandrel installation has begun on the east facade that fronts onto Jarvis Street. The spandrel panels are arranged randomly in multiple shades of blue, rising in an staggered pattern designed by IBI Group. The concrete wall that comprises the south half of the east facade will be clad in a dark grey precast. 

Close up on the spandrel window wall cladding system, image by Greg Lipinski

Once the majority of the spandrel cladding is installed on the east, so too will begin the installation of the diagonal accent mullions, (as depicted in the project's rendering which you can find in the linked dataBase file). At grade level, the curtain wall glazing is starting to make its presence known on both the ground level and in the podium's second level. 

The ground level defining its shape along Jarvis Street, image by Greg Lipinski

Once complete, the residence will consist of 191 student units. Within these 191 units will be a combination of 19 1-bedroom units, 57 2-bedroom units, and 115 4-bedroom units, totalling 593 beds. Included in these units will be bathroom facilities, a functioning kitchen, and living room. A lounge will be situated on every third floor. While the exterior of the building will likely be finished near the end of the year, work is still to be done inside. The project is anticipated to open in time for September 2018. 

Jarvis Street Residence, only trumped by Pace Condos in height at Dundas and Jarvis, image by Greg Lipinski

We will provide more updates once this project hits another milestone in its construction. In the meantime, additional information can be found in the project's dataBase file, linked below. Want to share your thoughts on the Jarvis Street Residence? Feel free to comment in the field provided on this page, or join in the ongoing discussion in the associated Forum thread.