Toronto U of T: Robarts Library Renovations & Robarts Common | ?m | ?s | U of T | Diamond Schmitt

[MoObserves]

Funny how these brown boxes changed the entire building for me. It was an ok glass box before, still is, but these boxes tie it back somehow to the structure it's growing out of.

 

[Patch]

Couple quick shots while biking by.

 

[Domenico]

Shot today.

 

[AlbertC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1415365680740847616

 

[Patch]

2021/07/23

Overall the design is a miss for me but I do think those wooden boxes will pop quite nicely with the lighting at night

 

[Amare]

Funny, those wooden boxes are the same colour that the glass should've been tinted. They almost completely screwed up this addition.

 

[corktowner2]

What were they thinking? Robarts deserved better.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Missed opportunity for not making the back cladding match the rest of the Roberts Library. Makes the whole extention look like an awkward afterthought, IMO.

 

[syn]

I think they were trying to emulate / play off of the diagonal creases in the glass frontage. This addition has grown on me. I appreciate the details like the brown cubes (columns?) peeking through the glass. It makes it look like the Robarts building is latching onto this new section and brings some sort of cohesion between glass and the concrete mass behind.

Good idea, but the rest of the details (along with lighting, reflections, etc.) nullify the effect IMO.

This feels like an entirely new building beside Robarts (or in front of it depending on where you're viewing it from).

On its own and in the right context it would be a nice addition to the campus. As an addition, it fails.

 

[AlbertC]

Couple renderings of the future interiors:

Robarts Common | Diamond Schmitt

Robarts Common reinvents the function of an academic library for the 21st Century by focussing on gathering and study environments.

dsai.ca

 

[AlbertC]

The new addition is expected to open in mid-October 2021:

While you were away… U of T was busy building for the future

While many University of Toronto students, staff, faculty and librarians studied, taught and worked from home over the past year, U of T’s three campuses remained a hub of activity as construction forged ahead on several transformational projects. At St.

www.utoronto.ca

By mid-October, students visiting Robarts Library should also be able to access the airy, new addition, which will offer an expanded number of student study spaces – many of them with great views.

Photo from article:

 

[Patch]

Couple nighttime shots (2021/09/13)

 

[Johnny Au]

September 29, 2021:

 

[Benito]

Today happy thanksgiving.

 

[junctionist]

At least you can see skids of natural stone. I'm hopeful U of T won't succumb to the finishing touch of a typical Toronto project: a plaza of poured concrete with some stick trees and ornamental grass that no one will ever want to visit.