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U of T: Rotman Expansion/Ctr for Jurisdictional Advantage and Prosperity (KPMB)

From U of T News:

Rotman expansion approved by Business and Academic Boards
Governing Council to consider later this month
Oct 3/07
by Maria Saros Leung

Plans to expand U of T’s Rotman School of Management received preliminary approval from Business Board Oct. 1 and Academic Board Oct. 2 and will go to Governing Council for consideration on Oct. 30.

The expansion plans include a new structure to be built at 91 and 97 St. George St., and the adjacent surface parking lot, and renovations to the existing Rotman building at 105 St. George Street. The project will necessitate relocating CIUT Radio and the Sexual Education and Peer Counseling Centre (SEC), currently located at 91 St. George, to other spaces on the downtown campus. The 44 parking spaces will be relocated in a variety of locations across campus to maintain compliance with municipal parking by-laws. The Classics Department is currently being moved from 97 St. George St. to the Lillian Massey Building as a separate initiative.

Business Board approved an estimated project cost of $91.8 million dollars, with $50 million already earmarked for the project by the Government of Ontario, $10 million in government grants to the university, $2.8 million from Joseph and Sandra Rotman, $9 million from U of T’s general revenue, and $20 million to be raised through advancement activities.

“We’ll be able to produce a greater number of graduate students in the province and establish the University of Toronto as a global centre for business research,†said Professor Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management. By 2014, the school anticipates a 50 per cent growth in faculty complement and a relative increase in students.

The school underwent renovations in 2004 adding a fourth and fifth floor to the south wing of the Rotman building, but this addition was not sufficient enough to support the current and long-term goals of the school.

The new building will have to rise between 10 to 13 stories to accommodate the school’s plans for growth. The site currently allows construction to a maximum height of only five stories. It was noted that the project will require some negotiation with the City of Toronto and a possible rezoning of the site once Governing Council has approved the project.

The projected completion date for the expansion of the Rotman School of Management is summer 2011.
_______________________________________________

Governing Council - Planning and Budget Committee Report:

http://www.governingcouncil.utoront...ttee/2007+-+2008+Academic+Year/a0918-10ii.pdf

AoD
 
KPMB to design expansion of Rotman School of Management

By Ken McGuffin, posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB) has been chosen by a University of Toronto selection committee to design a previously announced expansion of the Rotman School of Management. The expansion has become necessary to accommodate the school's continued growth. Since 1998, many Rotman programs have doubled in size, along with its faculty and research centres and institutes.

Expected to open in 2011, the new structure will be integrated with the current building at 105 St. George St. and will house the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking, the Lloyd and Delphine Martin Prosperity Institute, other research programs and centres of excellence, classrooms, study space and event facilities.

The new building is the centerpiece of a $120-million capital, research and education project that was kick-started in March 2006 when the Province of Ontario pledged $50 million towards it. An additional $10 million in federal funding has since been allocated and individuals such as Sandra and Joseph Rotman, Marcel Desautels and the Canadian Credit Management Foundation and others have made major gifts to the project.

University and Rotman School officials narrowed the search down to three design firms in March, with KPMB ultimately selected to take on the project.

"KPMB's design best expressed our school's core mission to pursue scholarly excellence and promote the power of creativity and integrative thinking," said the Rotman School's vice-dean (academic), Professor Peter Pauly, a member of the selection committee. "Their design emphasizes strategic connectivity, both inside and out. The architecture draws on the value of what surrounds it and expands that value beyond the site, well into the campus and into the city."

A preliminary concept for the new building will be unveiled to the public in June. Pauly described some of KPMB's core ideas: "a series of horizontal and vertical connections will be built between the existing and new buildings to facilitate the flow of people. Other design elements include a multi-storey glass structure; several green roofs; a main floor cafeteria for students and staff; and a 400-seat state-of-the-art event space on the second floor."

Professor Richard Florida, academic director of the Martin Prosperity Institute, was thrilled with the selection.

"They really 'get' us,and they understand the neighbourhood and the community as well," said the author of Who's Your City? and The Rise of the Creative Class. "Their design will further energize St. George Street and make our neighbourhood a better place to study, work and live."

The Rotman School is reinventing management tools and frameworks for a creative society, said Florida, and "the new building will reflect the 'new way to think' that is the basis of our approach, providing students, researchers, staff and the local community with a physical springboard to harness their creative capabilities."

The new building will aspire to LEED certification via the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Canada Green Building Rating System. The project team includes renowned energy consultant Thomas Auer of Transsolar, who will provide leadership and direction on energy performance.

"We are thrilled to be working with one of the world's most creative and innovative business schools," said KPMB partner Bruce Kuwabara. "The basic principles of sustainability - enduring value, fresh air ventilation, access to natural light and views - have informed KPMB's work since it was founded and they will inform the Rotman School's expansion," he added.

Other buildings designed by KPMB in Toronto include the Gardiner Museum, Canada's National Ballet School, the Royal Conservatory of Music TELUS Performance and Learning Centre, the Young Centre for Performing Arts and the Bell Lightbox for the Toronto International Film Festival Group
 
Indeed. I am getting a little sick of KPMB public buildings, as exquisite as some of them are. Time to change things up.
 
Well perhaps I could make a better comment if I had actually seen KPMB's proposal, and the other two. But I would hae to call it good news. The National Ballet School, to name one, is one of the best buildings in the city. I actually go out of my way to pass by it. Maybe I'll be doing the same with this new building.
 
this email was sent out to Rotman Alumni

reminder: a presentation by KPMB Architects on the Rotman School expansion, Oct 29

Date and Time: October 29, 5:30 sharp to about 6:15 presentation; 6:15 to 7:30 cocktails (host bar)

Place: Fleck Atrium (ground floor), Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 105 St. George Street, Toronto

You and your guests are invited to attend a special presentation by the Rotman School.

On Oct 29th the Honourable David Peterson, Chancellor, University of Toronto and Professor Roger Martin, Dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, will co-host this special design presentation by Bruce Kuwabara and Marianne McKenna of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB).

Be among the first to see KPMB’s plans for the Rotman School’s building expansion and celebrate the official launch of our $200-million fundraising campaign. Our plan is to expand our facilities, attract the world’s leading academics and most promising students as well as fund more research – all the areas that make the Rotman School a great place for learning, teaching and innovation.

We’re developing a ‘New Way to Think’ about business education and we invite you to be part of this journey.

TO ATTEND this special presentation, please RSVP online by noon on at www.rotman.utoronto.ca/oct29

Dress code is business casual. There are three ways to reach the Rotman School: by public transit we are a 2.5 minute walk south of the St George TTC station; by bicycle we have bike racks at our main entrance and to the south and by car there is underground parking available, the entrance is located just south of the Rotman School.

If you have any questions, please contact sherry.mcgratten@rotman.utoronto.ca.

We hope to see you here on October 29.
 
Thanks rdaner

The project looks overscaled and uninspiring (like their proposal for the Faculty of Law). And where is the old CIUT building? The really should use Bahen Centre as the model...

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Thanks rdaner

The project looks overscaled and uninspiring (like their proposal for the Faculty of Law). And where is the old CIUT building? The really should use Bahen Centre as the model...

AoD
Click to expand...

Agreed. A lazy effort from KPMB.
 
I actually like it! Depending on the angle that you face it, the taller rear section will seem less prominent. Red brick would be more in keeping with the context of the neighbourhood, mind you.
 
I really dislike it. The scale is all wrong. It looks like its going to clash horribly with the rest of the area.
 
Visually overpowers the Newman Centre, which I really like, so I'm not too fond of this actually.
 
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