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George Brown College has opened their new School of Design in the Daniels Waterfront - City of Arts complex at Lower Jarvis and Queens Quay in Toronto's East Bayfront area. The 459,000 square foot building is home to many design and arts-oriented concerns, with George Brown taking just over 100,000 square feet, mostly on the second and third floors. (The north half of the development which will predominantly be residential is still under construction.)
George Brown says its School of Design is structured to train new talent for industry that is currently lacking professionals with advanced design and innovation knowledge. The school has space for approximately 1,800 students yearly, supplying 650 trained individuals to the industry once a year. Areas within the new space have been designed to facilitate…
o The Institute without Boundaries, which develops solutions to global challenges.
o The Digital Media & Gaming Incubator, which supports start-ups to create new design-driven products and services.
o Smart, purpose-built collaboration spaces including the Future Ways of Living Lab, IN Store, Digital Incubator and Student Maker Space.
o Specialized labs including a usability testing lab and augmented and virtual reality lab.
o Training and certification programs for industry professionals.
Another of the more distinctive features the new George Brown location offers is an Innovation Exchange space, designed to enhance collaboration between students and businesses to bring new ideas and plans to the market. “The Innovation Exchange is a living lab that tests commercial ideas, concepts and user functionality,” notes Luigi Ferrara, Dean, Centre for Arts, Design and Information Technology, George Brown College, in a press release detailing the move of the school from the college's Downtown Campus, a few blocks to the north.
President Anne Sado of George Brown College states in the press release that “This modern, flexible space is a perfect match for our holistic approach to design – which encompasses not only aesthetics, but also technical feasibility, business feasibility and social purpose.”
The School of Design is the second location at George Brown College's new Waterfront campus, the first building of which was the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences a block to the southeast. The next building in the campus has been dubbed 'The Arbour' and will be a mass timber building.
Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.
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