The University of Toronto has a new landmark building in the works, and it's one that they hope will represent a new face for the institution. At last week's Toronto Design Review Panel, during a joint session with the University of Toronto Design Review Committee, the Centre for Civilizations, Cultures, and Cities (CCC) made its first appearance in front of the experts, and the highly-anticipated project did not disappoint. Designed by New York starchitects Diller Scofidio + Renfro alongside prolific local firm architectsAlliance, the 9-storey golden sculpted slab featured many aspects that captured the Panel's imagination.

Rendering looking northwest from Queen's Park, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The unique building slots itself onto a rather difficult site. Located immediately south of the Royal Ontario Museum, the new structure slides in between the heritage-designated Falconer Hall to the east, and the mid-century Edward Johnson Building to the west. The CCC rises to a total height of 9 storeys and 43 metres including mechanical penthouse, only 6 metres taller than the neighbouring ROM Crystal.

East site elevation, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

Inside the building, a mash-up of programs aims to create a truly vertical mixed-use campus. The CCC will house the university's new School of Cities; several departments of the Faculty of Arts and Science, including Archaeology, History, and Near and Middle East Civilizations; one floor dedicated for use by the Royal Ontario Museum; a 250-seat music recital hall on the sixth floor; a multi-functional event space on the ninth floor; a new Urban Lab on the second floor, envisioned as a flexible fabrication and exploration space; classrooms and student spaces; and a publicly-accessible cafe at ground level. Falconer Hall will retain its current use with the Faculty of Law.

With this new building, the university wanted to create what it considers one of its most urban buildings to date. The presenters described the university's desire to open itself up to the city and to "be a good neighbour" by respecting the existing surrounding landmark buildings while creating a landmark in itself that contributes to the cultural conglomeration of the nearby institutions.

Rendering showing relationship between CCC and Falconer Hall, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The design team decided early on that the new intervention must be as sensitive as possible to the adjacent heritage buildings, particularly Falconer Hall which currently sits on the site. For this reason, the massing was pushed as far west as possible, allowing Falconer Hall to be expressed as its own autonomous building and to maintain its relationship with Queen's Park. As well, the push to the west exposed as much of the south facade of the ROM as possible, allowing its south-facing arched window to remain fully visible. The shuttered McLaughlin Planetarium, which some have argued should be designated heritage, will be demolished as part of this development.

Site plan, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The design team further described how the architecture of the CCC perfectly embodies the metaphor of openness that the university is seeking to achieve. The slab building is 'eroded' away at its southern end, where the architects have placed all of the public functions and student-oriented spaces, such as classrooms, the recital hall, the event space, and the Urban Lab, among others. 

Rendering of the recital hall, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The volumes of these public areas push in and pull away from the eroded slab, expressing the multitude of different uses within a unified structure. All of these more public areas are faced with clear glazing and vertical fins on the exterior that represent their openness, while the more closed academic offices and research stations on the northern end of the building are clad with more opaque glazing across a uniform rectangular volume. The recital hall is the exception to the cladding, expressed as a 3-storey rectangular volume hovering in the air, with a large picture window facing south and solid cladding facing east.

Rendering looking southwest from Queen's Park, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The crowning feature of the building is the central stair and atrium, continuously snaking its way diagonally up the east side of the building all the way to the ninth floor. The stairwell is intended to be the organizing communal element within the building, and will be as transparent to the exterior as possible so as to be clearly visible and distinguishable from the outside.

Rendering of the central stair, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The cladding of the building will feature a distinctive golden hue that will make it unique within the city. While it is still too early in the design process to have settled on materials, the design team indicated their desired direction for the finishes. The northern end is proposed to be fritted glass with recessed aluminum reveals at each of the floor slabs, while the southern end will be transparent glass with vertical aluminum fins. The designers are exploring brick options or some other similar material for the recital hall, with a colour to match the golden palette. All exterior materials will be matte, avoiding intense glare that a reflective gold surface might create. Continuing with the theme of warm materials, wood was indicated as a preference for the interior finishes in the main spaces of the building.

Close-up rendering of the building, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

The public realm around the building is designed by NAK Design Strategies, and features two entry plazas, one to the south facing the Flavelle House and connecting southwest to Philosopher's Walk, and one to the north fronting onto Queen's Park. The north plaza contains an outdoor terrace for the cafe, which is raised above grade due to the presence of the underground loading dock directly beneath. At the southeast corner of the site, the entrance to the loading dock is located off of Queen's Park Crescent, and, unable to relocate it, the landscape architects have surrounded it with natural planting to mask and minimize the appearance of the ramp.

Ground floor plan, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

Overall, the design team wanted to create a "sense of drama" and a "sense of identity" with the building, while providing a backdrop for Falconer Hall that respects the adjacent landmark structures.

The joint Panel was very impressed with the proposal, heaping praise on the design team for their solutions to the numerous constraints of the difficult site. They were most impressed with how the designers navigated the programmatic and site-specific challenges, saying that the "evolution of the design is commendable and successful" and that the building "does a beautiful job of resolving what it needs to do on that site and within that context". They commented that it was a "simply brilliant solution", and that the "organization of the building is incredibly clever and well put-together, and is an excellent example of organizing a vertical campus building".

Building section, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

Panelists also applauded the architecture of the building, saying that "the level of quality and design excellence will be a huge asset to the city" and that it is an "incredible rich and iconic building that will form a gateway to the university". Panel members agreed that the design of the building perfectly achieves the university's goals of wanting to have an open, welcoming front to the city in a very urban setting, representing "emblematic architecture that has a strong narrative".

Rendering of the ninth floor event space, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

Panelists did have some minor critiques on how to improve the project moving forward. A few Panel members lamented that Falconer Hall has largely been left out of the plans, and that the project might be better served if Falconer and the CCC were better integrated. Currently, Falconer Hall will be left largely untouched, with only two possible connections proposed at ground and basement levels.

Third floor plan, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

Another comment came from a sustainability point of view, asking the design team to consider the quality of the interior spaces given the amount of daylight that will be let in on account of the floor-to-ceiling glazing. One Panelist commented that it would be a shame to create these beautiful spaces, but have them rendered unusable due to heat from solar exposure or due to excessive glare on laptops and interior surfaces caused by unfiltered daylight.

Other comments included concerns that the building somewhat dwarfs Falconer Hall with its massing, and that perhaps an upper-level setback on the north end or some variation in the finishes or massing of the north end might help to make it feel less monolithic. The public realm around the building was also called a bit busy by one Panel member, and was recommended to be simplified. As well, the design team was encouraged to further consider the relationship on the north end of the building to the ROM, where the two buildings are separated by a narrow laneway.

Rendering looking northeast from Philosopher's Walk, image courtesy of University of Toronto.

Overall, Panel members were very pleased with the project, and called it "quite an amazing work of architecture and urban design". The joint Panel voted unanimously in support of the project.

We will keep you updated as designs for the Centre for Civilizations, Cultures, and Cities continue to evolve, but in the meantime, you can join in on the discussion by checking out the associated Forum thread, or by leaving a comment in the space provided on this page.

* * *

UrbanToronto has a new way you can track projects through the planning process on a daily basis. Sign up for a free trial of our New Development Insider here.