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After four years of construction, the Ryerson University Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex is largely complete, just in time for the start of the new school year. Although the final pieces of the exterior cladding have yet to be applied, the occupied interiors of the Perkins + Will-designed building are home to a number of unique spaces. The 27-storey building houses 8 levels of institutional space in an academic podium, with residence capacity for 332 students above.
Entering the building from Church Street, you are greeted by a triple-height lobby featuring floating staircases and a wood-panelled wall with punched windows. Natural light floods the space.
The northern interior wall gives students a peak into the adjacent Ryerson School of Interior Design next door, which is a heritage building characterized by brick-and-beam style studio spaces.
Heading up the stairs to the mezzanine level, the space is lit by a grid of space-age circular lights in addition to the natural light from the windows.
Noting a unique design feature, the circle motif continues to the lecture hall doors, which feature porthole-style windows to peer into the classrooms beyond.
A number of group study rooms are located on the south side of the third floor, further adding to the number of bookable spaces on campus since the facilities were greatly expanded in 2014 with the opening of the striking Ryerson Student Learning Centre on Yonge Street.
Moving further up the academic podium, we find a number of faculty offices, classrooms and laboratories accessed through number of soaring atrium spaces accentuated with floating staircases. Pictured below, this study space on the third floor is enhanced by the continuation of orange cladding traversing the curtainwall system from the exterior of the building to the interior.
In the core of the fourth floor, a hollowed out space offers access via staircases between the remaining podium levels, reaching up to the 8th floor.
In addition to the exterior cladding, a rooftop garden intended for an urban farm is still under construction. 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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