6.5K 
The University of Toronto's expanding architectural landscape is soon set to welcome the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre. With the international design team of New York's Weiss/Manfredi Architects and Toronto's Teeple Architects, this institutional complex has been heavily anticipated by the city’s architectural fandom. This 12-storey complex, located at 112 College Street, is steps from Queen's Park station on University Line 1.
Since our last update in June of 2022, the site has made considerable progress; now, Phase 1 is nearing completion as work continues on the streetscape around it.
Looking northeast to the building in October 2022, the orange tower crane still stood overhead, its boom oriented northwest/southeast, while the cladding and glazing were predominantly finished, save for the upper-west section of the south elevation. The construction hoist is prominently visible against the west facade, while a scaffold can be made out bridging the lower and upper segments of the south elevation, while hoarding populates the grade level.
In December 2022, looking northwesterly across College Street reveals the crane is now gone. The scaffold, previously seen between the building's tiers, has also been dismantled, revealing the contiguous glass curtainwall wrapping the articulation midway up the structure. In the right foreground is the vintage Banting Institute structure. To the immediate east of Phase 1, once its remaining tenants have moved into the new building, it will be torn down so that Phase 2 (the taller portion seen in the rendering at the top of this story) can go ahead.
From March of this year, a raised vantage point offers a northeastwards glimpse into the structure's uppermost levels. Portions of the facade are still pending completion. The rooftop reveals an array of davits, purposed to secure maintenance equipment. At grade, stored materials await installation.
A view looking southeastwards from May places the building within the context of downtown Toronto's evolving cityscape and educational institutions. Another ongoing U of T project, the FitzGerald Building Conversion, including renovations and the addition of an atrium, is under construction west of the site. The completed MaRS Centre Phase 2 to the south, is hidden by closer buildings. It epitomizes cutting-edge laboratory and office facilities in a symbiotic setting. Soon, the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre will complement these educational and research ambitions.
From a grounded view looking northeast College and Murray streets, the completed exterior comes into sharp focus. Sunlight bounces off the west facade, accentuating the structure's distinctive pyramidal shape and contours.
By August, Phase 1 is nearing its culmination, with occupancy on the horizon. Construction efforts have gravitated to the completing the streetscape along College Street.
The crew has excavated elongated trenches, intended for planting landscaping elements. A compact white excavator operates near mounds of soil to the west where the building fronts on Queens Park, while personnel toil within the excavations, the depth reaching their shoulders. Bundles of Unilock paving materials await deployment nearby.
Following the opening of the first phase, the adjacent 1930-built Banting Institute building is scheduled to be demolished, making way for the taller, larger second phase – a 20-storey tower home to laboratories and research space for life science development and bioscience, as well as regenerative medicine.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
* * *
UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.
| Related Companies: | ANTAMEX, Bousfields, Crossey Engineering, Doka Canada Ltd./Ltee, Grounded Engineering Inc., Trillium Architectural Products, Walters Group |
