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The University of Toronto recently announced that it has resurrected its dormant and controversial development at 90 Queen's Park Crescent with a complete redesign and reduced size, years after it was shelved following significant community resistance. The project, now just referred to as 90 Queen's Park, rises 6 storeys high, representing a reduction of two floors and roughly 60% total space from its predecessor. Renderings released by the University show a triangulated facade over a more compact box, doing away with the staggered stack of rectangular volumes in its previous form.
Way back in 2019, before anyone knew what 'Covid' meant, the University unveiled a shiny gold addition to its downtown campus, known then as the Centre for Civilizations, Cultures, and Cities, with a flashy design from American starchitects Diller Scofidio + Renfro alongside local firm architects—Alliance. Wedged in between the Royal Ontario Museum, Falconer Hall, and the Edward Johnson Building, the new building would replace the shuttered McLaughlin Planetarium, which was purchased by the University in 2009. The 9-storey tower was wrapped in gold, with recessed and projecting volumes carving out its massing as it hovered over the neighbouring heritage structures.
Despite initially receiving support from City staff and the Toronto Design Review Panel, resistance quickly gathered from the local community. Eight neighbouring residents' associations banded together to form the Queen's Park Coalition, a united front that opposed the development in its previous form. Their main arguments were that the building did not fit into its surroundings; it was too bulky, too tall, and too massive, and overwhelmed the neighbouring structures. They argued that the University was trying to cram too much program onto a site that was too small. They also claimed that the gold colour and boxy form did not respect the adjacent landmark heritage buildings.
Heritage organizations have also been opposing this development since the University first announced plans to demolish the McLaughlin Planetarium back in 2014. For conservation groups, the 1968-built planetarium is an under-appreciated gem from Toronto's Modernist renaissance in the 1950s and 60s, and deserves to be kept for its unique and innovative design that embodies the spirit of the time. Currently the planetarium does not hold any heritage status or protections.
Following a first round of community consultations after its 2019 rezoning submission, a revised 8-storey design was released in April 2020 with some minor adjustments to the massing, however these changes did little to appease the opponents of the project. The development was eventually appealed by the University to the Ontario Land Tribunal, where a settlement was reached in April 2021, and was subsequently approved for rezoning by City Council in July 2021. The only images that were included in the settlement documents showed the basic agreed-upon zoning envelope, essentially a generic box with a toned-down massing and slightly reduced height that aligned with the adjacent ROM. From there, the design was never developed any further, and the project went silent.
That is, until now. The University has unveiled new renderings that depict a completely reimagined building on this site, scaled down to 6 storeys and roughly 60% less space than its original design. The new building is designed by the same team of architects as the original, but with a completely new concept.
Updated drawings, plans, and details of the building are not yet available, so a more detailed comparison of the changes is not possible at this time. But based on the visuals that we do have, there are obvious associations that can be made between the new design of the building and the neighbouring ROM, with the triangulated planes of the facade reminiscent of the ROM's striking crystals. The renderings depict a large ground-level entry, wrapped in wood and visible from the street through a large glass facade. The upper floors are draped with clashing planes of vertical fins that create a more dynamic surface. The push and pull of the building's massing that was the defining characteristic of the original design has been carried through to the new, albeit with a more subdued contrast.
With the reduction in size comes a slight reduction in program. Originally, the building was to house the School of Cities, along with a mash-up of other programs including several departments from the Faculty of Arts and Science, a recital hall, an event space, an "Urban Lab", and one floor dedicated for use by the ROM. According to the latest description from the University, the new building will still be home to the School of Cities as its primary occupant, and will "include spaces for the Faculty of Arts and Science, the Faculty of Law, and the Faculty of Music". The building will also feature a "world-class recital hall", as did the original design, and it will have a publicly-accessible ground floor with a cafe and direct connections to the adjacent Falconer Hall and Edward Johnson Building. It is also noted that the new design will preserve more of the west wing of Falconer Hall than the previous iteration.
According to the University, work to prepare the site for construction will begin in July 2025, but a projected completion date for the project has not yet been announced.
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.
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| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, Bousfields, ERA Architects |
