Perkins and Will and Ryerson University have recently unveiled the new Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex in downtown Toronto. The 28-story tower will connect students to the vibrancy of the city while also unifying Ryerson’s academic and residential functions.
Perkins and Will’s Toronto and Vancouver studios conceived the project as a vertical campus typology, the first of its kind for Ryerson University. The design adapts Toronto’s prevalent podium-tower model, lifting the building’s volumes to create an active streetscape and continuous public spaces from the ground level to the roof.
The nearly 300,000-sf building is located on the eastern edge of Ryerson’s campus and has become a new gateway into the campus from the east side. The building is clad in white aluminum panels and accented with orange. The orange threads visually represent the public spaces that are woven throughout the building, putting its activities on display.
Four academic departments (Nursing, Midwifery, Nutrition, and Occupational and Public Health) are integrated within the first eight stories. The programs are supported by a variety of new classrooms, teaching kitchens, and labs. A Digital Fabrication lab, visible from the public realm, and flexible research facilities are also included. Residence dorms rise above 18 stories and house up to 330 students.
At pedestrian level a public atrium includes a cafe and spaces to socialize and study, creating new porosity with connections that link the city to the heart of the campus. Large windows help to create a seamless indoor-outdoor transition.
The Complex is also outfitted with machine-learning systems and sustainable technologies, such as a green roof that acts as an urban farm for the ground-floor cafe and a greywater system for faucets, toilets, and showers.
The Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. It is expected to use 32% less energy and consume 35% less potable water than traditional construction. A metering and monitoring system allows the residence students to view their energy and water consumption online.
The building officially completed in 2019.
Related Stories
| Aug 7, 2012
Shedding light on the arts
Renovating Pietro Belluschi’s Juilliard School opens the once-cloistered institution to its Upper West Side community.
| Aug 7, 2012
McCarthy tops out LEED Platinum-designed UCSD Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility
New laboratory will enable UCSD to recruit and accommodate preeminent faculty.
| Jul 25, 2012
KBE Building renovates UConn dining hall
Construction for McMahon Dining Hall will be completed in September 2012.
| Jul 24, 2012
Military Housing firm announces expansion into student housing
The company has partnered with the military to build, renovate and manage nearly 21,000 homes with more than 65,000 bedrooms, situated on more than 10,000 acres of land nationwide.
| Jul 20, 2012
2012 Giants 300 Special Report
Ranking the leading firms in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction.
| Jul 20, 2012
Higher education market holding steady
But Giants 300 University AEC Firms aren’t expecting a flood of new work.
| Jul 16, 2012
Business school goes for maximum vision, transparency, and safety with fire rated glass
Architects were able to create a 2-hour exit enclosure/stairwell that provided vision and maximum fire safety using fire rated glazing that seamlessly matched the look of other non-rated glazing systems.
| Jul 11, 2012
Perkins+Will designs new home for Gateway Community College
Largest one-time funded Connecticut state project and first designed to be LEED Gold.
| Jul 9, 2012
Integrated Design Group completes UCSB data center
Firm uses European standard of power at USCB North Hall Research Data Center.
