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
| Apr 17, 2012
FMI report examines federal construction trends
Given the rapid transformations occurring in the federal construction sector, FMI examines the key forces accelerating these changes, as well as their effect on the industry.
| Apr 16, 2012
University of Michigan study seeks to create efficient building design
The result, the researchers say, could be technologies capable of cutting the carbon footprint created by the huge power demands buildings place on the nation’s electrical grid.
| Apr 16, 2012
UNT lab designed to study green energy technologies completed
Lab to test energy technologies and systems in order to achieve a net-zero consumption of energy.
| Apr 13, 2012
Goettsch Partners designs new music building for Northwestern
The showcase facility is the recital hall, an intimate, two-level space with undulating walls of wood that provide optimal acoustics and lead to the stage, as well as a 50-foot-high wall of cable-supported, double-skin glass
| Apr 11, 2012
C.W. Driver completes Rec Center on CSUN campus
The state-of-the-art fitness center supports university’s goal to encourage student recruitment and retention.
| Mar 28, 2012
Holden Cancer Center opens at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
The new cancer clinic provides a significant increase in patient space from the prior facility, which was located in an adjacent building.
| Mar 28, 2012
Tsoi/Kobis & Associates developing master plan for UT Southwestern Medical Center
Firm will spearhead strategies for transforming existing in-patient hospital into state-of-the-art ambulatory care facility.
| Mar 27, 2012
Groundbreaking held for Valencia College West Campus Building 10 in Orlando
Project led by design-build team of SchenkelShultz Architecture and McCree General Contractors, both of Orlando.
| Mar 26, 2012
McCarthy tops off Math and Science Building at San Diego Mesa College
Designed by Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building will provide new educational space for students pursuing degree and certificate programs in biology, chemistry, physical sciences and mathematics.
| Mar 21, 2012
Iowa’s Mercy Medical Center’s new Emergency Department constructed using Lean design
New Emergency Department features a "racetrack" design with a central nurses' station encircled by 19 private patient examination rooms and 2 trauma treatment rooms.
