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
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
Vietnamese university to turn campus into ‘terraced forest’
Pockets of plantings will be dispersed throughout the staggered floors of the building, framing the expansive courtyard at its center.
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
6 lessons in campus planning
For campus planning, focus typically falls on repairing the bricks and mortar without consideration of program priorities. Gensler's Pamela Delphenich offers helpful tips and advice.
Mixed-Use | Aug 26, 2015
Innovation districts + tech clusters: How the ‘open innovation’ era is revitalizing urban cores
In the race for highly coveted tech companies and startups, cities, institutions, and developers are teaming to form innovation hot pockets.
University Buildings | Aug 13, 2015
Best of Education Design: 9 projects named AIA Education Facility Design Award winners
Georgia Tech's Clough Commons, Boston's Berklee Tower, and seven other facilities were honored for aiding learning and demonstrating excellent architectural design.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY SECTOR GIANTS: Collaboration, creativity, technology—hallmarks of today’s campus facilities
At a time when competition for the cream of the student/faculty crop is intensifying, colleges and universities must recognize that students and parents are coming to expect an education environment that foments collaboration, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Contractors | Jul 29, 2015
Consensus Construction Forecast: Double-digit growth expected for commercial sector in 2015, 2016
Despite the adverse weather conditions that curtailed design and construction activity in the first quarter of the year, the overall construction market has performed extremely well to date, according to AIA's latest Consensus Construction Forecast.
University Buildings | Jul 28, 2015
OMA designs terraced sports center for UK's Brighton College
Designs for what will be the biggest construction project in the school’s 170-year history feature a rectangular building at the edge of the school’s playing field. A running track is planned for the building’s roof, while sports facilities will be kept underneath.
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
University Buildings | Jul 2, 2015
Design for new pavilion in Toronto includes a ‘peel-away’ façade
An architect's proposal for a renovation of the main office building at the Ontario College of Art and Design features a façade that fans out from the edges of the building, like it’s opening up to visitors.
University Buildings | Jun 29, 2015
Ensuring today’s medical education facilities fit tomorrow’s healthcare
Through thought-leading design, medical schools have the unique opportunity to meet the needs of today’s medical students and more fully prepare them for their future healthcare careers. Perkins+Will’s Heidi Costello offers five key design factors to improve and influence medical education.
