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Practice : Kohn Shnier Architects and ERA Architects Inc. in association | Image : doublespace photography

University College Revitalization

Climate Action

The architecture profession must play a role in stabilizing the climate change crisis, lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in favour of clean power. This is one of the reasons why the OAA has chosen “climate action” as a theme in its strategic plan.
As it did in 2020, the OAA once again required Energy Usage Intensity (EUI) metrics to be included as part of the submissions process for the 2022 Design Excellence Awards program. EUI is the measurement of a building's annual energy consumption relative to its size. The lower the number, the less impact the building has on our climate. You can learn more about the OAA’s Total EUI Calculator online tool, free for both members and the public, by clicking here.  Attached is the 2030 Ontario Target Data chartwhich shows the EUI goals for the 2030 challenge based on the building type.


TEUI of the project: 
Interior Fit-out


Location:
Toronto, Ontario
Architect: Kohn Shnier Architects and ERA Architects Inc. in association

This project is the strategic and surgical revitalization of University College—an iconic landmark and one of the oldest buildings at the University of Toronto. The keystone of the project is the re-introduction of the University College Library into the two historic Great Halls located on the second level of the building, where the library had originally existed prior to the fire of 1890. This was a project with many design mandates, but most significantly, the design addresses the building’s history as inaccessible. The project dismantles the legacy of physical barriers by celebrating the architectural insertions that achieve it.


Photo Credit: doublespace photography

This was a project with many design mandates. Supporting the main space of the Library are a new reading room, a conferencing centre, rejuvenated classrooms, student writing centre, and a new café. Of course, serving all the above, was the challenge to integrate new IT, lighting, A/V, and mechanical systems within a century-old building without it imposing itself on the beloved heritage spaces and 19th century architectural details. Perhaps most important, all of this had to be seamlessly and elegantly integrated into a design that created universal accessibility to a building that was historically very challenging to navigate


Photo Credit: doublespace photography

Every effort was made to approach the existing fabric deftly, to ensure the requirements for access and program modernization did not overwhelm or compromise the qualities of the building the community holds so dear. Every new element was carefully considered in its relationship to the historic fabric, but also in how it could service the requirements of contemporary education, both now and mindful of the future. The design style neither mimics nor rejects the history of its host but plays off its eclectic material palate, celebrating the College by bringing it into the present while preparing it for the future.


Photo Credit: doublespace photography

University College makes a case for creative space planning and vision as tools to reduce the carbon footprint of Canada’s institutions. By relocating the library into the previously under-used Great Halls, the University not only made better use of their more iconic spaces, but also allows the North Wing to become a home to another faculty. By rethinking how to use the Colleges existing spaces, the project reduced the massive quantities of embedded that would have been associated with the construction of a new building. University College Revitalization makes a case to rethink and reuse rather than build new.


Photo Credit: doublespace photography

This project faces a fundamental paradox: the university needs to modernize, embrace emerging technologies for learning, and foster awareness in issues of equal access, inclusivity, and diversity. Yet, as a heritage landmark, it is emotionally and historically tied to its heritage that embodies the traditions and legacies that are literally “set in stone”. The design is an exemplar in resolving these diverse and contradictory requirements. The interventions are contemporary yet feel as though they have been part of the building all along, while celebrating issues of access, diversity, and inclusivity. The project dismantles the building’s legacy of physical barriers by celebrating the architectural insertions that achieve it. Various strategies were implemented, including the judicious use of ramps to navigate a Gordian knot of level changes. Accessibility merges seamlessly with the historic circulation, using lighting and materiality to provide enhanced and dramatic experiences. Additionally, a new elevator was added; visible within the historical courtyard of the college, the design of this element engages and complements the building’s eclectic and whimsical gothic style, while creating a new icon expressing an era of inclusivity and accessibility.

This blOAAg post is part of a series exploring the OAA’s 17 Design Excellence Finalists for 2022, as selected by our jury.
Click here to see other projects from this current award cycle.

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