Photo courtesy of Ryerson University
Ryerson Univerity has decided to invest in the construction of a brand new Student Learning Centre on Yonge Street, and it seems the building design is about to become one of the architectural landmarks of the city. The glass and concrete design, unveiled on Wednesday, is described as “Ryerson’s window to the world, and the world’s window into Ryerson” by its creators, leading Norwegian architecture house Snøhetta of Oslo and Toronto-based Zeidler Partnership Architects.
Getting over the hurdle
Craig Dykers, one of the principal architects for the Student Learning Centre, explained the design concept, comparing the future university building to the ancient Greek Agora (meeting place) in that it offers generous open spaces and provides students and citizens with many opportunities for interaction and exchange of knowledge, in contrast to old-fashioned university buildings with dim, closed spaces. Ryerson president Sheldon Levy compared the Learning Centre to a 21st century library. It has no books, and Mr. Dykes added that “it’s more like the traditional salon,” a place for inspirational discussions and meetings.
The 155,463 square-foot “glass skin” building will have eight storeys, and each of them is supposed to have a different theme. For example, the sixth floor, nicknamed “the beach," is designed as an open-concept space full of “soft ramps and terraces” and seems more like the perfect place to throw a party than a traditional university classroom. The top floor, dubbed “the overlook,” offers a spectacular view of the city through the floor to ceiling windows. At least half of the roof space will be covered by vegetation, earning the design a silver grade in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
There will be a variety of different spaces available: on some floors, there are no rooms whatsoever and collaborative, group learning will be encouraged, while other floors will provide approximately 2,000 study spaces and rooms that will have to be booked in advance. Even though the centre itself will contain no books, the building will be connected to Ryerson’s 1970s library next door at the second and third floors.
The total cost of the design is $112 million and Ryerson plans to begin construction in January and finish in winter of 2014. In 2008, the Government of Ontario committed to supporting the project with $45 million. The remaining balance for its construction is supposed to come from fundraising and from money that the university has been “saving for a number of years,” Mr. Levy explained.
