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Dusty is no longer a term reserved for the lesser used books in one of U of T's many libraries—it applies to the campus as well. The University of Toronto, St. George campus, now with five projects either underway or pending, is a microcosm of the city's current development boom.
One of the most anticipated projects of this group is the U of T's Jackman Law Faculty Expansion lead by Hariri Pontarini Architects. The project, slated for completion in 2015, will provide the faculty's aged structures with a modern and minimalist facelift while creating new space for students and faculty to build community and to better use and enjoy the law school's services. In short, the University of Toronto's Law School wants to be a list-topper both academically and architecturally.
Yes, indeed, it is very dusty here.
The expansion has three primary components. The first is the creation of a of three-storey crescent-shaped structure which will span the curve of Queen's Park Crescent where it meets Hoskin Avenue. This building, expanded from the previous 1970s building on site, will provide additional office space and a new classroom. This is understandably a necessity seeing as the school hopes to enhance its JD program and its graduate offerings; A Global Professional Masters of Law, and the Internationally Trained Lawyers Program.
The second part of the expansion involves a renovation of the Bora Laskin Library. The library will be transformed into a "transparent pavilion" that will meld with the greenery in the adjacent Philosopher's Walk. The interiors will be redesigned, the outside re-clad and the base will open up to the surrounding environment.
The third part of the project, its literal and figurative heart, will be the creation of the Law Forum, a unified gathering space for students and faculty. This new space was built upon the belief that "the quality of the social network and unified sense of community are the most important advantages a law school can confer upon its students."
Aside from these pillars of the expansion project, updates will be made to the faculty's existing structures, including Flavelle House, a 1902 heritage mansion, and the faculty's administrative building, Falconer Hall. The $37.5 million project is targeting a LEED Gold standard by incorporating high performance building skin, thermal mass, heating and ventilation strategies into the design.
UrbanToronto stopped by the construction site to take some photographs of the current state of construction (access to a 24-hour time lapse camera is here). The project is still in its very early stages with the metal frames now installed across much of the structure, reaching all three of its storeys.
The ceilings of the second and third storeys of this skeletal frame have begun construction.
While far from having a completed building to admire, the innovative design that Hariri Pontarini has created for the faculty has already managed to attract attention. In fact, the design was paid a very prestigious nod of acknowledgement by the Canadian Architect Awards last December. The magazine's excellence awards are given to a handful of commissioned yet unbuilt projects or student proposals that the jury panel believes "exhibit clarity of intention, innovation and ambition to a degree that can be later compromised by the demands and constraints of construction." Out of 208 submissions only 11 winners were chosen; among them were the Jackman Law expansion and another Hariri Pontarini Toronto project, Casey House.
As the Jackman Law expansion appears, even in this early stage, to draw quite a bit attention, it will be interesting to hear the reviews once the construction dust has settled. We will continue to keep you up-to-date, but in the meantime to get more information and view more renderings, visit our dataBase file linked below. Want to get involved in the conversation? Visit the associated forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
| Related Companies: | B+H Architects, Eastern Construction, entro, Hariri Pontarini Architects, LiveRoof Ontario Inc, Trillium Architectural Products |
