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OCTOBER 2018 | 49 Centre for Urban Innovation – Ryerson University RENDERINGS COURTESY RYERSON UNIVERSITY; MORIYAMA & TESHIMA ARCHITECTS Centre for Urban Innovation – Ryerson University by ZUZANNA WODZYNSKA LOCATION 44 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario OWNER Ryerson University ARCHITECT Moriyama & Teshima Architects CONSULTING LABORATORY ARCHITECT NXL Architects CONSTRUCTION MANAGER PCL Constructors Canada Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT LEA Consulting Ltd. MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Crossey Engineering Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT PLANT Architect Inc. TOTAL SIZE 64,260 square feet TOTAL COST $40 million T he City of Toronto's Ryerson University opens the doors to its new Centre for Urban Innovation (CUI) this fall. The 64,260-square- foot project incorporates a heritage building originally constructed for the Ontario College of Pharmacy in 1886 as well as two modern additions. "The CUI is Ryerson University's first dedicated and stand-alone research think-tank – it is a high pro- file project and unique to the City of Toronto," says Monica Contreras, director of the design, construction, and project management services at Ryerson. "In addition, the CUI will maintain 130 years of continuous insti- tutional use for academic purposes on the site and preserve this legacy." The modern additions complement and enhance the heritage building. "The project embodies the spirit of resilience and adaptive reuse by pre- serving the original structure and inserting two major volumes," says Carol Phillips, partner in charge from Moriyama & Teshima Architects. "The first volume is a contemporary three- storey addition to the heritage building that accommodates a progressive new research facility." The addition's proportions, setbacks, and datums are informed by the scale of its residential surroundings. "The second volume is a five-storey addition that infills the interior void created by the existing L-shaped heritage building. The design strategy allowed the more stringent technical requirements for the state-of-the-art labs to be dedicated to the new construction, thus allow- ing the heritage space to be refurbished and renewed for office style research spaces," says Phillips. Esthetically, the design of old and new appears seamless. "From a structural perspective, however, the heritage and new buildings are iso- lated from each other and have been designed as three separate struc- tures in close proximity," says David Gerhardt, project designer at LEA Consulting Ltd. "The marriage of the heritage and new construction is seamless," adds Grant Te Brugge, Ryerson's project manager of technical services. "The transition seems so natural where brick leads to glass and concrete. They simply go together." Innovative solutions were also needed to retain original brickwork in the final project. "There's a lovely atrium in the middle of the building where the brick used to be on the out- side of the structure on the east but has now been incorporated into this inte- rior atrium," says Paul Green, project manager at PCL Constructors Canada Inc. There was a stucco panel on the west wall that had damaged the heri- tage bricks when it had been originally installed, so extensive reconstruction and repairs were needed, including new brick that was found to match the old. "The heritage consultant suggested chopping out each brick in the wall and spinning it around so the undamaged side now faced the outside. The result is you have this old original brick that looks almost new, bringing the building back to its former glory. It was approxi- mately 18 weeks of painstaking work, and the finished product is notewor- thy," adds Green. The mechanical and electrical designs also had to account for the heritage aspects of the build. "These included the typical reduced floor to floor heights, accessibility issues and layouts, but the design also had to be considerate of the neighbourhood in which the building was located," says Wally Eley, principal at Crossey Engineering Ltd. "Given the heritage and new build aspects of the building, locations of service rooms and access to them were not ideal, but in collabo- rating with our design team partners, we were able to develop a design that was both functional and supported the operational objectives of the building."

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