Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/493534
PHOTOGRAPHY CLIFTON LI / COURTESY RYERSON UNIVERSITY A PR IL 2015 | 93 Student Learning Centre – Ryerson University LOCATION Gould Street, Toronto, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER Ryerson University ARCHITECTS Zeidler Partnership Architects / Snøhetta CONSTRUCTION MANAGER EllisDon Corporation STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Halcrow Yolles a CH2M Hill company MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Crossey Engineering Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Ferris + Associates Inc. TOTAL AREA 155,463 square foot TOTAL COST $112 million shapes in white frit, making it look like a freshly shaken snowglobe. The building envelope glazing, blue feature panels and cladding were a cus- tom system designed and installed by Flynn Canada Mississauga. According to Michael Roche, busi- ness development and technical sales, Flynn Canada Ltd., the custom unit- ized curtain wall system (60 per cent recycled aluminum content) was engi- neered and tested to accommodate the complex varying facade tilt angles and sloped sk ylights, including an inte- grated mullion detail to accommodate interior mechanical sun shading. The Centre also features three green roofs – supplied and installed by Flynn – and a transparent, temperature-moder- ating glass exterior that enhance the look of this striking and sustainable building. Inside, as Banelis explains, the design is just as original. "There was always an idea to make this a contiguous design," he explains, "from the busiest spaces on the ground floor, to progressively qui- eter as you go up. Early on, we came up with the idea of naming the floors, with the idea of making each floor identifi- able: Valley, Beach, Garden, Sky and so on, each with its own colour theme." For example, the Garden floor is dedicated to student and teaching spaces, and is themed in green: furniture, flooring and signage. Other floors, such as the Beach, an open multi-purpose meeting space, take the conceit further, with a wood floor to represent sand, and a sloping orientation as if down to the water. The ground floor, called the Valley, is the most public of the building's six levels. Here you'll find information ser- vices, plenty of seating to meet friends, and amenities such as a café. It's also the locus of the Amphitheatre, a multi- purpose performance space, and there are other spaces that can be configured into presentation areas as well. Another distinctive, unique and complex feature of the building is the custom blue-faceted dome ceiling and soffit, designed and executed in the Flynn Accumet panel system. The versatility, adaptability and cus- tom design of the new building is part of its genius. "The building is meant to be extremely versatile. We are expecting students to use it in a variety of ways – hopefully some that haven't even been thought of yet. To do this, it's not enough to provide a wide-open space that is essentially blank. You also want to inspire," says Cotton. A