Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta & Zeidler
07/12/2015.
[Toronto] Canada
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Designed by the architectural team of Zeidler and Snøhetta, the Ryerson Student Learning Centre provides the university’s students with an outstanding environment to study, collaborate, and discover.
The eight-storey building marks Ryerson’s new face on Yonge Street. It features a glass façade, an elevated plaza, a bridge to the existing library, and a range of academic, study, and collaborative spaces.
The eight-storey building marks Ryerson’s new face on Yonge Street. It features a glass façade, an elevated plaza, a bridge to the existing library, and a range of academic, study, and collaborative spaces.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © doublespace photography.
Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler. Photography © Lorne Bridgman. Click above to see larger image.
Volume section. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Volume section. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Floor maps. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Ground floor plan. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Third floor plan. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Sixth floor plan.Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Mechanical floor plan. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Section. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Program section. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Section. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
Section. Ryerson University Student Learning Centre by Snøhetta and Zeidler.
The Yonge Street frontage includes destination retail at and below grade, creating a prominent commercial façade.
With links to the existing Library building, the Student Learning Centre offers a variety of creative and inspiring learning environments and spaces. Every floor has its own personality – whether open and interpretive with flexible furniture and terraces or densely filled with enclosed study rooms for groups of four to eight people.
Description of project by Snøhetta
With the fall semester in full swing, Ryerson University students are making good use of the newest building on campus: the Student Learning Centre (SLC), designed by Snøhetta and Zeidler Partnership Architects. Inspired by the historical gathering spaces of the Stoas and Agoras in ancient Greece where learning was inherently social, the lively SLC gives students eight uniquely-designed floors of generous space to meet, study, and exchange ideas. Conceived as a library without books, the design develops natural conditions for groups of people to interact while also offering areas for controlled and introspective study. Most importantly, it encourages students to make the space their own. The SLC is a library built for the digital age that encourages students to interact with their physical environment. Since its opening, the new campus landmark has become a popular hub filled with student activity from 7 AM to 1 AM each day.
The design begins with a south-facing raised platform that opens the street corner for a broad range of pedestrian activity, from larger gatherings to smaller individual seating areas. Part plaza, part porch, this elevated space creates a welcoming yet protected urban edge shared by students and the general public that both exhibits University life while giving students a place to view the city. Situated on the Yonge Street retail corridor, one of Canada’s best-known commercial avenues, the new building prominently displays shops along Yonge Street, maintaining the retail presence locals expect in the district.
A new campus gateway is shaped by a large canopy clad in iridescent, hand-folded metal panels stretching from the exterior façade into the lobby.
The lobby is defined by a spacious atrium unimpeded by security checkpoints, and houses informal seating areas, a café, and the University’s welcome desk for visitors and prospective students. It also acts as a multi-purpose forum with integrated seating and performance technology for events ranging from pep rallies to fashion shows and music performances.
Each floor of the building offers a different kind of space with a unique atmosphere, inspired by themes found in nature. The sixth floor, known as ‘The Beach,’ is an open and informal study area that slopes down through a series of ramps and terraces, encouraging students to sit on the floor and move the casual furniture.
‘The Garden’ provides a range of learning programs, with classrooms, student services, and traditional quiet study areas.
'The Sun’ provides classroom spaces that students are free to reserve through an online system.
‘The Sky’ occupies the top floor of the building with an up-lifting ceiling that offers broad overlooks and access to natural light.
The facades of the building are composed of a digitally-printed fritted glass that envelops the rugged armature and pared-down aesthetic of the exposed concrete structure. The varying façade pattern controls heat gain into the building and frames views of the city grid and nearby buildings from the interior, acting as a traditional framed window without actual frame constructions.
Functioning like cloud cover, the frit modulates the light quality to range from ‘overcast’ to ‘partly cloudy’ to ‘sunny’ to further diversify the interior conditions and allow students to have a different experience every time they visit the building.
From autumn to spring, midterms through final exams, students will continue to create their own experiences and memories out of this library of the future.
More information
Architects
Snøhetta and Zeidler Partnership Architects. Executive Architect.- Zeidler Partnership.
Client
Ryerson University
Area
155,000.0 ft².
Dates
Completed 2015.
Photography
Lorne Bridgman.
Craig Dykers, Kjetil Thorsen. Snøhetta
Snøhetta is an integrated architecture, landscape, and interior design company based in Oslo, Norway, and New York City, formed in 1989 and led by principals Craig Dykers and Kjetil Thorsen. The firm, which is named after one of Norway's highest mountain peaks, has approximately 100 staff members working on projects around the world. The practice pursues a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach, with people from multiple professions working together to explore diverse perspectives on each project.
Snøhetta has completed a number of critically acclaimed cultural projects, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt; the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, Norway; and the Lillehammer Art Museum in Norway. Current projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center site in New York.
In 2004 Snøhetta received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and in 2009 the firm was honored with the Mies van der Rohe Award. Snøhetta is the only company to have twice won the World Architecture Award for best cultural building, in 2002 for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and in 2008 for the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.
Eberhard Zeidler. Zeidler Architecture
Zeidler Architecture has been creating meaningful spaces for people to connect for over 65 years, with considerable experience in master planning, urban and architectural design. The practice was founded by Eberhard Zeidler. They are a leading Canadian architectural firm that brings together the experience of more than 100 professionals, collaborating nationally across their Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria offices.
Their portfolio spans a broad range of work including residential, commercial and mixed-use properties, civic and academic buildings, healthcare and research facilities, performing arts centres, hotels and resorts, and transportation.
Eberhard Zeidler (Germany, Braunsdorf, January 11, 1926 – Canada, Toronto, January 7, 2022) was one of the last living links to the Bauhaus school and the man responsible for some of Canada’s most significant mixed-use urban developments including Ontario Place and the Eaton Centre in Toronto. He was instructed under the influence of the Bauhaus school in Weimar and the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe. He fled East Germany and worked in the office established by Emanuel Lindner, his former professor. There, he constructed several factories and medical buildings. Zeidler subsequently immigrated to Canada in 1951.
Zeidler first joined an architectural firm with Blackwell and Craig in Peterborough, Ontario. He later relocated to Toronto in 1963 and worked for the firm became Craig, Zeidler and Strong until 1975. One of the essential elements of his early works is his employment of striking interior atrium space, which became widespread on an international level during the 1970s. Moreover, his experience in the Bauhaus school made him familiar with the technological matters in building design. These included structural and mechanical services (most notably, exposed air-handling ducts), as well as aspects that ease movement and communication. This was exemplified in the McMaster University Health Science Centre, his breakthrough project, which was meant to resemble a large construction set for children. The building utilized regular geometric building modules, coupled with glazed service and circulation towers, internally exposed steel trusses, ducts, and an automated materials delivery system.
Most of Zeidler's structures were public buildings. He rarely designed private residences, drawing up approximately 20 in his career, most notably the four-storey home in Rosedale that he constructed for his family during the late 1960s. He officially retired in 2009, but continued to go to work daily as a senior partner emeritus at the firm, now called Zeidler Partnership Architects, in Toronto. The firm also has offices in Calgary, Victoria, BC, London, Berlin, Beijing, and Abu Dhabi. He also taught at the University of Toronto as a visiting lecturer and critic, before working as an adjunct professor from 1983 to 1995.
Zeidler was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in June 1984 and invested four months later in October. He has also received the Order of Ontario that same year. He was conferred the gold medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1986. Three years later, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Architecture by the University of Toronto.[5] Zeidler was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
Their portfolio spans a broad range of work including residential, commercial and mixed-use properties, civic and academic buildings, healthcare and research facilities, performing arts centres, hotels and resorts, and transportation.
Eberhard Zeidler (Germany, Braunsdorf, January 11, 1926 – Canada, Toronto, January 7, 2022) was one of the last living links to the Bauhaus school and the man responsible for some of Canada’s most significant mixed-use urban developments including Ontario Place and the Eaton Centre in Toronto. He was instructed under the influence of the Bauhaus school in Weimar and the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe. He fled East Germany and worked in the office established by Emanuel Lindner, his former professor. There, he constructed several factories and medical buildings. Zeidler subsequently immigrated to Canada in 1951.
Zeidler first joined an architectural firm with Blackwell and Craig in Peterborough, Ontario. He later relocated to Toronto in 1963 and worked for the firm became Craig, Zeidler and Strong until 1975. One of the essential elements of his early works is his employment of striking interior atrium space, which became widespread on an international level during the 1970s. Moreover, his experience in the Bauhaus school made him familiar with the technological matters in building design. These included structural and mechanical services (most notably, exposed air-handling ducts), as well as aspects that ease movement and communication. This was exemplified in the McMaster University Health Science Centre, his breakthrough project, which was meant to resemble a large construction set for children. The building utilized regular geometric building modules, coupled with glazed service and circulation towers, internally exposed steel trusses, ducts, and an automated materials delivery system.
Most of Zeidler's structures were public buildings. He rarely designed private residences, drawing up approximately 20 in his career, most notably the four-storey home in Rosedale that he constructed for his family during the late 1960s. He officially retired in 2009, but continued to go to work daily as a senior partner emeritus at the firm, now called Zeidler Partnership Architects, in Toronto. The firm also has offices in Calgary, Victoria, BC, London, Berlin, Beijing, and Abu Dhabi. He also taught at the University of Toronto as a visiting lecturer and critic, before working as an adjunct professor from 1983 to 1995.
Zeidler was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in June 1984 and invested four months later in October. He has also received the Order of Ontario that same year. He was conferred the gold medal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1986. Three years later, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Architecture by the University of Toronto.[5] Zeidler was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
