Centre for Civilizations, Cultures, and Cities

CENTRE
FOR
CIVILIZATIONS,
CULTURES,
AND
CITIES

UNIVERSITY
OF
TORONTO,
CANADA

90 Queen’s Park provides an urban and cultural hub, bringing together nine previously dispersed departments—including the School of History, Music, Law, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies and a home for the new School of Cities—into a single building.

Positioned at the intersection of Bloor Street and Queens Park, 90 Queen’s Park produces a new gateway into the campus and a connector between its neighboring buildings: the Royal Ontario Museum, the 1960’s era Edward Johnson Building and two historic structures from the 1900’s - Flavelle House and Falconer Hall.

  • Site Plan
    Site Plan

The building responds to these site forces and diverse users with a dual identity: a smooth cohesive block of program containing faculty offices and workspaces to the North expresses the unity of the building, while the individuality of each constituent department is revealed by an erosion of the facade to the South, which is shaped by an imprint of the historic Falconer Hall.

At the heart of the building is a dynamic central atrium and stair linking clusters of lounge spaces, study spaces and meeting rooms. This public commons fosters access and views between the disciplines, promoting a culture of collaboration.

  • Atrium Stair
    Atrium Stair

90 Queen’s Park will be a central gathering space receiving visitors from all directions. The design buries the access road under the building to create a generous new entry plaza with a terraced landscape, welcoming visitors from the South and Philosopher’s Walk. A cafe and restaurant extends from the inside-out with a gently stepped hardscape and softscape marking entry from the North. At ground level, the Centre provides direct access into the Edward Johnson Building and Falconer Hall. Located on the second floor, the school of Cities’s Urban Lab forms a canopy for the Southern entry with classrooms performing the same function at the North plaza. Floating above neighboring buildings within the erosion, the Centre’s 250-seat recital hall and a flexible event space provide larger gathering spaces where visitors can enjoy views of downtown Toronto.

  • Recital Hall
    Recital Hall
Project information
ClientUniversity of TorontoSize (GSF)170000
Location         University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Credits
PartnersCharles Renfro,Elizabeth Diller,Ricardo Scofidio,and Benjamin Gilmartin
DesignersDavid Allin,Chris Hillyard,Bo Liu,Holly Deichmann ,Heng-Choong Leong,Lilian Fitch,Youxin Chen,Shiwoo Yu,Ning Hiransaroj,Fareez Giga,Jing Yao Liao,Jack Solomon,Barry Beagen,Dino Kiratzidis,Alex Knezo,Gabriel Bollag,Eri Tsugawa,and George Hewitt
External credits
architectsAllianceExecutive Architect
ERA ArchitectsHeritage Architect
Cole EngineeringCivil Engineering
EntuitiveStructural Engineers, Building Envelope
NAK Design Strategies Landscape
BA Consulting Group Ltd. Traffic
Theatre Consultants CollaborativeTheatre Consultants
AercousticsAcoustics
Jensen HughesBuilding Code / Life Safety
BousfieldsPlanning
FootprintSustainability
Soberman EngineeringVertical Transportation
Novita TechneAV
Turner & TownsendCost Consultant
Smith + AndersenLighting, IT/ Telecommunication, Mechanical & Electrical Engineers
Stuart OlsonConstruction Logistics
Entro CommunicationsSignage & Wayfinding
    Photography by bloomimages