OCAD U, formerly known as the Ontario College of Art and Design, wants the surrounding community to reimagine its main office building as an interactive gateway for its campus in Toronto.
To achieve that goal, the university commissioned a $6 million renovation for that 16,300-sf building, whose exterior will be shrouded with a diaphanous white veil of water-jet-cut aluminum panels on metal framing secured by structural steel outriggers.
The façade that Bortolotto Design Architect has proposed would fan out from the edges of the building, like it’s opening up to visitors. The veil will also provide street-level views of student artwork.
ArchDaily reports that the college’s Digital Media Research Lab is developing an app to read information from specific sections of the façade, so pedestrians will be able to learn about different local artists.
OCAD U is rebranding the building as The Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, named after benefactors Rosalie and Isadore Sharp, who donated $3 million of the project’s budget. The college is paying the rest. The office building’s interior space will be converted into a flexible-use, student-oriented facility that includes minimalist studios and rooms for meetings and events.
The Building Team on this renovation also includes Blackwell (SE), ENSO Systems (mechanical/electrical engineer), and Halsall Associates (sustainability consultant). The contractor has yet to be chosen, and the groundbreaking date still needs to be set.
Bortolotto reportedly came up with this patterned veil design by mapping data about Toronto’s artistic community in order to position OCAD U as the nucleus of that activity, and as a cross-disciplinary, collaborative institution.
“The pattern inscribed in the scrim is defined as the notion of OCAD U as densely embedded within the urban fabric of the city,” Tania Bortolotto, the firm’s president, told Daily Commercial News.
The Arch Daily report notes that the peel-away edges of the pavilion “gesture” toward the nearby Art Gallery of Ontario, designed by Frank Gehry; as well as the university’s Sharp Centre for Design, designed by aLL Design’s Will Alsop.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 200 Contractors for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 45 Engineering Architecture Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Burns & McDonnell top the rankings of the nation's largest engineering architecture (EA) firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 80 Engineering Firms for 2022
Kimley-Horn, Tetra Tech, Langan, and NV5 head the rankings of the nation's largest engineering firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 21, 2022
Top 110 Architecture/Engineering Firms for 2022
Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 20, 2022
Top 180 Architecture Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, HKS, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Daylighting | Aug 18, 2022
Lisa Heschong on 'Thermal and Visual Delight in Architecture'
Lisa Heschong, FIES, discusses her books, "Thermal Delight in Architecture" and "Visual Delight in Architecture," with BD+C's Rob Cassidy.
AEC Tech | Aug 8, 2022
The technology balancing act
As our world reopens from COVID isolation, we are entering back into undefined territory – a form of hybrid existence.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 4, 2022
Faculty housing: A powerful recruitment tool for universities
Recruitment is a growing issue for employers located in areas with a diminishing inventory of affordable housing.
University Buildings | Jul 11, 2022
Student life design impacts campus wellness
As interior designers, we have the opportunity and responsibility to help students achieve deeper levels of engagement in their learning, social involvement, and personal growth on college campuses.