2006 SCUP/AIA-CAE Awards

Honor Award for Excellence in Planning for a New Campus

The Institute of Technology at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology with Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Click to view a pdf presentation of the project.

In 2001, the Government of Ontario announced the creation of its newest, publicly funded university, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) whose primary mandate, a colloquialism, was/is to become the "MIT of the North."

Founding President, Dr. Gary Polonsky and the Board of Governors wanted the campus to be among the most inspiring and beautiful in Canada, befitting the magnificent Windfields Farm, the land where it would be located. However, the land would not be available for 10 years, so a decision was made to locate UOIT's first building on the campus of Durham, College, Windfields Farm's next door neighbor.

Two campus master plans had to be created: one for the Durham College campus and a longer term one for Windfields Campus.

Consistent with the institution's mandate to become the M.I.T. of the north, this project developed a design approach to bring innovative technologies to the forefront, making them intrinsic and transparent to students, faculty and the general community.

The master plan was developed to accommodate 900,000 gsf of academic, research and support space in nine buildings. The first three of five phases were completed (450,000sf), and the fourth phase (200,000 gsf) is in the design phase. The project has targeted a LEED Gold rating and is an example of a comprehensive strategy to employ integrated sustainable building and site practices on a large scale (42 acres) to create a sustainable university campus.

The campus design mandate was "lead by example," so the innovative technological and infrastructural strategies were coupled with public open space instead of being kept out of sight and out of mind as so often is done.

The landscaped Campus Commons, surrounded by five of the academic buildings and the new library, is both the social and recreational heart of the campus. It is also the site for a Borehole Thermal Energy Storage System (BTESS) that provides 2,000 tons of energy efficient sustainable heating and cooling.

Atriums are integral components of a heat recovery and return air system; ponds, garden courts and naturalized landscape areas were created out of the logistics of storm water management.

The jury thought this was "a very strong project with an ambitious plan. The result is successful landscaping, interiors and architecture."

Many amenities were incorporated into the design including: lounges and atria; an outdoor skating rink/reflection pool; arena; tennis club; athletics facility; public art program; streetscapes and recreation trails linking the campus with the community.

The storm water management strategy that was developed integrates environmental technologies with public outdoor open spaces to mitigate the impact of parking areas on the environmentally sensitive watershed while greening the campus and making the filtration process transparent.

This installation is the second largest in North America and is on the leading edge of development of this technology due to its modular design and control system.

"The outcome is a campus that students, colleagues and visitors alike feel is living up to its aesthetic, inspiration and functional goals," says President Gary Polonsky.

Project Team

Gary Polonsky
President
University of Ontario
Institute of Technology
gary.polonsky@uoit.ca

Donald Schmitt
Diamond and Schmitt Architects Inc.
info@dsai.ca