2006 SCUP/AIA-CAE Awards

Bahen Centre

University of Toronto with Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated

Click to view a pdf presentation of the project.

The Bahren Center is a state-of-the-art facility for education of information technology professionals in electrical and computer engineering, computer science, and IT research. At a cost of $111 million, it opened for occupancy in the summer of 2002. The firm of Diamond + Schmitt Architects Inc. was hired to produce a design for multifaceted programs and user groups, under tight budgets, and include new technologies, all in an energy efficient program.

The design of the Bahen Center was to provide a dynamic facility for information technology at the University of Toronto's downtown campus, and to showcase the university as a top research and teaching institution. The approach is multidisciplinary with collaborative academic efforts.

Several methods were utilized to achieve this goal. This new building was to become the hub of related fields in mathematics, applied science and engineering, and physical science departments in the Faculty of Arts and Science, all of which were housed nearby. Included in this effort was industrial research in the area of technological innovation and technology transfer. The student population in these areas was vastly expanded. Lastly, the center was designed to be a showcase building of the university's environmental protection policy.

The building planning involved redevelopment of an entire city block so as to bring together these diverse academic programs from adjacent places in a 300,000-square-foot building in an environment designed to produce major academic results, all shoehorned into a tight space and under one roof. Extensive planning "charette" type meetings insured communication and good outcomes. The university building schedule of two years required a fast-track, innovative process, complex design work, and skilled planning. Indeed, a major challenge!

The Bahren Center is one of many university downtown campus buildings. This collection of colleges has produced a variety of architectural styles linked together by effective overall campus planning. The Bahren Center with its modern expression contributes to the architectural diversity on the campus. This impressive contemporary glass complex wraps around an historic Victorian house thereby preserving the old while enhancing the new. The result provides additional architectural interest and pleasant surprise.

The treatment of light and capture of it within the various parts of the building is a key design element. The spacious central glass atrium provides core internal light. This atrium connects the interior spaces to the exterior network of paths thus creating the social experience of the building.

Along with additional daylight integration into the building, other "green" utility innovations were incorporated into the building design. Among them, the installation of a heat exchanger to utilize waste heat; a raised floor system to house power data, communication and ventilation of air; and the use of the atrium in the air conditioning operation. The Bahren Center also incorporates the architecture of energy efficiency and the architecture of thermal shading.

Inside the Center one finds an array of academic spaces including 50 labs, 10 lecture halls, 13 tutorial rooms, nine seminar rooms and about 300 offices. It is also home to industry related research institutes including the Nortel Institute, Bell University Laboratories, and Advanced Surface Coatings Laboratory.

Far from being sterile, the building provides social spaces along the atrium, and is often used to host conferences and groups outside of business hours. The Bahren Center successfully incorporates sound planning and uplifting architecture.