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following text and images are courtesy Kuwabara
Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects. Click on images for
larger color views. [Google Earth link]
The HP Science and Technology Centre was catalyzed by a government
initiative to forge stronger connections between universities
and community colleges in order to meet demands for trained
individuals in the labor market. The design creates a model
that actualizes the ‘communal’ aspect of the community
college and is based on the idea of a self-sufficient academic
village.
SITE
The HP
Centre is located on the UTSC Scarborough campus lands
leased to Centennial by the University of Toronto. It is situated
at the south-east corner of a high-speed traffic corridor
within the watershed of the Highland Creek. The site slopes
south to the Highland Creek ravine and Lake Ontario. A four-story
structure composed of two horizontal wings forms a
broad V-shape that sits precisely within the contours
of the triangular lot. The ground levels of the south and
west elevations are expressed as dark, charcoal brick retaining
walls which follow the sloped topography. Above these extended
strips of horizontal glazing articulate the piano nobile.
Two horizontal bar buildings containing the third and fourth
levels are elevated above the piano nobile and oriented parallel
to their respective thoroughfares to the west and east. The
north-east elevation, clad in prefabricated corrugated black
steel, fans out to embrace the ridge of the tableland, and
defines an outdoor courtyard. A glazed north elevation with
a perimeter stair opens to a visitor and faculty parking lot.
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