Diamond Schmitt Architects returns for a 5th year to Doors Open Toronto presented by Great Gulf (May 24-25) with two afternoons (open from 1-5 p.m.) of presentations on current projects around the GTA and further afield.
Visitors will learn from DSA’s architectural staff about the newly opened Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning at SickKids Hospital. Back-to-back half-hour presentations will also look at works currently under construction, including The Globe and Mail Centre; an academic facility at University of Toronto Scarborough; Vaughan Metropolitan Centre; and a mixed-use tower rising in Buffalo, New York.
Jack Diamond presents his asymmetrical design for the pipe organ at Maison Symphonique, which will have its inauguration on May 28 in Montreal. Two cultural projects designed for Hong Kong will be reviewed and an update provided on the large Performing Arts Centre underway in St. Catharines. DSA will also preview the one-hour documentary film, The Maestro & The Master: Building the New Mariinsky (2014) about designing the opera house that opened last year in St. Petersburg, Russia. The film will be broadcast later this year on TVO.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Living Wall Biofilter, a sustainable design feature pioneered by Diamond Schmitt Architects and Nedlaw Living Walls at University of Guelph’s Humber campus in Toronto. Other examples of these four-to-six-storey green walls can be seen at Corus Quay, Centennial College and smaller versions at One Cole condominium in Regent Park and at the Direct Energy Centre. The science and design of these plant-filled walls will be explored.
The way architects design with computers is constantly evolving. DSA will look at the latest tools and techniques of building design software. Another session features Thompson Rivers University Law School in Kamloops, B.C., which opens officially next month. Its wavy roofline takes inspiration from the surrounding mountains. And, as condos climb higher on the Toronto skyline, DSA will consider the urban environment being created for children and the kinds of amenities needed for a socially sustainable future.
All presentations are free to attend and DSA’s building is handicap accessible.
THE SCHEDULE
Sat., May 24
1:30 p.m. Gilgan Centre with Duncan Higgins; 2 p.m. Hong Kong Theatres with Matthew Lella; 2:30 p.m. Buffalo rising with Antra Roze; 3 p.m. Maison Symphonique and its organ with Jack Diamond; 3:30 p.m. University of Toronto Scarborough with Nigel Tai; 4 p.m. Architecture and Digital Design with Gary Watson.
Sun., May 25
1:30 p.m. The Globe and Mail Centre with David Dow; 2 p.m. Living Wall Biofilter at 10 with Birgit Siber; 2:30 p.m. Thompson Rivers U. Law School with Walton Chan; 3 p.m. Kids, condos and downtown living with Sybil Wa; 3:30 p.m. St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre with Sybil Wa; 4 p.m. Vaughan Metropolitan Centre with Mike Szabo.
Diamond Schmitt Architects is located at 384 Adelaide St. W., Suite 300, just east of Spadina Avenue.
For more info, visit http://www.dsai.ca/