A new residence for 740 students and state-of-the-art teaching facilities will come together in a unique building at Centennial College in Toronto. The project has broken ground and will open in September 2016.
The Residence and Culinary Arts Centre will be home to Centennial’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts. The eight-storey campus gateway building will provide high visibility for its academic activity to both students and the community. The ground floor has open views onto the culinary arts program with seven kitchen labs, eight additional classrooms, a teaching restaurant and café. A conference and banquet centre with capacity for 425 people will occupy the top floor.
The student accommodation is configured around a courtyard garden. The two- and four-bed suites will have abundant daylight and views. Every resident has a private bedroom and each suite has a bathroom and kitchen. Corner lounges on each floor are complemented with additional amenity space including a yoga studio and screening room.
“This unusual combination of living and learning will create a lively crossroads, both as an entry point as well as a hub for the campus to engage students and the Scarborough community,” says Donald Schmitt, principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects. “Everything about this project is designed to capture 21st-century learning opportunities.”
“Our partners have worked very closely with us to design a vision of residence life that will offer students far more than a place to lay their heads,” says Dr. Craig Stephenson, Centennial’s VP, Student and Community Engagement. “Students coming from Etobicoke or Collingwood, for instance, could be living next to someone from Panama City or Seoul. They will not only get to know each other as potentially lifelong friends, they could also get involved in a number of programming activities ranging from international affairs groups, cultural nights, study and fitness-focused groups.”
The 353,500-square-foot Residence and Culinary Arts Centre is registered to obtain LEED Silver certification for sustainable design. High efficiency glazing and highly insulated walls and roofs will improve energy performance; the building also has a green roof and water-saving features. The $85-million project is financed and will be managed by Knightstone Capital Management.
Diamond Schmitt Architects (https://www.dsai.ca) previously designed the award-winning Library and Academic Facility (2011) at Centennial College. Other current projects include the Global Innovation Exchange at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo; The Globe and Mail Centre in downtown Toronto; an office building in Buffalo; two projects at the University of Calgary; and the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts in Texas.