Lazaridis Hall?s bold massing is bookended by wood-clad cylindrical volumes that house auditoriums.
PROJECT Lazaridis Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario

ARCHITECTS Diamond Schmitt Architects with David Thompson Architect Ltd. (Associate Architect)

TEXT Magdalena Milosz

PHOTOS Doublespace Photography
Since its founding in 1960, Wilfrid Laurier University has had a habit of looking inward?at least in terms of urban design. Situated at the southwest corner of University and King, the Waterloo campus of the mid-sized university has, until recently, faced the street with a series of seemingly impenetrable walls.
Lazaridis Hall?its newest addition?breaks the pattern by extending the campus northward and embracing the community. Inside, math and business students rub shoulders with faculty and professionals in a dynamic, high-tech environment centred on a soaring atrium. ?It was the first venture across the street, so to speak,? says Donald Schmitt, FRAIC, principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects, ?an opportunity for real identity and presence on University Avenue.?
Lazaridis Hall?s bold massing is bookended by wood-clad cylindrical volumes that house auditoriums.
From a distance, the building announces itself with four stories of shifting, rectangular volumes clad in vertical strips of charcoal-coloured zinc, punctuated by two drums covered in warm-toned wood. The first drum contains a 300-seat classroom hovering above a glass-wrapped café; the second is a 1,0...