Image: Diamond Schmitt Architects
Canada?s largest academic library is growing. A major expansion of Robarts Library at the University of Toronto will add 1,200 work and study spaces to the iconic facility, which is known as an exemplar of the concrete Brutalist style of architecture from the 1960s.
The new design by Diamond Schmitt Architects brings daylight and views to a five-storey, glass-enclosed addition along the west side. The original concept for Robarts Library included three pods surrounding the core of the library. Only two were realized and house the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and the Faculty of Information iSchool. The new student space completes the plan, which occupies an entire block on the downtown campus.
?We?re adding a range of options for studying, both individual as well as more socially-oriented, collaborative settings to learn,? said Gary McCluskie, Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects. ?Robarts Common will have its own entrance and plaza connecting to the street and be much more transparent, much less intimidating than the original.? Image: Diamond Schmitt Architects
The wraparound glass façade and wood accents couldn?t be more different in materiality from the concrete shell of the 14-storey Robarts, yet a thematic relationship exists between the famously triangular form of Robarts and the facetted shapes shape of the Common. ?The height is the same as the other wings and we wanted to fit with the geometry of the existing building and refer...