Ontario College of Art & Design

Alsop Architects, Toronto, 2004

 

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The table top is used to create a new sheltered public space, adjacent to the new student lounge in the existing building 

Richard Johnson/Interior Images (website)     Download Original

  • The table top is used to create a new sheltered public space, adjacent to the new student lounge in the existing building    
  • Alsop    
  • At night, lighting draws old and new together more as one composition    
  • At night, lighting draws old and new together more as one composition    
  • Lighting the     
  • Simple, modest-budget tabletop space    
  • Newly created entrance hall as part of the existing building    
  • Distance and height lend some enchantment to views across Toronto    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • Fifth floor plan    
  • Sixth floor plan    
  • Section A-A    
  • Section B-B    

Flagship building for the Ontario College of Art & Design. Perched on inclined stilts sailing high above the street, the building has become an icon for the college and city

Nicknamed ‘the flying tabletop’, the building is the length of a 30-storey tower, tilted on its side. It glows at night, casts dramatic afternoon shadows and has a candy-coated, black and white pixelated surface.

The building is a combination of new-build and refurbishment, which creates a successful new space for students to learn. The existing building was inward-looking, uninspiring and without a clear organising element or focus. Alsop’s 16,000m2 refurbishment was built with standardised building components. It is a steel box clad with black and white aluminium top. The deep punched-out windows have large recesses for students to sit in and lean on.

The new sunken entrance features a glass curtain wall with hints of colour, which fills in an existing courtyard and relocates the main entrance. In the building’s four-storey entrance hall there are two express elevators to take students up to the table top where a cluster of classrooms and studios give students the chance to be inspired in the classroom by looking out the Toronto skyline.

Data

  • Begun: Feb 2003
  • Completed: 2004
  • Floor area: 16,000m2
  • Sector: Education
  • Total cost: £25M
  • Tender date: Dec 2002
  • Procurement: CCDC II 1994
  • Address: OCAD, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, M5T 1W1, Canada

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