Diamond Schmitt and MVRDV have unveiled the design for a new building for the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus. The new addition, featuring laboratory spaces, classrooms, and offices, aims to function as a communal and gathering space for the community. The functions are distributed around a five-story atrium that opens toward the exterior on both sides of the building and establishes a destination point within the pedestrian flows of the campus. Solar panels integrated into the façade help power the building, while the warm finishes of the interior contribute to creating a welcoming atmosphere.
The new hub is located at the intersection of Morningside Avenue and Military Trail, acting as a gateway into the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus. The design reinforces the university’s ambition to create a new pedestrian spine that connects the Military Trail to the south campus. Communal spaces are therefore emphasized, as the transparent façade of the ground floor welcomes students to the centrally located gathering space inside. Additionally, the chamfered western corner of the building creates an exterior public space, in response to the demands of the site.
The atrium, clad in warm wood tones, creates a contrast with the building’s exterior rendered in a mixture of cool grays. The atrium therefore acts as a ‘fissure in a boulder,’ a key feature for revealing the activity happening inside the building and for strengthening the continuity of the pedestrian artery. Through the atrium, the academy is connected with the public, offering collaborative learning environments, cafes, and various amenities where teachers, students, and faculty can interact with one another. The space also organizes the program of the entire building, as offices and classrooms are located on the western side and labs on the east, all connected via walkways.
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5 Iconic Architectural Projects Completed in 2023, Featuring MVRDV, OMA, Snøhetta, Studio Gang, and Zaha Hadid ArchitectsThe design of SAMIH is one that is focused on healing. Not only in its role as a place of integrated health education, medical education and research, and commitment to healing people, but to envisioning an architecture that is healing for the environment. Our vision is about creating community, between students, faculty and those that will use the building, and with the academy’s greater surroundings. - Diamond Schmitt principal Don Schmitt.
The building’s exterior panels play a key role in the energetic performance of the development, as the cladding of the south, east, and west-facing façades use Building-Integrated Photovoltaics. These multi-layered panels generate solar energy while also reinforcing the concept of the building and helping to draw attention to the atrium. The building construction system is based around a 9.6-meter steel grid, allowing for flexibility in the arrangement of interior space, and thus extending its lifespan.
The program of SAMIH was an inspiring starting point for design. A university building that also serves as a much-needed facility for the local community deserved a building that would celebrate and display that mixture – and that’s what we hope to do with this atrium, creating visual and physical connections between all the different parts of the building to give insights into everything that is happening here. - MVRDV founding partner Nathalie de Vries
Recently, Diamond Schmitt and KWC Architects have revealed progress pictures of their Ottawa Public Library and Library Archives Joint Facility, which is currently under construction in the capital of Canada. Similarly, MVRDV has also revealed the design for a new residential complex located near the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. The office is also working on a master plan for the Tour & Taxis district of Brussels, Belgium, working with six other architecture studios to develop a vibrant neighborhood and a car-free communal environment. Additionally, the architects have been selected to design an extension to the Václav Havel Airport in Prague, following an international competition with the purpose of creating a welcoming environment for those entering the country.
