Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) is the country’s largest dance training organization, and a vital hearth for dancers from across generations, experience, and abilities. Working in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team including Two
Row Architect, Parcel Economics, DVDL, Renata Soutter and ERA Architects Inc., SOCA conducted a Feasibility Study for the Campus Optimization Project - a bold vision for how NBS’ downtown Toronto campus can grow with intention, equity, and imagination. Through tailored program analysis, urban design strategy, and community engagement, the study promotes NBS’ evolving priorities: deeper belonging, broader access, more dance space, and a future-forward approach to sustainability and stewardship. The result is an inclusive vision that carries the expression, movement, and creative aspiration of the full community forward into NBS’ new chapter.

SOCA + Two Row + Parcel conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing context, design considerations, and strategic planning opportunities for the campus, examining key factors such as zoning, sustainability, accessibility, Indigenous stewardship, and heritage preservation. The indicative design focused on the development of two preferred scenarios, attending to circulation strategies, urban design improvements, and architectural considerations.

A significant objective of the study was to explore opportunities to expand and diversify programmatic offerings across the site, and to extend NBS’ interactions with the surrounding neighbourhood. By offering a combination of formal performance and informal, community-driven programs, the design considers how NBS can break down the traditional boundaries between professional dance and the public. Unticketed and programmable outdoor spaces that are welcoming to public use will draw new patrons and create opportunities for cross-pollination and peer-to-peer learning between programs, while meaningfully embedding NBS in the community. Prioritizing transparency and visual connections, both between interior and exterior spaces and among different programmed spaces, will further inspire a sense of connection while optimizing natural light penetration and enabling passive surveillance.

The conceptual design for the campus is deeply informed the aspirations of NBS’ current and future community. The team conducted several collaborative discussions around the functionality and human quality of the programming, establishing parameters, goals and vision that spans technical to experiential use of space. These insights informed the functional program and conceptual design, as well as day-in-the-life narratives that, through storytelling and illustration, bring animation and tactility to the vision. On the whole, these early engagements will serve to augment the sense
of excitement and belonging around the project, and nourish relationships that will be important as NBS moves forward into the design and delivery of the campus.