Located at the main entrance to Trent University’s iconic Symons Campus, the new Student Centre is a concise exploration of connections: fusing the building with the bucolic adjacent Otonabee River landscape; interlacing new construction with historical precedent of existing campus architecture—designed by Canadian architect Ron Thom; and connecting students in a dynamic and inspiring setting.
Adjacent to the University’s iconic Bata Library on the campus’ waterfront, the building creates important links from campus entry points to the riverside and surrounding landscape. The main entrance addresses the principal bus stop at the campus gateway; another entrance connects the pedestrian path along the campus entry road. These circulation paths form an ‘X’, where a new indoor student “Forum” connects directly to the riverside.
The facility seamlessly integrates the student centre and formal learning spaces, ensuring all building areas are well-used and animated throughout the day. Program areas include various informal student lounges, collaboration and study spaces, a multi-purpose event space, and varied classroom/lecture spaces. The building is organized around the Forum, which rises through the full 3-storey height of the structure where one can view all activities of the building.
Featuring a solid ground-level façade on the roadside, the building opens to panoramic views south to the river, to the larger campus and surrounding landscape from the upper storeys. A true indoor-outdoor space: interior gathering spaces open to exterior patios and terraces. From the riverside, the legibility of the building’s floor plates subtly references the geometry of the adjacent Bata library in a more elongated, organic language.
With a desire to compliment the original campus design and arrive at a unique and contemporary approach to the natural beauty of the site, the building is clad with a unique photo-etched precast concrete. The precast panels’ exterior finish was created from an image of the distinctive rough aggregate concrete used on the Bata Library and throughout the original campus, enhanced by dynamic folds in the panel forms. Visible exterior wood roof structure—comprised of 200mm deep douglas fir glulam beams—ties both to the surrounding wooded environment and detailing in the original buildings. Together, the materiality, detailing and strong horizontal expression of floor levels serve to communicate with and offer a lighter, respectful contemporary counterpoint to the materiality and formal logic of the Ron Thom campus.
A pragmatic sustainable strategy underpins the building’s design, centred on passive approaches. The carefully considered building orientation and solid-to-void relationships take advantage of heat gain in winter from the south and east but deep canopies ensure key areas are shaded from summer sun. Natural ventilation is provided through the Centre’s large 3-storey forum. The curtain wall glazing achieves high-performance through use of Low-E, tinted and fritted glazing units that are filled with argon. Other measures include energy reclamation on air handling units, LED lighting and low flow plumbing fixtures. Consideration for social sustainability and continuing Trent’s history as a socially progressive institution, the building meets University’s stringent accessibility guidelines, and incorporates spaces such as gender-free washrooms and a breastfeeding area.
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