The University of Toronto – The Lawson Centre for Sustainability, Trinity College

Local architecture office RDHA, in co-operation with Dutch firm Mecanoo Architecten, joined forces to design the four-storey, mixed-use development in the heart of the University of Toronto’s downtown St. George campus. This 165,000-square-foot new build will service 339 residents, offering flexible work and study spaces, classrooms, lecture rooms, and dorms. Throughout the project, the design team has mandated sustainability: on the rooftop, a community garden encourages students to gain hands-on experience in food cultivation and, in the new community kitchen, its preparation; solar roof panels and geothermal heating and cooling offset the building’s energy loads; finally, a mass-timber structure cuts down on the complex’s carbon loads.