1 Spadina Crescent
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1 Spadina Crescent, also known as the Daniels Building, is an academic building home to the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
(U of T) in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. The building is situated in the centre of a
roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
of
Spadina Avenue Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods. Spadina Avenue runs south ...
, north of College Street. Its location provides a picturesque vista looking north up Spadina Avenue; it is an axial view terminus for Spadina Avenue.


History

The parcel of land now known as Spadina Crescent first appeared on maps of Toronto as early as 1835, originally named "Mansfield's Old Gardens" and then Crescent Garden. The land was originally laid out by Dr. William Baldwin to cut through his family's land holdings. There was the intention for the city to turn it into a park after Dr. Baldwin's death; however, the conditions for this were never met and his grandchildren sold the land in 1873 to the Hon. J. McMurrich of the Presbyterian Church for $10,000. A
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
building designed by architect James Avon Smith was built in 1875 as the then new home of Knox College, a theological college of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Knox College became affiliated with the University of Toronto in 1887, and in 1914 moved to its current location on the west side of King's College Circle. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the building became barracks, and shortly afterward became the Spadina Military Hospital in October 1916. For a period in 1918,
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
worked as a nurses aide at the hospital. It remained a veterans hospital until 1943 when it was acquired by the University of Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, which became one of Canada's main centers for the development and manufacture of pharmaceuticals. The building was in disrepair at this point and needed substantial renovations. It was also around this time that the basement was excavated. In the 1960s, it was proposed that this building be demolished to make way for the
Spadina Expressway William R. Allen Road, also known as Allen Road, the Allen Expressway and colloquially as the Allen, is a short expressway and arterial road in Toronto. It starts as a controlled-access expressway at Eglinton Avenue West, heading north to just ...
, which was never built. It became an academic building again in 1972 with the sale and relocation of the laboratories. The building was home to the Ontario division of the Eye Bank of Canada, and an alternative U of T student weekly newspaper, ''
The Newspaper ''The Newspaper'' is the largest independent student newspaper in Canada with circulation on and around the University of Toronto. It has been published by non-profit corporation Planet Publications Inc. and financially self-supported since its ...
'' which moved because of renovations. In January 2001, University of Toronto Professor David Buller was murdered in his office within the building, the case remains unsolved. In June 2013, U of T announced a significant overhaul and renovation of the building, with plans to make it the new home for the Daniels Faculty of Architecture. On December 4, 2015, the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' published a video by Christopher Hume, its architecture critic, celebrating the building's history, and the University's plan to renovate, update and expand the building. The building was subsequently restored and renovated by a team of architects including heritage architects ERA and design architects
Nader Tehrani Nader Tehrani (born 1963 in London) is an Iranian-American designer and educator. In 2011 in partnership with Katherine Faulkner, Tehrani founded NADAAA, a practice dedicated to the advancement of design innovation, interdisciplinary collaborat ...
and Katherine Faulkner of the Boston based fir
NADAAA
The expansion, which was completed in 2017, included a new contemporary glass, concrete, and steel addition to the north side. The expanded portion of the building now offers space for design studios, lounges, a student cafe, workshop and fabrication labs. The historic building was sensitively restored and renovated to accommodate the new library, classes, and faculty offices. Toronto based landscape architecture studio PUBLIC WORK designed the surrounding landscape, which includes native plants and trees such as birch and oak. On the north side are two large berms, a grassy area, and a stepped pathway which leads to the fabrication laboratory. The extensive project received several awards for architectural excellence and was published in magazines around the globe.


Interiors


Main Hall

Formerly the site of the Knox College courtyard, The Main Hall is a double-height lecture hall with bleacher-style seating for lectures, performances, and events of up to 400 people. The hall is at the heart of building, accessible via both the historic part of the building at the south side, and via the new east-west internal "street"/corridor in the new building. In 2018, the hall hosted
Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...
winner
Balkrishna Doshi Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi OAL (born 26 August 1927) is an Indian architect. He is considered to be an important figure of Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India. Having worked ...
's public lecture about his work and the prize. The hall is adorned with colourful painted plywood walls that add a sense of energy and movement to the space. Above, "a triangular section of stepped seating, like an open stair outside the volume between the second and third floors, overlooks the hall and simultaneously connects to the design studio for graduate students at the top."


Graduate Design Studio

The third-floor graduate design studio is known for its expansive "column-free" space that extends across the entire North side of the building and offers views of the city through a glazed curtain wall. NADAAA architects used gypsum boards to design a dramatic "bow-tie" ceiling made of four scissor trusses and clerestory ceiling openings that bring in natural light. Architect
Nader Tehrani Nader Tehrani (born 1963 in London) is an Iranian-American designer and educator. In 2011 in partnership with Katherine Faulkner, Tehrani founded NADAAA, a practice dedicated to the advancement of design innovation, interdisciplinary collaborat ...
was inspired by the Firth of Forth Bridge in Scotland.


Fabrication Lab

The fabrication lab is a double-height workshop and digital laboratory which "offers a variety of computationally controlled technologies, including large 3-axis and 4-axis routers, a fused deposition modelling rapid-prototyping system, a waterjet cutter, a colour 3D printer, a 3D digitizer, a 3D laser scanner, several laser cutters, and a large format vacuum former." The array of digital tools allow students at the faculty to produce models and various structural elements in wood and metals. The lab is viewable to students and visitors at the building from the east-west "street" that runs through the centre of the building. Double-height garage style doors open to a landscaped courtyard. Adjacent to the lab is the Daniels construction workshop which includes a full metal and woodworking shop, an assembly space, spray booth, and a large array of materials and tools.


Eberhard Zeidler Library

The Eberhard Zeidler Library is located in the historic part of the building, on the west side of the first floor. The library is named after architect and Zeidler Partnership founder
Eberhard Zeidler Eberhard Zeidler may refer to: * Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler (1926–2022), German-Canadian architect * Eberhard Hermann Erich Zeidler (1940–2016), German mathematician {{hndis, Zeidler, Eberhard ...
. The library offers an extensive collection of books on architecture, landscape architecture, art, and urban design.


Architecture and Design Gallery

The Architecture and Design Gallery is an experimental public gallery dedicated to showcasing and advocating for the important ways that design shapes our cities, landscapes, and daily lives. Located in the lower level of the building, it was renovated from a "concrete shell" into a 7,500 s.f. exhibition venue after the new building opened in 2017. The space launched on November 9, 2019, with the opening of the inaugural installation New Circadia. The gallery is supported by the Estate of James Drewry Stewart and the Government of Canada''.'' The Daniels Building The Student Commons 2022.jpg, Level 1 The Student Commons The Daniels Building Stair 2022.jpg , Building stair The Daniels Building Level 2 corridor 2022.jpg , Level 2 corridor The Daniels Building Eberhard Zeidler Library interior 2022.jpg, Eberhard Zeidler Library interior


Awards


Architecture Masterprize Education Award, 2019Architecture Masterprize Green Award
2019
Architectural Conservancy Ontario, Paul Oberman Award for Adaptive Re-use
2019
Toronto Urban Design Awards, Award of Excellence
2019
Heritage Toronto Awards, William Greer Built Heritage Award
2019
SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture for Building Additions or Adaptive Reuse Honor Award
2019
COTE Top 10, American Institute of Architects
2019
AIA Education Facilities National Award of Excellence
2019
Canadian Society of Landscape Architects National Award
2019
Lt. Governor's Ontario Heritage Award of Excellence in Conservation
2018 American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum, 2018 Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize Outstanding Project, 2018
Fast Company Spaces, Places, and Cities Finalist
2018 Boston Society of Architects Honor Award, 2018 Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards Winner in Educational Category and Honorable Mention for Building of the Year, 2018
AIA New York, Architecture Honor Award
2018
Interior Design Best of Year Award
2017
The Plan Awards, Honorable Mention
2017
Canadian Institute of Steel Construction Awards, Award of Excellence
2017 Society of American Registered Architects National Architecture Award, 2015
Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture & Design: Green Good Design Award
2014
Holcim Foundation - Sustainability in Architecture Acknowledgment Prize
2014 Boston Society of Architects: Unbuilt Architecture Award, 2013 57th Progressive Architecture Awards: Award, Architecture (previous site), 2010


References


External links

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