By Lindsey Coulter
TORONTO — The University of Toronto celebrated the grand opening of the new 208,000-square-foot Sam Ibrahim Building on April 7. The state-of-the art, five-story facility provides a new home for academic programs and equips student entrepreneurs with the support and tools they need to flourish within their community.
The Sam Ibrahim Building features 23 lecture halls, 124 faculty and staff offices, welcome areas and lounges, informal collaboration spaces and a café. CEBRA architects served as lead design architect and collaborated with lead architect ZAS Architects + Interiors. The project was supported by a $25-million investment from Sam Ibrahim, a Scarborough-based entrepreneur and president and general manager of Arrow Group of Companies.
“Translating into practice the University of Toronto’s progressive stance on young adult education, we have designed a building that creates diversity in teaching and learning situations,” said Carsten Primdahl, founding partner of CEBRA architecture and lead designer on the project. “Applying insights from neuroarchitecture, the design supports activity-based, socially engaging and peer-to-peer learning through an interweaving arrangement of classrooms, student service facilities and the open public domain.”
While compact and contained within a simple rectangular shape, the building houses an array of advanced teaching and learning spaces and technologies. The building is anchored by the Sam Ibrahim Centre for Inclusive Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership, which provides emerging entrepreneurs at U of T Scarborough with connections and learning opportunities that can help accelerate their ideas directly in Scarborough, spurring economic growth within the region.
Additionally, the building serves as the new home base for the university’s Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences and consolidates the Office of Student Experience & Wellbeing, the Academic Advising & Career Center, AccessAbility Services and the Health & Wellness Center. New study spaces, lounges, labs, open seating areas and 20 technology-enhanced classrooms and lecture halls support teaching and learning, while the 500-seat, campfire-style Arrow Group Innovation Hall. The tiered, 200-seat “Collaboratorium” offers a cooperative environment to support group work, accommodating up to six people around a tech-enabled table and establishing engaging coworking spaces.
The exterior spaces and landscaping take aesthetic inspiration from the nearby Highland Creek ravine. The site’s topographic design theme also continues indoors through sloping mounds, embedded seating and planters. The ground floor of the building serves as the campus’ “living room” and offers a 360-degree view to the exterior with ample open space for ease of access.
“The Sam Ibrahim Building is a wonderful new addition to U of T Scarborough,” said Vice-President, U of T and Principal, U of T Scarborough, Linda Johnston. “Students will have opportunities to study, collaborate and socialize in a variety of unique spaces designed with their needs in mind, which goes a long way in contributing to their well-being and success.”
Additionally, the building was designed to meet energy efficiency performance at a Toronto Green Standards level and achieve energy efficiency reductions that are 40% better than baseline building standards via the high thermal insulation of the building envelope, the addition of a geothermal energy plant, and triple-glazed operable windows that improve energy use and indoor comfort. These efforts contribute to the university’s rating as the world’s most sustainable university for the second year in a row by the latest QS World University Rankings.