Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus

Two flat-top pyramids at the edge of the University of Toronto’s campus emerge from the midst of the urban fabric, their prefabricated concrete façades and glazed insets fitting one into the other. The construction could, however, also be seen as a single solid that splits into two at a certain height. Whatever the impression, the striking Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus (SRIC) is already a major city landmark. Strategically located at the intersection of College Street and University Avenue, close to the Ontario Legislative Assembly, the complex acts as an interface between university and city and is a gateway to Queen’s Park. A sculptural presence, the new building has a series of winter gardens, each positioned to offer a particular view of the cityscape and ensure continuous interaction between itself and the city. Deeply rooted in its context despite its arresting appearance, so different from the other architectures in the vicinity, this project by Weiss/Manfredi exemplifies how a problem was turned into an (apparently) simple solution: placing a building of major importance in what was formerly a residual space.

The SRIC is not just a landmark point of connection in urban planning terms. It is also the functional hinge between the university’s research activity and the MaRS Discovery District, the city’s influential non-profit innovation hub, probably the largest in the world. The new building’s very name – in recognition of the Canadian entrepreneurial couple Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman – immediately reveals its purpose as an accelerator of ideas, skills and business ventures. With a total surface area of
200,000 sq. m distributed over 13-above ground floors, the SRIC brings under one roof several organizations, including the University of Toronto Entrepreneurship supporting young entrepreneurs, the Innovations and Partnerships Office, and the Vector Institute for Artificial...

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