This 140,000 s.f. secondary school/arts centre is an important new building in the re-development of the historical and storied Lakeshore Grounds in South Etobicoke. Once the site of the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, it’s heritage buildings have been sequentially transformed for various cultural, educational and recreational uses. This revitalization was triggered by a 1990’s Ontario Municipal Board ruling in support of institutional development, and spawned a coordinated public partnership strategy. Beginning with the renovation of the site’s heritage buildings, this secondary school is the first new building in the Lakeshore Grounds, and occupies a prominent central position to complete the west end of the Humber College quadrangle. In keeping with the existing “cottage” scale buildings, the school’s volumetric form was conceptualized as a series of extruded pods that pinwheel around a central public forum. The plan arrangement also creates three exterior landscaped quadrants that are then linked to renewed park space and retained natural features such as the historical apple “Orchard”.
Father John Redmond Catholic School & Regional Arts Centre
Comments
I know form should follow
I know form should follow function, but did they have to make it so institutional? The red brick fits in well with the other buildings from the campus, but it doesn't look any different from a high school built in the early 1970's!
Cheap, austere, and bland
The warm brick on this high school is a contextual nod to Humber College's heritage buildings and that's a plus, but overall it's overly austere, sterile, anonymous. In fact, it seems to cheapen the campus with its blandness. The building is unimaginative and displays no creativity in design, which is rather unfortunate for the youth who will grow up attending this school. Such cheapness in design should not be repeated by the school board.
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Austerity
A little cool for my liking, but at least there appears to be a nod to the existing architecture of this site. Site visitation showed that this development is well integrated into the Humber College lands. Once the landscaping gets a chance to grow, I expect the edges will be softened and it will blend more pleasingly into the lands.