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State of the art, expanded facilities are proposed to replace the existing West Wing of the Medical Sciences Building at the\u00a0University of Toronto<\/a>\u2019s St George campus. Designed by world-renowned\u00a0MVRDV<\/a> in collaboration with\u00a0Diamond Schmitt Architects<\/a>, the\u00a0James and Louise Temerty Building<\/a> is planned as an 11-storey institutional, educational, and laboratory facility on the south side of King\u2019s College Circle.<\/p>\n The building is a major institutional reinvestment that would remove obsolete and inflexible laboratory space dating back to the late 1960s and replace it with modern research, teaching, and campus-serving facilities. Located at the southeast corner of King\u2019s College Circle and King\u2019s College Road, and directly across from Convocation Hall, the Temerty Building would support education and research in medicine and life sciences while accommodating university functions related to student life and major institutional events.<\/p>\n The surrounding campus is defined by institutional and academic buildings surrounding the open green space at the heart of Front Campus. The university has been making surgical redevelopments of its campus buildings over the years to increase capacity and catch up with evolving technologies. Nearby development activity just outside the campus along College Street and Spadina Avenue includes several residential towers mostly aimed at student accommodation.<\/p>\n Originally completed in 1969, the Medical Sciences Building was purpose-built to house what is now the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and today accommodates roughly half of the faculty\u2019s on-campus space. Over time, however, the West Wing\u2019s laboratory infrastructure has deteriorated, with original layouts and building systems proving increasingly incompatible with contemporary research models.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a recent U of T Project Planning Committee report, multiple feasibility and condition assessments determined that renewing the existing structure would be cost-prohibitive and highly disruptive to ongoing academic and research activity. Instead, the university advanced a replacement strategy supported by interim off-campus laboratory conversions, setting the stage for a purpose-built facility to modernize biomedical research space while enabling the longer-term revitalization of the remaining Medical Sciences Building.<\/p>\n Plans call for a single 11-storey institutional structure, with two underground levels. The building would be physically connected to the remaining portions of the Medical Sciences Building, effectively doubling the functional area previously housed within the West Wing.<\/p>\n The proposal has a Gross Floor Area of 36,978m\u00b2, all dedicated to institutional uses. Research space would account for a majority of the program, with multiple floors of flexible wet laboratories shared between the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Arts & Science\u2019s Department of Cell & Systems Biology. Additional space would be allocated to active-learning studios, classrooms, student study areas, administrative offices, and large ground-floor assembly areas to support Convocation, Alumni Reunion, and other major campus events. Mechanical and servicing functions, including space for a campus nodal utility plant, would be accommodated below grade and within dedicated building zones.<\/p>\n The building is planned without vehicular or bicycle parking, reflecting its location beside the recently completed underground parking facility for both motor vehicles and bicycles below the field within Kings College Circle. The site is also within one of Toronto\u2019s most transit-accessible areas, a short walking distance of Queen\u2019s Park station on University Line 1, with additional TTC bus and streetcar routes operating along College Street and University Avenue. Internal pedestrian routes and campus walkways would continue to serve as the primary means of access.<\/p>\n The building would rise within an increasingly active development context surrounding the Front Campus. To the west, the University of Toronto\u2019s\u00a0Lash Miller Building Expansion<\/a> is under construction at four storeys, while to the southwest, the\u00a0Koffler Health & Wellness Centre Expansion<\/a> is proposed at three storeys. Just south of campus,\u00a0191 College Street<\/a> is proposed at 31 storeys,\u00a0700 University Avenue<\/a> at 57 storeys, and\u00a0149 College Street<\/a> at 60 storeys. East of the site, the school\u2019s\u00a0Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre Phase 2<\/a> is planned at 20 storeys. A new, larger\u00a0Ronald McDonald House<\/a> is another nearby proposal on McCaul Street, at 18 storeys.<\/p>\n UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n UrbanToronto’s research and data service,\u00a0UTPro<\/a>, provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe\u2014from proposal through to completion. Other services include\u00a0Instant Reports<\/a>, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter,\u00a0New Development Insider<\/a>, that tracks projects from initial application.\u200b<\/p>\n