Toronto Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute | ?m | 9s | St. Michael's | Diamond Schmitt

Hey, I don't care about the architecture on this one.

I'm just glad someone at St. Mike's cashed in on the delicious margin that our HK overlord has earned by replacing the railway lands with... all those tall things.
 
cool, it has a skybridge. i don't know what it is about them, but i like their feel. they just scream 'downtown' to me. it could just be childhood memories of the bay/eaton centre one, but regardless, i like
 
does that fit on the site of the garage or is the neighbouring midrise to go too?
 
Another Chinese contribution to Canada! Even the building looks like it's from Hong Kong!
 
More info from the Globe:

Li donates $25-million for research unit
Toronto hospital, U of T to benefit from largesse of Asian billionaire

By KAREN HOWLETT

Thursday, December 1, 2005 Page A19

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has donated $25-million to Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital to help it set up a medical research institute.

The donation from Mr. Li, one of Asia's richest and most influential businessmen, is the single largest gift the hospital has received, St. Michael's chief executive officer Jeffrey Lozon said at a news conference yesterday.

"This is a historic day for our organization," said Mr. Lozon, who was flanked by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller for the announcement.

The hospital will put the funds toward building a new research centre named in Mr. Li's honour. The Li Ka-shing Knowledge Institute, in collaboration with the University of Toronto, will be a world centre of research, Mr. Lozon said.

The centre, to be located in downtown Toronto, will cost a total of $115-million to build and is expected to be completed in 2009. Including the money from Mr. Li, the hospital has raised $59-million.

Mr. McGuinty met with Mr. Li in November while on a trade mission in China and Hong Kong. He described the hour-long meeting in the 77-year-old reclusive businessman's office overlooking the Hong Kong harbour as one of the highlights of his 11-day trip.

"I didn't really know what to make of this guy," Mr. McGuinty said. "But I soon discovered that Mr. Li is doing much more than just doing well. . . . He's also doing a lot of good."

Mr. Li is no stranger to Canada. Until last January, he was the largest individual investor in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He created a private foundation in Canada with a portion of the $1.2-billion in proceeds he received on the sale of his stake in CIBC. The donation to St. Michael's was made through the foundation. Mr. Li also controls Husky Energy Inc. of Calgary.

Mr. Lozon said the institute will act as an incubator for putting into practice knowledge developed in the centre. Staff will also collaborate with two other universities that have received grants from Mr. Li to do research into avian flu: Shantou University in mainland China and the University of Hong Kong.

Mr. Lozon described Shantou University as a world leader in the field.

Mr. Li has donated money to six research institutions around the world, including the Shantou and Hong Kong universities as well as the University of Cambridge and the University of California at Berkeley. St. Michael's is the first hospital in Canada to receive a donation.
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$115 Million? The budget is about $10M higher than CCBR, which is of approximately the same square footage.

GB
 
I would think that the extra money is probably due to increase costs of construction during the last few years, the skybridge may be quite expensive and the fact that there will probably be less empty rooms (lecture halls and class labs) and more fully equipped spaces.

I am not sure I love the architecture of this building. The picture in the Globe looked like a parking garage with a cut-away. The other pictures are very stylized and its unclear as to whether this will be a square box covered in large horizontal pre-cast strips, with a base of exposed concrete columns, or something a little more interesting.
 
The medical health-sciences sector in Toronto is on fire. The concentration of facilities public and private, practical and research based all centralized in the downtown core is becoming impressive (despite the absence of any federal institutes).
 
"I didn't really know what to make of this guy," Mr. McGuinty said. "But I soon discovered that Mr. Li is doing much more than just doing well. . . . He's also doing a lot of good."
Click to expand...

Another brilliant quote from DALTRON our Leader!
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The building should fit well into the area and at 230,000 sf. its not so small either!

p5
 
So there are to be two buildings? None of the other reports mention two structures.


St. Michael's research facility gets $25M boost
Dec. 1, 2005. 01:00 AM
ROB FERGUSON
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU


A $25 million donation from a Hong Kong philanthropist is helping St. Michael's Hospital build a new research institute aimed at getting new treatments to patients more quickly.

The money from the Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation brings the fundraising campaign to $59 million of the $115 million needed, hospital president Jeff Lozon said yesterday.

It's the largest single donation ever received by the teaching hospital, which is affiliated with the University of Toronto. The institute will be named after businessman and philanthropist Li Ka Shing.

LKSF's biomedical program has also made major grants to the University of Cambridge in Britain, the University of California at Berkeley, the Institut Pasteur in France, the University of Hong Kong and the Shantou University in China.

Construction of two nine-storey buildings at Victoria and Shuter Sts. is to begin next spring and wrap up in 2009, Lozon said, calling the institute an "exciting opportunity."

The idea behind the institute is that questions about treatment and research that arise at patients' bedsides can be referred there, so potential solutions can be explored and new and improved methods quickly developed to help patients.

Such investments help build Ontario's reputation for scientific innovation, said Premier Dalton McGuinty. Added Mayor David Miller: "This centre will build on Toronto's reputation as a world centre."
 
rdaner:

I think they might have confused that with the two institutions within the single building.

GB
 
I don't like skybridges at all. They completely break up the continuity, both visual and perceptual, of a street. This one would box in Massey Hall and block views from Yonge down Shuter.8o Build underground instead.

There's a bylaw against them in Montreal.

Edit: it looks from the renderings that the TWO buildings along Shuter would come down. Am I correct?
 
looking at the lksf render, it looks like the building to the east of the parking garage is coming down as well. the first building to the east of the new building according to the render will be st. mike's cathedral.
 
Yes. I know for a fact that both buildings will come down - the garage/utility building (known as the West Annex which has offices on the second floor) and the main Annex building, which houses offices, a few outpatient clinics and some research facilities.
 
Well, I'm happy. Now if someone could convince the hospital to clean up their parking lot at Queen and Victoria the whole block will be greatly improved. Any idea when construction is estimated to begin?
 
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