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Just over five years after Toronto educational institution Branksome Hall opened their new MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects-designed Athletic Centre on Mount Pleasant Road, north of Bloor, the private girls' school has submitted plans for another MJMA-designed addition directly across Mount Pleasant to the east at 10 Elm Avenue. Plans for the site were first proposed last October, with a Site Plan Approval application submitted to the City. Now those plans for the school's Innovation Centre & Studio Theatre—a modernization of the school's East Campus— have been revised.
Plans require the demolition of the school's existing Performing Arts building and its decommissioned pool (replaced in the new Athletic Centre), both of which are housed in expansions to the original building from 1924 and 1978. The new plan includes the conservation of the entirety of the original 1879 portion, along with a 1915 addition and the majority of a 1924 addition, while removing the entire 1978 addition and the west wing of the 1924 addition. The 1879 building would have its west elevation modified to resemble its original condition, with the replacement of non-original windows with heritage appropriate windows.
The revised design is meant to create a dialogue between the new addition and the heritage features of the school's original 1879-built Queen Anne-style mansion, known as “Hollydene.” Among the changes meant to minimize the impact on Hollydene is that the new lobby has been re-positioned to no longer contact the west façade of Hollydene.
The building calls for a total gross floor area (GFA) of 2,516.3 m², a substantial drop from the 4,120.3 m² GFA proposed last October. Similarly, the overall building height has been reduced by one metre to a new height of 17.07 metres, measured from grade to top of the mechanical penthouse level.
This new space is proposed to be used to house a studio theatre as well as classrooms and studio spaces for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). A VR lab and other workshop spaces will add pursuits like robotics and machine work to Branksome's curriculum, while student hub spaces are planned to create areas to foster meetings and connectivity.
Other notable revisions introduced since October's plan include slight changes to the building's massing and street setbacks, and resulting reduction of the green roof from 196.3 m² to 176.9 m², as well as the retention of the existing building’s full east and north elevations. Smaller changes include a reduction in bicycle parking from 41 to 30 spaces, and added landscaping adjacent to the south elevation.
You can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | Blackwell, Cicada Design Inc., Salas O'Brien, The Fence People |
