Lawson Centre for Sustainability
The Lawson Centre for Sustainability is fundamental to Trinity College’s vision and ethos: to be a leader in sustainable education and practices, placing sustainability at the forefront of all we do.
(Image) Architectural render of the new Lawson Centre for Sustainability is added to a image of the current Trinity College campus. Main building entrances and spaces are labelled:
West Wing
- Devonshire Place Main Entrance
- Arthur Scace Academic Building
- Moran House: Residence (Levels 2-4)
- Academic Courtyard (between west wing and the Gerald Larkin Building)
Centre Wing
- Nevil Thomas Wing
- Nevil Thomas Wing South Entrance
- Garden Courtyard (between the centre wing and Trinity proper)
East Wing
- Whiteside House: Residence
- Playing Field (between the east wing and Trinity proper)
At the bottom of the image: Trinity College logo with text “Lawson Centre for Sustainability: Mass Timber, Zero Carbon and LEED Platinum Building”
The leading-edge Lawson Centre for Sustainability responds to the long-term need for additional space at Trinity College. The four-storey hybrid mass timber, steel and concrete structure, clad in local brick and limestone, adds 155,000 square feet (14,450 m2) of mixed-used facilities, including student residences, as well as academic, community and dining spaces.
The new building pushes the established capabilities of sustainability on campus, fundamental to the vision which informed the project’s design, construction and future operations.
The LEED Platinum and Canadian Green Building Council Zero Carbon targeted building will serve as a platform for the College’s ambitious Integrated Sustainability Initiative, placing sustainability at the forefront of teaching and research.
Generous common/shared facilities in the new building will foster a sense of belonging and promote the well-being of our community members. Throughout the building there are a variety of formal and informal seating and study areas with views to the various gardens and green roofs around the building. The Lawson Centre also provides new food services outlet to the Trinity campus, including a full-service dining facility for residents, students and the wider Trinity community, as well as an industrial kitchen, which will service new and existing dining operations at the College.
With plenty of outdoor multi-use areas, including two courtyards, the Lawson Centre reintegrates the North Field into the heart of campus life, creating an open green space that can be used for a variety of activities—from pick-up sports games to tossing a frisbee. Both the Community Kitchen and the George and Martha Butterfield Rooftop Farm will provide integral platforms for community programming and partnership.
Key Building Features
- Residence capacity: Number of residence beds on the Trinity College campus increases by 80%, allowing more students to take active part in the full collegiate experience.
- New community-building spaces: Social, experiential and learning spaces allow residence and off-campus (commuter) students across all years of study to connect and grow together.
- Enhance wellbeing: Exposed wood interiors, plentiful windows and natural light, and beautifully landscaped grounds and green roofs featuring native plants provide connection to nature.
- Unique programming: Integration of the George and Martha Butterfield Rooftop Farm and the Kitchen Lab allow for hands-on sustainability and wellness programming.
- Building materials: The majority of major construction materials are sourced hyper-locally, including hybrid the mass timber (glulam beams and cross laminated timber), compressed brick and, limestone and glazing systems.
- Improved campus accessibility: The outdoor public realm improvements include new accessible ramp access to the campus from Devonshire Place, providing better connectivity with neighbouring public transport.
- Enhanced outdoor landscapes: The project transforms the previous parking lot and fenced off football pitch into semi-public courtyards provided enhanced outdoor space for students and public alike while increasing site drainage and climate resilience.
- Sustainability features: Geothermal heating and cooling, triple-glazed bird friendly windows, a high performing building envelope, underground cistern for rainwater collection, and a certified zero-carbon footprint. The design includes for the addition of photovoltaic panels to the west and south rooftops (to be added in a later phase). The building is also on track for LEED Platinum certification.
Lawson Centre for Sustainability
View the sustainability features of the new building!
Building Details
- Rooms: 357 residence beds in various types of accommodation: single dorm room, double dorm room, and ensuite studio units, with 15% of total units designed as barrier-free.
- Facilities & Amenities: Seven designated residence lounges with full electric kitchens on every floor of each wing; multi-purpose study and activity spaces; full-service dining facility; laundry facilities; WiFi in residence buildings; and Welcome Desk and secure key-fob access.
- Learn more about residence at Trinity College
- Classrooms: Five seminar rooms and one lecture-style teaching space
- Offices: 11 faculty offices in the academic area with shared-use meeting rooms
- Common areas: Eight+ social spaces, including student lounges and a variety of formal and informal seating and study areas
- Food services: Full-service dining facility (Trinity Café)
- Event space: Pavilion on the top floor accommodates up to 200 people
- George and Martha Butterfield Rooftop Farm (quarter-acre or 1,012 m2): allows the integration of food production with academic programming, applied research, and student work and volunteer opportunities.
- Community Kitchen (dedicated teaching and community space): is designed to advance food literacy, health and wellness, community and partnerships, sustainability programming and pedagogy. Together with the farm allows for farm to table education about food systems and food production.
- Public education program: includes educational signage and self-guided tours to showcase the design and sustainability features of the building.
- Building-performance energy dashboard (next phase): will allow observation of building systems metrics in real-time to enable hands-on education and applied research.
- Multi-use areas: two courtyards (Chancellor William & Catherine Graham Courtyard, and garden courtyard) and an open green space suitable for a variety of activities (The intentional addition of the new courtyards honour the original design of Trinity College with multiple, successive quadrangles designed in the Oxbridge model).
- Rooftop spaces: pavilion on the top floor of the Nevil Thomas Wing (centre wing) features an outdoor terrace with incredible views of the Toronto skyline, and is in close proximity to the George and Martha Butterfield Rooftop Farm.
- Ecological landscaping: extensive planted green roofs and landscaping feature native, climate-adapted and drought-resistant species – supports local biodiversity, stormwater retention and microclimate regulation, while reducing the urban heat island effect. Wherever possible existing trees were maintained and removed trees compensated in new locations.
- Barrier-free design makes the Lawson Centre fully accessible for users of all abilities.
- Universal washroom facilities and all-gender barrier free washrooms can be found in both public and residence areas.
- Community Kitchen and residence kitchenettes incorporate barrier free height counters including sinks and cooktops.
- Redesign of the Devonshire Place streetscape with sloping walkways allows for greater accessibility to the Trinity College campus: the new building provides direct, indoor connections to the George Ignatieff Theatre and Gerald Larkin Building, with multiple accessible entrances and pathways to better connect the Lawson Centre for Sustainability to the rest of the Trinity campus and the greater U of T campus.
- The Lawson Centre prioritizes clean commuting and the lowest-carbon modes of travel while supporting visitor and occupant health and wellness through seamless connections to public transit (Trinity campus is minutes from two major Toronto subway lines), and walking and cycling networks as part of the U of T St. George campus.
- With no on-site vehicular parking, occupants are encouraged to use active and sustainable transportation methods.
- Secure indoor bicycle parking is available, with showers and change rooms.
- Site landscaping extends the campus pedestrian network, integrating with Philosopher’s Walk.