New-school: ZAS create non-conformist design for York University
ZAS Architects’ student-centric design for York University’s new engineering school breaks down the barriers between social and study spaces
How can a school building reinvent the way students are taught? ZAS Architects give us a demonstration with their recently completed design for Toronto’s Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence at York University.
With the ambition of becoming the first engineering school in Canada to achieve a 50/50 gender balance, York University enlisted ZAS to design a new student-centric school building that would help to attract a new generation of talented engineers. Following an intensive design process between ZAS Architects, The Lassonde School of Engineering and York University, ZAS arrived at a design that put student productivity at the top of the agenda, with optimised spaces for learning, discovery and interaction.
From the outside, a tessellated glass facade based on a mathematical, triangle-based algorithm reflects slowly drifting cloud-like light and patterns into the interior spaces.
Inside, the typical school structure has been inverted in order to give the students access to the best and brightest spaces around the perimeter of the building, while offices are located in the core. While there are fewer classrooms than you would find in schools of a similar scale, lecture halls have been done away with altogether in exchange for active learning classrooms and abundant social spaces that foster spontaneous faculty and student interaction.
'We weren’t worried about losing the lecture halls,' says Paul Stevens of ZAS, 'instead we were more concerned with designing the best active learning spaces for the school, in keeping with the mandate of the Lassonde School of Engineering. It’s about creating a hands-on experiential, learning condition that allows students to absorb and apply the content. This work is happening in active classrooms, with all the technology and flexible multifunctional furniture.'
Integrated pods for private study are configured with audiovisual learning tools that encourage students to spontaneously plug-in while corridors are peppered with banquettes and white boards for spontaneous brainstorming. An impressive multistorey materials testing lab facilitates hands-on learning, while the Design Commons is a gathering place where students are encouraged to foster entrepreneurial ideas and prototype them.
'Bergeron is one of the first [schools] if not the first, in Canada [to be designed this way]. The concept has been recently adopted in the last three-to-five years by leading US institutions like Stanford, Penn State and Harvard,' says Stevens of the groundbreaking design. 'The response from students has been fantastic. They’re now actively learning in project rooms, collaborative areas or social areas.'
INFORMATION
For more information visit ZAS Architects’ website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his 1990s-inspired collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Bunkie on The Hill is a cosy Canadian cottage full of charm
Bunkie on The Hill, a design by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, is tucked into the trees, slotting neatly into Ontario's nature
By Shawn Adams Published
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practices
In the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Svima looked to Japanese architecture, 'nature and ecology' for Passageway House in Serbia
The Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024 includes Svima, a young Canadian practice joining our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Arthur Erickson's Museum of Anthropology at UBC has been given a new lease of life in Vancouver
After an extensive renovation, The Museum of Anthropology is part Shinto shrine, part cathedral, part longhouse – and a temple to learning
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A dramatic new lakeside cabin in the Canadian wilderness rises above the trees
Kariouk Architects' lakeside cabin ‘m.o.r.e. CLT’ explores new material approaches while making a minimal impact on a precious landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Forest Retreat is a new low-energy family house in the forests of Ontario
Set beneath a vast roof, Forest Retreat is a rich mix of local materials, craftsmanship and space for an extended family to get together in the heart of nature
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Join the West Coast Modern Week's Home Tour 2024 for modernist architecture and more
West Coast Modern Week 2024 comes with its annual home tour courtesy of the West Vancouver Art Museum, offering an extensive, immersive showcase of Canada's modernist architecture
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A modernist lakeside cottage in Ontario provides a perfect backdrop for family vacations
A lakeside cottage by Canadian studio Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has been shaped as a modest multigenerational retreat to accommodate the surrounding wilderness
By Jonathan Bell Published