Centennial College Story Arts Campus Library / Harsh Vardhan Jain

Centennial College's Story Arts Campus in Toronto's East York occupies a restored 1954 Toronto Teachers' College building designed by renowned Toronto Modernist, Peter Dickinson. One of the architects' greatest works, the building received a Massey Medal for Architecture. RDHA was commissioned to renovate the building's 500 square meter library and rebuild a 1990s addition whose irregular form protruded from the original structure in sharp contrast. Demolishing this element included removing partitions, a staircase, and structural columns to optimize the available spaces for programming. With a clean slate, we refurbished and replaced existing mechanical and electrical systems and developed a conceptual approach centered around lightness – reinventing the library as a vibrant space that both acknowledges and contemporizes Dickinson's modernist design language.