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Ryerson University has announced a new mixed-use building will be constructed on Church Street, just north of Dundas Street, on what is currently a parking lot adjacent to the School of Interior Design.

“Thanks to financial support from the provincial government, the new Church Street Development will help further the innovative, entrepreneurial teaching and research Ryerson is known for,” says Julia Hanigsberg, vice-president, administration and finance at Ryerson. “This building, along with the newly opened Mattamy Athletic Centre, Ryerson Image Centre, Image Arts building, Student Learning Centre and our planned student residence on Jarvis Street, reaffirms our dedication to city building and to fulfilling the commitment we have to our Master Plan.”

The Church Street Development will house four health sciences programs from the Faculty of Community Services: the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, the School of Nutrition, the School of Occupational & Public Health and the Midwifery Education Program.

“This new building will foster excellence in inter-professional education and experiential learning while enhancing our student study space,” says Usha George, dean of the Faculty of Community Services. “The design of this new building will reflect advances in learning, teaching, and technology creating an exceptional environment for study, research and innovation.”

The ground floor of the building will have retail space, particularly food services, as well as study space for all students further enhancing the streetscape and bringing pedestrian energy and activity to this area of Church Street. The floors above will feature lecture halls, classrooms, shared teaching labs, meeting rooms, eight new modular labs for research initiatives, state-of-the art clinical experience suites, a dedicated high-fidelity simulation suite, and additional clinical skills labs.

Students will also have dedicated spaces for formal and informal study, course union office areas, clinical skills practice and lounge areas.

To help address the need for more residence space and to optimize density on the site, the building plans include approximately 250 student residence spaces in keeping with the university’s goal to provide an additional 2,000 new residence spaces by 2020.  Ryerson is actively seeking a private sector organization to partner with to develop the residence portion of the project.

The building will reflect Ryerson’s commitment to the principles of the Master Plan, including creating a pedestrian friendly environment through connections that are inviting, safe, accessible and convenient.   

As part of Ryerson’s leadership and long-standing commitment to sustainability, the building will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver compliant. The project will also be used as a launching point to identify and refine an articulated vision for sustainability at Ryerson. The project architect and project team will work collaboratively with the Ryerson community, including students, faculty, staff and Campus Facilities and Sustainability to identify goals to reduce energy consumption both during construction and for the building’s lifecycle.

The estimated cost of the academic portion of the project is $84 million, of which the Ontario government has provided a $56.4 million grant. A request for qualifications for architect services is underway. The date of construction is still to be determined.

Backgrounder

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs.  Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to more than 38,000 students, including 2,300 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 faculty and staff, and more than 140,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca

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Suelan Toye
Public Affairs, Ryerson University                              
416-979-5000 x 7161 | stoye@ryerson.ca

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