Alison Brooks Architects has been chosen to revitalize the Faculty of Information’s Claude T. Bissell Building. The London-based firm will work in collaboration with Adamson Associates Architects of Toronto.
Completed in 1973, the 7,000 square meter Bissell Building is one of three heritage buildings that form the renowned John P. Robarts Research Library complex, one of Toronto’s brutalist masterpieces. This landmark project will support the Faculty’s growth and further establish it as a world-leading center of excellence for research and education in information.
“As a fan of Brutalist architecture – be it the Bissell Building, where I now work, or the National Parliament Building in Bangladesh, the country where I was born – I am thrilled to have Alison Brooks in charge of this renovation,” said Javed Mostafa, Dean of the Faculty of Information. “Under their architectural stewardship, I expect the new Bissell Building to emerge an even more welcoming human and social space that will foster engagement and create further connections to the city and our communities.”
The architects’ commission includes a comprehensive reimagining of the Bissell Building’s social, teaching and research spaces to fundamentally modernize the identity of the Faculty of Information and create a new front door to the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus. Newly accessible, inclusive spaces such as research and design labs, classrooms and makerspaces will support the Faculty’s learning models.
“This revitalization project represents a historic opportunity to work with a brilliant client to transform one of the University’s most memorable Brutalist icons into a place that fosters open collaboration, active learning and impactful research,” said Alison Brooks, the founder and creative director of her firm. “We’re inspired by the Bissell Building’s considerable artistic legacy which we will enhance and honour with our work.”
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