Moriyama & Teshima and Montgomery Sisam Architects recently completed the Sheridan College Hazel McCallion Campus Phase 2 (HMC2) - a premier post-secondary learning environment dedicated to the study of architecture, interior design and visual merchandizing. Accommodating an additional 3200 full-time students, HMC2 combines state-of-the-art formal and informal learning spaces to become an incubator for invention and applied creativity.
The sequence of discovery begins in the Creativity Commons, a double-height atrium around which series' of learning spaces gravitate: research, training and leadership centres, maker spaces, meeting rooms, technology-enabled classrooms, food services, a gallery, and bookstore. A feature scissor stair, escalating 5 storeys through the atrium, connects these spaces visually and physically with the Commons and projects their energy and animation upwards. As users ascend and circulate, their experience of the building changes. Openings have been staggered and site lines curated to provide natural light and views across the floorplate, down into the atrium and or out to the new quad.
Informal study and lounge space is positioned in complement with programmed space to support a host of collaborative activities. Interstitial spaces-corridors and stairs-become qualitative elements of the building program that expand the public realm. Supporting integrated and connected floor plates; openness and legibility of major programmatic elements; and a showcase of student achievement, they redefine traditional approaches to education to support learning anytime anywhere, encouraging serendipitous encounters between users and an inspired exchange of ideas between disciplines.
Located in the heart of Mississauga's Civic Centre District, HMC2 is also about positive city-building, meeting the broader vision of the City's Downtown 21 Master Plan by animating the public realm and transforming the existing suburban context into a denser, mixed-use urbanism. The transparent double-height base beneath opaque bars creates a clear massing concept and building profile that responds to frontages on three major streets, the future Scholar's Green Park, and a suite of major urban infrastructure. Negotiating a substantial grade change, the design rationalizes pedestrian paths around the site and through the quad, inviting students, staff and community members to converge at the Creativity Commons. The Commons, its adjoining spaces and the activities therein, form a highly visible ground floor hub that engages with and animated the street, and provides a distinct face for Sheridan within the broader community.
Photography: Shai Gil