University of Toronto Scarborough inaugurates the new Sam Ibrahim Building

The Sam Ibrahim Building aspires to improve academic well-being through architecture and will act as a central campus hub. It houses the Sam Ibrahim Centre for Inclusive Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Leadership; offices and related spaces for Student Services; and academic spaces for the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences. The five-storey building features 20 flexible, technology-enabled classrooms, 124 faculty and staff offices, and several active-use spaces such as welcome areas, a café, lounges, and informal collaboration spaces.

As a response to UTSC’s efforts to enhance student well-being, the architectural design invites students to experience a diverse array of sensory-forward educational experiences. The 20 varied classrooms facilitate active participation, accommodate different ways of thinking, and support inclusive learning and social exchange. These spaces range from a campfire-like theatre-in-the-round to a collaborative auditorium of geometric banquettes.

“Translating into practice the University of Toronto’s progressive stance on young adult education, we have designed a building that creates diversity in teaching and learning situations. Applying insights from neuroarchitecture, the design supports activity-based, socially engaging and peer-to-peer learning through an interweaving arrangement of classrooms, student service facilities, and the open public domain,” says Carsten Primdahl, Founding Partner of CEBRA architecture and lead designer of the project.

Applying insights from neuroarchitecture, the design supports activity-based, socially engaging and peer-to-peer learning through an interweaving arrangement of classrooms, student service facilities, and the open public domain

Carsten Primdahl, Founding Partner, CEBRA

“An important element of the building is the intentional, accessible areas, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to inclusive learning experiences for all. This has been a focus of our campus since its inception, and the Sam Ibrahim Building represents the evolution of this commitment to the student experience here at the University of Toronto Scarborough,” says Andrew Arifuzzaman, Chief Administration Officer, University of Toronto Scarborough Campus.

Learning through feeling

“Architectural means and qualities greatly affect our senses, behaviour, and our ability to receive, process, and apply information. Therefore, the 20 classrooms are designed to create a distinct setting for learning with a unique atmosphere, accommodating specific learning needs. Together, they form a range of spatial qualities, which create a sensory-stimulating learning environment. It provides faculty with a specialised set of tools for organising different learning situations,” Carsten Primdahl says.

The classrooms are connected by an interior landscape of both open common areas that stimulate social activities and more intimate zones for informal meetings and study. This allows students to seek out the setting that best matches their personal preference or the activity at hand, thereby increasing the experiential value of the learning environment and student engagement.

A mosaic-inspired exterior

The architectural concept is inspired by a 19th-century printer’s tray, a compartmentalized tool historically used to organize letterpress letters. The complex arrangement of rooms and open public spaces across multiple floors, many of which are sectionally interlocked, forms a three-dimensional composition, much like the compartments of the type case. Together, the building’s classrooms form a collection of memorable spaces, each providing a unique context for learning.

The building’s facades display interior activities to the outside. Resembling the compartments of a printer’s tray, this mosaic-like exterior establishes a central beacon for UTSC’s northern campus.

Classrooms: The Arrow Group Innovation Hall, the Cave, & the Collaboratorium

The Sam Ibrahim Building combines different volumes, scales, surfaces, and spatial qualities as a response to the diverse student community that it serves. It was designed with comprehensive insights from CEBRA’s R&D unit, WISE, which draws on neuroarchitecture: the study of how spatial design influences cognition and well-being.

The 20 classrooms include the large Arrow Group Innovation Hall – a theatre-in-the-round hexagonal space with surrounding digital screens. Like gathering around a campfire, the 500-seat space positions the presenter at the room’s centre, rather than front like in a conventional auditorium, thereby minimising the distance from the back rows and promoting face-to-face exchange. This layout dissolves hierarchy and encourages dialogue and active participation.

Architectural means and qualities greatly affect our senses, behaviour, and our ability to receive, process, and apply information. Therefore, the 20 classrooms are designed to create a distinct setting for learning with a unique atmosphere, accommodating specific learning needs. Together, they form a range of spatial qualities, which create a sensory-stimulating learning environment.

Carsten Primdahl, Founding Partner, CEBRA

Among the medium-sized, tiered learning spaces, the Cave is a calm retreat from the building’s lively ground floor. The interior surfaces, reminiscent of natural stone crafted from sound-absorbing material, engage the sense of touch and enhance student focus and concentration.

The Collaboratorium offers a cooperative environment that supports frontal teaching and group work. The layout consists of tiered niches that, drawing inspiration from nightclub booths, accommodate up to six people around a table and establish engaging coworking spaces, rather than the feeling of a typical lecture hall. Each booth includes tech with access to digital learning and online collaboration. The booths are lined with acoustic fabric to enhance in-person sound quality.

Photos: doublespace photography