Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, University of Toronto

Toronto, ON
Construction Cost: $60 million (CAN)
Area / Square Feet: 140,000
Occupancy Date: September 2014

The Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport forms a new and vital hub for sports, research and therapy, serving both varsity athletes and the wider campus community. The facility features a 2,000-seat competition venue for basketball and volleyball; a large strength and conditioning center; a sports medicine clinic; and sports science research laboratories.

The core of the program is a pair of very large rooms: the field house and the strength and conditioning center. Due to site restrictions, the field house was too large to fit within the permissible zoning envelope, requiring the courts to be placed below grade. To preserve the clear span required for the field house, the strength and conditioning center and upper floors are suspended above using 180-foot-long trusses. In overcoming the challenges posed by a constrained urban infill site, the project was rewarded with a singular public expression on the street: a heroic steel frame vaulting over a cavernous excavation.

Judge's Comments

"What an exceptional design that centers around a very clean and simple solution detailed and crafted in a very sophisticated manner." — Mark Williams

"Innovative use of a tight site. Well-planned, nicely stated. Very Toronto." — David Edmunds

"Amazing project top to bottom. A true modern design." — Steve Flanagan