Project summary

The authors are grateful for the information and images provided by Halsall Associates Limited, Stantec Architects Limited, Mirage Steel Limited, and representatives from the University of Toronto.

The University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC) Student Centre is a new, three-storey, 4,700 m2 facility located along the entrance to the main campus. Completed in October 2004, the building is home to a range of student services, organizations and clubs as well as campus amenities.

Of the approximately 300 tonnes of structural steel in the Student Centre, 16 tonnes came from another building. The steel was deconstructed from the old Terrace Gallery of Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and reused in the student office wing of the new Student Centre. This case study will track the processes that facilitated the reuse of structural steel components in the building from initiation of a reuse strategy and accessing a source of salvaged steel through deconstruction, fabrication, and erection of the reused steel. It is important to highlight the successful aspects of steel reuse during the building process and to recognise the strong commitment of the client and design team to overcoming challenges which arose throughout the design process.

This case study was prepared by Jordan Edmonds, Vera Straka and Dr. Mark Gorgolewski at the Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University.The authors are grateful for the information and images provided by Halsall Associates Limited, Stantec Architects Limited, Mirage Steel Limited, and representatives from the University of Toronto.