FOURTH YEAR UNDERGRADUATE
Jade Branker—The Pella Travel Award
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Jade Branker—The Pella Travel Award
About the Award
The Pella Travel Award:
Pella Corporation designs and manufactures windows and doors for both residential homes and commercial applications. Since our founding in 1925 by Pete Kuyper, we have been proud to support the communities where we live and work.
Dufferin Grove Collegiate
The design challenge posed to students was to propose an alternative TDSB high school in Toronto’s Dufferin Grove neighbourhood in response to the demolition of the old institution a few blocks away. As an area currently undergoing drastic change, the school must represent the changing identity of the neighbourhood and give students a place to call their own.
Based on the concept of ‘City as School and School as City’, Dufferin Grove Collegiate centers around a formal connection to context. It is built up from a diagonal cut through the site, connecting two crucial nodes: future high-rise developments on adjacent streets, and the nearby mall hotspot which will soon be redeveloped opposite Dufferin Grove Park. The cut acts as a central corridor; an atrium mimicking the feeling of the city’s busy streets between nodes. From this point, the building steps up in outdoor landscaped terraces, encouraging visual fluidity and circulation throughout the cut.
The adjoining community space, a versatile flower shop and market, echoes the spirit of Dufferin Park, the established hub for local gatherings. It offers a year-round venue that enhances the park's vibrancy, providing facilities that extend its use during colder months. This space serves as a natural extension of the neighbourhood's existing culture and activities, fostering deeper connections and year-round engagement within the community.
The pattern of the double-skin face employs passive strategies to shade the interior, while the material choice brings a bright playful nature to the site. Acknowledging the urban nature of the school, the facade offers porosity for the students to see the bustling street below, while maintaining a sense of privacy from the exterior.
Dufferin Grove Collegiate seeks to actively engage both students and the broader community, offering a dynamic space where students can deepen their understanding of the urban landscape. By integrating educational programs with the local surroundings, the school fosters a deeper connection to the community.
The Pella Travel Award:
Pella Corporation designs and manufactures windows and doors for both residential homes and commercial applications. Since our founding in 1925 by Pete Kuyper, we have been proud to support the communities where we live and work.
Dufferin Grove Collegiate
The design challenge posed to students was to propose an alternative TDSB high school in Toronto’s Dufferin Grove neighbourhood in response to the demolition of the old institution a few blocks away. As an area currently undergoing drastic change, the school must represent the changing identity of the neighbourhood and give students a place to call their own.
Based on the concept of ‘City as School and School as City’, Dufferin Grove Collegiate centers around a formal connection to context. It is built up from a diagonal cut through the site, connecting two crucial nodes: future high-rise developments on adjacent streets, and the nearby mall hotspot which will soon be redeveloped opposite Dufferin Grove Park. The cut acts as a central corridor; an atrium mimicking the feeling of the city’s busy streets between nodes. From this point, the building steps up in outdoor landscaped terraces, encouraging visual fluidity and circulation throughout the cut.
The adjoining community space, a versatile flower shop and market, echoes the spirit of Dufferin Park, the established hub for local gatherings. It offers a year-round venue that enhances the park's vibrancy, providing facilities that extend its use during colder months. This space serves as a natural extension of the neighbourhood's existing culture and activities, fostering deeper connections and year-round engagement within the community.
The pattern of the double-skin face employs passive strategies to shade the interior, while the material choice brings a bright playful nature to the site. Acknowledging the urban nature of the school, the facade offers porosity for the students to see the bustling street below, while maintaining a sense of privacy from the exterior.
Dufferin Grove Collegiate seeks to actively engage both students and the broader community, offering a dynamic space where students can deepen their understanding of the urban landscape. By integrating educational programs with the local surroundings, the school fosters a deeper connection to the community.
