UNDERGRADUATE
Peter Bormann—The Ledcor Architecture Scholarship in Honour of Stewart Crawford![]()
Peter Bormann—The Ledcor Architecture Scholarship in Honour of Stewart Crawford
About the Award
For overall academic excellence and excellence in technical courses in first year.
The brief for this project was to design a new building for historic Allan Gardens to host storytelling performances and other events for an audience of about 50, as well as a café and office space for a staff of 2 to 4 people. In addition to the built program, an outdoor space for performances in good weather was requested.
The main entrance of the Allan Gardens Theater faces East. Patrons enter a curved double height space that descends as it recedes from the entrance. The elevation change is reflected in parallel skylights that flood this processional space with light, while also yielding a clear logic to the circulation. To the left is the commercial café space featuring a warm environment with casual seating, a fireplace, and extensive glazing facing Gerrard St. that entices passing pedestrians to come explore the building. Staff offices are located above the café space, and together they shield and protect the storytelling space from the busy street.
The descending hallway traces the exterior of the elliptical storytelling space. At the terminus, patrons are delivered into a triple-height space with extensive glazing facing Allen Gardens and framing the historic Conservatory. The curved form of the volume communicates with the onion-shaped domes of the Conservatory. The link is further strengthened by mimicking the star-sectioned lights circling the pediment and lantern of the greenhouse dome in a clerestory band topping the performance space.
Flexible, retractable seating along the opaque wall implies an axis and a stage location with the mature trees of Allan Gardens as a natural backdrop. Large sliding doors connect the concave indoor performance space with a convex outdoor stage with amphitheatre seating, greatly increasing the programming options for the venue.
For overall academic excellence and excellence in technical courses in first year.
The brief for this project was to design a new building for historic Allan Gardens to host storytelling performances and other events for an audience of about 50, as well as a café and office space for a staff of 2 to 4 people. In addition to the built program, an outdoor space for performances in good weather was requested.
The main entrance of the Allan Gardens Theater faces East. Patrons enter a curved double height space that descends as it recedes from the entrance. The elevation change is reflected in parallel skylights that flood this processional space with light, while also yielding a clear logic to the circulation. To the left is the commercial café space featuring a warm environment with casual seating, a fireplace, and extensive glazing facing Gerrard St. that entices passing pedestrians to come explore the building. Staff offices are located above the café space, and together they shield and protect the storytelling space from the busy street.
The descending hallway traces the exterior of the elliptical storytelling space. At the terminus, patrons are delivered into a triple-height space with extensive glazing facing Allen Gardens and framing the historic Conservatory. The curved form of the volume communicates with the onion-shaped domes of the Conservatory. The link is further strengthened by mimicking the star-sectioned lights circling the pediment and lantern of the greenhouse dome in a clerestory band topping the performance space.
Flexible, retractable seating along the opaque wall implies an axis and a stage location with the mature trees of Allan Gardens as a natural backdrop. Large sliding doors connect the concave indoor performance space with a convex outdoor stage with amphitheatre seating, greatly increasing the programming options for the venue.
