OUR NEW BUILDING

Since 1998, many Rotman programs have doubled in size, along with the number of faculty, staff and research institutes. To accommodate this and future planned growth, the School has undertaken an expansion of its facilities that will provide approximately 15,000 gross square meters of new space.

Expected to open in 2012, the Rotman Expansion has been designed by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB). This new building will house the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking and the Martin Prosperity Institute, along with a number of research programs, classrooms and study spaces. Fully integrated with our current building at 105 St. George Street in downtown Toronto, the Expansion will be a highly flexible and technologically cutting-edge facility featuring a variety of collaborative spaces.

The Rotman Expansion will feature a series of horizontal and vertical connections between the existing and new buildings to facilitate the flow of people through a state-of-the-art multi-story glass structure. It will contain 7 tiered classrooms, more than 70 student study spaces and a main floor café for students and staff. The building will also feature a spectacular 400-seat (600 sq meter) event space where the Rotman, University and business communities will come together for lectures, conferences and other special events.

“KPMB’s design expresses our core mission to pursue scholarly excellence and promote the power of creativity and Integrative Thinking,” says the Rotman School’s Assistant Dean, Integrative Planning & Chief Operating Officer Mary-Ellen Yeomans. “Their design emphasizes strategic connectivity, both inside and out. The architecture draws on the value of what surrounds it and expands that value beyond the site, well into the campus and the city of Toronto.”

We are thrilled to be working with one of the world’s most creative and innovative business schools,” says KPMB partner Bruce Kuwabara. “The basic principles of sustainability – enduring value, fresh air ventilation, access to natural light and views – have informed KPMB’s work since it was founded, and they will inform the Rotman School’s Expansion.”

Rotman Professor Richard Florida, academic director of the Martin Prosperity Institute, was thrilled with the selection of KPMB. “They really ‘get’ us and they understand the neighborhood and the community as well,” says the author of Who’s Your City? and The Great Reset. “Their design will further energize St. George Street and make our neighborhood a better place to study, work and live." The Rotman School is reinventing management tools and frameworks for a creative society,” says Prof. Florida, "and the new building will reflect the ‘new way to think’ that is the basis of our approach, providing students, researchers, staff and the local community with a springboard to harness their creative capabilities.”

The new building aspires to LEED certification via the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Canada Green Building Rating System. Renowned energy consultant Thomas Auer of Transsolar provided guidance in the initial phases of the project. Toronto-based energy consultant Halsall Associates is also working with the Project Team, providing expertise on energy performance and sustainability.