The exciting culmination of a multiphase master plan focused on enriching student life, the Student Services Hub (SSH) at UTM transforms the way students engage with essential support resources and fosters a sense of belonging on campus. The SSH consolidates previously dispersed services in one prominent location within the heritage-designated William G. Davis Building. Accessible through a new signature entrance on the building’s west side, the SSH is a fluid experience that enhances student service delivery and fulfills the university’s mission to provide a top-tier experience to its diverse population.

In keeping with the master plan’s student-centric objectives, we developed a distinguished architectural and interior design that optimizes functionality while delivering an inclusive destination for students who flock here from all corners of the campus. Our sculptural skylight is the consequence of tactical maneuvers — structural modifications, the removal of masonry walls, the introduction of fire-rated glass — that allowed us to reinstate a former skylight. The result is quite literally luminous: daylight washes over the central spaces, suffusing the Brutalist interiors with vitality. Sitting beneath and adjacent to the skylight is a large, multi-seat service desk — affectionately referred to as the “Hello Desk” — that establishes pride of place, flanked by student-focused spaces for collaboration, study, and counselling as well as new workspace for UTM staff, including offices and meeting rooms outfitted with AV technologies. This layered plan is both welcoming and strategic, organically segueing from public to private to accommodate conversations that require confidentiality as well as quiet work.

Our objective with the SSH was to lift student services above the ordinary to create a fluent, accessible, and efficient experience while also optimizing administrative workspaces. Hewing to digital principles of self-navigation and thoughtful user experience, the plan features intuitive spatial organization, with architecturally integrated digital signage and wayfinding, enabling users to locate what they need quickly and easily. Housed on the main and second floors, the SSH blends seamlessly with the recently renovated Meeting Place cafeteria to create a cohesive experience along the ground floor.

We also delivered a distinct frontispiece for the Davis Building — a new entrance and canopy as well as a plaza in collaboration with Nak Design Strategies — that is compatible with its heritage language. High-performance triple-pane structural glazing invites visitors in by offering passersby a glimpse into the hustle and bustle of the new SSH. Clad with patinated zinc that harmonizes with the precast Brutalist concrete, the cantilevered roof is a slender structure, representing a deliberate strategy to maintain sightlines and deference to the heritage-designated architecture. The new plaza knits in with the surrounding paving materials, introduces native plant species, and bridges a slight grade change to create a barrier-free entrance that connects the SSH to pedestrian routes, transit, as well as the Innovation Complex and Office of the Registrar across the street. Not only does the new “front door” provide a distinguished identity for the SSH, it also exemplifies UTM’s commitment to its “any door is the right door” approach by making student services more readily visible, accessible, and fulsomely integrated into daily campus life.

We pursued sustainable interventions wherever possible, including a significant opportunity to upgrade the building’s mechanical infrastructure. By introducing a new air handler with heat recovery and replacing systems around the perimeter, we not only enhanced temperature control, occupant comfort, and air quality, but also improved energy efficiency and helped UTM meet broader campus sustainability targets.

Images: Doublespace Photography