The Gerstein Reading Room at the University of Toronto has won a design excellence award from the
Ontario Association of Architects, the university announced this week.
The firm of
Diamond + Schmitt were praised for both
renovation and renewal, with particular mention being made of an old
boarded-up attic, which they discovered, uncovered and recovered, exposing the previously hidden neo-Gothic woodwork, dating from the building's original 1892 construction.
The facility's director, Sandra Langlands, is especially partial to the old periodical reading room, which the architects also restored, complete with (non-functioning) fireplace and original glazed tiles. "It's been made into a really nice group study room," she says.
The reading room is housed in what was once known as the Sigmund Samuel Library (or Sig Sam for short), and though that's what the building is still officially called, the work done since the Bertrand Gerstein Family Foundation and the Frank Gerstein Charitable Foundation made sizable donations in the 1990s has resulted in the whole structure now being colloquially known as the Gerstein.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Sandra Langlands
Do you know of a new building going up, a business expanding or
renovating, even a cool new house in the neighbourhood? Please send your
development news tips to [email protected].