Architecture Counsel Inc. (ACi) designed the Kingsway College School Senior School with warm wood and an open design in Toronto, Canada.

The new senior school for Kingsway College School (KCS) creates a new paradigm for high school students, using the City of Toronto as its laboratory and campus. With an emphasis on fostering community and strong civic values through experiential learning, a student-centric approach, and sustainability, the school is the only independent high school in Toronto to occupy an existing high-rise residential tower.

Breaking with conventional school architecture, the flexible, open-ended design eschews the typical classroom arrangement and enables the learning environment to operate more like a series of flexible social and innovation spaces. In another break with convention, the senior school occupies 40,000 square feet of space on two levels of a 66-story condominium that was fully occupied during the fit-up. Although the space was originally slated for use by a major Canadian grocery chain, through a careful configuration of spaces in tandem with a democratic approach to natural light, ACi was able to transform the space to appear purpose-built.

The main entrance to KCS is on the second floor of the podium. Upon entering the grand, double-height reception area, visitors immediately feel as though they are in a distinctive space. Greeted by an abundance of natural light, with an elegant, wood-crafted feature stair anchoring the reception area, the effect is one of great spatial release.

Understanding that pedagogy continues to evolve, ACi’s design solution is flexible, adaptable, and open-ended which will enable the school to grow ‘accordion-like’ to accommodate future enrollment and inspire future generations of life-long learners.

Design: Architecture Counsel Inc. (ACi)
Design Team: Oliver Beck, Faisal Bashir, Sean March, Giovanna Rogatto, Davide Peruzetto
Contractor: TriAxis Construction Limited
Furniture Dealer: Triad Office Interiors
Photography: Scott Norsworthy