Media Releases

Deerfield Hall helps accommodate student growth, transforms face of campus

September 15, 2014

MISSISSAUGA, ON — The Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Mis­sis­sauga today offi­cial­ly opened Deer­field Hall, the first phase of a rede­vel­oped North Build­ing that will help accom­mo­date stu­dent enrol­ment growth and rede­fine the north­ern quad­rant of cam­pus.

The first phase of the two-phase recon­struc­tion of the North Build­ing fea­tures four storeys with improved the­atre rehearsal space, com­put­er labs, class­rooms, offices, for­mal and infor­mal study space and an expand­ed food ser­vices area. The Depart­ments of Math­e­mat­i­cal and Com­pu­ta­tion­al Sci­ences, Psy­chol­o­gy, and Eng­lish and Dra­ma will have offices and research facil­i­ties in the ren­o­vat­ed space. The North Build­ing was the first struc­ture built on the Erindale cam­pus in 1967.

“The open­ing of Deer­field Hall is an impor­tant moment in the trans­for­ma­tion of U of T Mississauga’s built envi­ron­ment,” says U of T pres­i­dent Mer­ic Gertler. “It will help accom­mo­date UTM’s devel­op­ment as a major com­pre­hen­sive cam­pus, and to sup­port its role as a key engine of inno­va­tion and pros­per­i­ty in Mis­sis­sauga and well beyond.”

In June 2011, the provin­cial gov­ern­ment announced $52.5 mil­lion in fund­ing to ren­o­vate the North Build­ing and teach­ing lab­o­ra­to­ries in the William G. Davis Build­ing. U of T Mis­sis­sauga con­tributed $22.5 mil­lion for a total project cost of $75 mil­lion.

“Deer­field Hall is a stun­ning addi­tion to the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Mis­sis­sauga,” says Pro­fes­sor Deep Sai­ni, vice-pres­i­dent of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to and prin­ci­pal of U of T Mis­sis­sauga. “With expand­ed and up-to-date wired and dig­i­tal facil­i­ties, we can bet­ter meet the needs of our grow­ing aca­d­e­m­ic and admin­is­tra­tive com­mu­ni­ty. The qual­i­ty of our built envi­ron­ment matched by the unpar­al­leled nat­ur­al beau­ty of cam­pus will inspire and play a huge role in our stu­dents’ suc­cess.”

U of T Mississauga’s enrol­ment has more than dou­bled in the last 10 years, to almost 14,000 stu­dents. Cur­rent needs, com­bined with planned and even­tu­al enrol­ment growth of up to 20,000 stu­dents, increas­es the demand for more and bet­ter learn­ing spaces, Sai­ni says.

“Ontario’s eco­nom­ic future is direct­ly linked to our abil­i­ty to be a glob­al leader in post­sec­ondary edu­ca­tion, train­ing, and in build­ing a cul­ture of research and entre­pre­neur­ship,” says Reza Mori­di, min­is­ter of train­ing, col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties. “That’s why our gov­ern­ment is proud to sup­port projects like Deer­field Hall, which will pro­vide stu­dents with a dynam­ic and inno­v­a­tive learn­ing envi­ron­ment for years to come.”

The project team for the Deer­field Hall recon­struc­tion con­sists of rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, U of T Mis­sis­sauga, Perkins + Will archi­tects and East­ern Con­struc­tion.

Back­grounder: See below media con­tact infor­ma­tion

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For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact:

Jane Stir­ling
Mar­ket­ing and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Mis­sis­sauga
Tel: 905–569-4350
jane.stirling@utoronto.ca

Blake Eligh
Mar­ket­ing and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Mis­sis­sauga
Tel: 905–828-3983
blake.eligh@utoronto.ca

BACKGROUNDER

DEERFIELD HALL

• Project cost (Deer­field Hall and lab ren­o­va­tions in William G. Davis Build­ing): $75 mil­lion
• Fund­ing sources: Gov­ern­ment of Ontario ($52.5 mil­lion), U of T Mis­sis­sauga ($22.5 mil­lion)
• Four-storey struc­ture
• Total gross m2: 10,440
• Num­ber of rooms: 222
• Pri­ma­ry use of build­ing: fac­ul­ty office, research space, stu­dent space
• Project start date: June 2012
• Archi­tect: Perkins + Will
• Built by East­ern Con­struc­tion Co. Ltd.
• Aca­d­e­m­ic depart­ments: Math­e­mat­i­cal and Com­pu­ta­tion­al Sci­ences, Psy­chol­o­gy, Eng­lish and Dra­ma
• Includes: improved the­atre rehearsal space, class­rooms, com­put­er labs, office and research space, for­mal and infor­mal study space, expand­ed food ser­vices area
• Project pro­vides improved qual­i­ty of space; address­es cur­rent cam­pus space short­age and accom­mo­da­tion for enrol­ment growth; pro­vides new aca­d­e­m­ic space in Deer­field Hall, which freed up space in William G. Davis Build­ing for sci­ence expan­sion
• In keep­ing with the cam­pus’ com­mit­ment to envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty, the build­ing incor­po­rates ener­gy-effi­cient light­ing, green roofs, and will achieve LEED sil­ver sta­tus – an inter­na­tion­al­ly rec­og­nized stan­dard in sus­tain­able build­ings.