Ryerson opens the Centre for Urban Innovation

Last month, students, staff and faculty gathered to celebrate the official opening of Toronto Metropolitan University’s newest building, the Centre for Urban Innovation (CUI). Located at 44 Gerrard St. E., the building provides 40,000 square feet of space for faculty and students to conduct research in areas critical to the future of cities, including energy, big data, water and smart infrastructure.

The building itself reflects Ryerson’s commitment to sustainability. The original structure, which dates back to 1886, has been adaptively reused by Moriyama & Teshima Architects to reduce the construction footprint. While heritage elements have been retained, including an original 19th-century lecture hall, the building has been designed for the 21st century, meeting LEED Silver standards and featuring green roofs and state-of-the-art labs. While these attributes are remarkable, the standout feature is the interdisciplinary innovation that the building enables.

Collaborative spaces within the CUI encourage researchers and students from a wide variety of disciplines to work together. This kind of collaboration is the key to solving complex urban challenges, according to Sri Krishnan, associate dean of research and external partnerships at the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science. “Issues faced in urban centres are complex, and they cannot be solved by one discipline alone,” he said. “In the area of water purification, for example, engineers can develop instrumentation, but they need experts in the sciences and environmental sustainability to understand the chemical reactions.”