Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre

Overview

The Toronto Zoo is transforming its main entrance into a public-facing precinct that brings together visitor amenities, academic research and animal habitats in a cohesive, campus-like setting. 

The project comprises two new buildings at the Zoo’s entrance: a one-story guest services facility and a two-story academic building developed in collaboration with the University of Toronto Scarborough. The guest services building anchors the arrival experience and incorporates an outdoor river otter habitat with associated support spaces. The academic building will house classrooms and laboratories supporting wildlife-related research and teaching. Together, the buildings support a highly integrated gateway environment. 

Thornton Tomasetti provided structural engineering services for both buildings. The work required careful coordination across multiple structural systems and material types, including cast-in-place concrete, structural steel, mass timber elements, CMU, composite deck, and facade interfaces. 

The academic building uses a hybrid structural system that pairs cast-in-place concrete walls with glue-laminated (glulam) timber framing and nail -laminated timber (NLT) floors and roof. The guest services building is a complementary structure tailored to its public-facing program and roof configuration.

Highlights

• Hybrid mass timber system. The academic building combines cast-in-place concrete walls with glulam timber framing and NLT floors and roof, balancing durability and carbon reduction. 
• Coordinated structural systems. Concrete, steel, mass timber, CMU and composite deck systems were integrated across both buildings. 
• Local sourcing. Mass timber was supplied by Ontario-based manufacturer, Timmerman Timberworks, reinforcing the project’s regional and community-driven approach.