University of Toronto Scarborough, Indigenous House

overview

Drawing inspiration from the wigwam, the Indigenous House is an academic and social facility for that creates inclusive spaces for students and faculty. The two-story, 10,000-square-foot structure is composed of a distinctive, curved glue-laminated timber that celebrates the region’s indigeneity.

We provided acoustic, noise and vibration control services to Formline Architecture for the project, which includes offices, research, exhibition and gathering spaces. Indigenous community partners and campus members were consulted during the design and planning phase to ensure an authentic approach. The naturally ventilated building draws fresh air through a concrete intake and a series of underground air tubes.

highlights

• Our scope included room acoustics and sound separation as well as mechanical noise and vibration control.  
• Special considerations were provided for the gathering space and other rooms with extensive use of naturally reflective wood and concrete finishes to balance absorptive treatments.
• Additional details were incorporated between spaces to minimize noise transfer in the naturally ventilated building.