Richard Murray Design Building
Located on Morris Street, the Design Building provides much needed student spaces for the Sexton Campus. The Design Building includes the 450-seat Irving Oil auditorium, four new design studios for Architecture and Planning students, bookable student meeting rooms, and the student-centred John Lindsay Sr. Design Commons.
Irving Oil Auditorium
Supported by a generous donation from Irving Oil and small donations from alumni, faculty, staff, and community members, the Irving Oil Auditorium is a 450-seat lecture hall: the largest classroom space on the Sexton Campus. As student enrolment in the Faculty of Engineering has grown by about 65 per cent over the past decade due to rising industry demand for talent, the auditorium is a much-needed addition to the classroom space on Sexton Campus.
The Irving Oil Auditorium has state-of-the-art A/V technology, with acoustics that minimize mic noise and interference, to ensure that audience members in any section of the auditorium can clearly hear a presenter. The auditorium's climate control systems are likewise forward-thinking: a connection to Sexton's new geo-exchange system allows the room to be heated and cooled in a sustainable fashion.
The “We Saved You a Seat!” fundraising campaign offered small donors the opportunity to have a dedication inscribed on a seat in the auditorium. Through this campaign, 358 seats have been inscribed, raising over $170,000.
If you are interested in locating your sponsored seat in the Irving Oil Auditorium or you are interested in perusing the dedications, .
John Lindsay Sr. Design Commons
Students in Engineering and Architecture need more than just classroom space: they need space to think, work, and collaborate outside of the classroom. The John Lindsay Sr. Design Commons, located on the second floor of the Design Building, provides just such a space.
The John Lindsay Sr. Design Commons features an open-concept collaboration space, with computers and ample seating. This provides students with a space to meet and collaborate, as well as opportunities to share knowledge, ideas, and advice with their peers. The Commons is intended to support both engineering and architecture students, with the aim of facilitating cross-program collaborations.
For student societies, and for students who require a more isolated collaboration space, there are bookable meeting rooms throughout the hallways adjacent to the Design Commons. Booking for these rooms is controlled by the student societies themselves, rather than Facilities Management, to ensure that students have priority.
Design Studios for Faculty of Architecture and Planning
The Design Building features four new design studios for students from the Architecture and Planning. These studios total 6000 sq. feet of bright, open-plan floor space and are divided into three large “main” spaces and a series of smaller meeting rooms.
The studios are designed to foster a collaborative working style and are modelled on the studio environments commonly found in professional design offices. The studios feature open-wall space where students can pin up their work and then discuss in groups or with their instructors. The placement of furniture in the large studios creates pockets of private workspace.
The space currently houses Planning and Architecture students while the Faculty of Architecture and Planning’s dedicated spaces on Sexton are renovated. The ultimate purpose of the studios will be as a space for students of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning's new Master’s of Landscape program, commencing in Fall 2020.