Robarts Common

A New Space to Study

Property Owner: University of Toronto Libraries

Project Date of Completion: September 9, 2022

Robarts Common responds to the new function of the academic library and the University of Toronto’s growing need for more study space, by introducing a 50,000-square-foot addition dedicated entirely to solo and group work environments. The new design adds 1,200 study spaces over four floors in a variety of configurations.

Built in 1973 by Mathers & Haldenby Architects and Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde, the triangular Robarts Library features existing pavilions on two of its three sides. As part of the original design, the west side of the library was intended to have an auditorium above the loading dock, but it was never completed due to budgetary constraints. Almost 50 years later, Robarts Common completes the complex.

Set against the austere west façade of the library, Robarts Common establishes a transparent counterpoint to the Brutalist expression of the original architecture—a monolithic concrete volume. Its massing draws influences from the triangular geometries of the existing pavilions, as referenced in the glass faceted façade. It reveals the student activity within and invites the university community inside through a new accessible south entrance and plaza that improve circulation throughout and establishes an alternate entry point to the St. George Street entrance.