A peek inside the Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex

Photos: Academic floors are connected through an open-air atrium; a seventh-floor nursing lab; natural light from both east and west illuminates the atrium; a multidisciplinary creative space in the basement; the eighth floor will include a rooftop farm. All photos by Clifton Li.

FCS and FCAD faculty got their first glimpse of the Ryerson’s newest expansion when the under-construction Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex opened for a private tour last week.

Located at 288 Church Street, the 29-floor structure, 332,604-square-foot tower will be home to the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Midwifery Education, School of Nutrition, School of Occupational and Public Health, and the Fabrication Zone. Eight floors of academic and classroom space will coexist with 18 floors of student residences (100 units), plus food services, an outdoor green roof managed by Ryerson Urban Farm (external link) , a multidisciplinary creative space in the basement, and an underground tunnel to 105 Bond St.

“The lab space and the high-fidelity simulation rooms will allow us to do a lot more for students,” said Nancy Walton, director of the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing. “We work hard to get students great clinical placements, but it’s also important for them to practice a broad range of skills in a safe place, in a simulation environment. With all the new tech here, it’s very exciting.

“It’s nice to be close to our colleagues, which we’ve never been before,” added Walton. “It will also be cool to have our students close by, engaging in the space.”

The holistic approach towards living and learning is consistent with Ryerson’s interdisciplinary philosophy and innovative city-building mandate.

“It’s a mix of classrooms and labs and offices together, with apartments integrated—and that’s the way things should be,” said Charles Falzon, dean of FCAD. “The lab downstairs, where you have the creative stuff in the same space as all these other things, is another part of the integration that is really cool. It’s not just one thing—it’s a mix of what Ryerson represents.”

Occupancy of the podium is scheduled for January 2019. For more information about the complex, visit Facilities Management and Development.