Bortolotto Unveils Design for Rosalie Sharp Pavilion in Toronto

Exterior View. Image Courtesy of Bortolotto

The Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U) has commissioned Toronto firm Bortolotto to transform the university’s main office building into the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion. The office will be wrapped in a technologically-responsive layer, transforming it into a multi-use, student work and exhibition space and transforming the corner of Dundas and McCaul streets into an interactive gateway for the campus.

Bortolotto designed the patterned façade by mapping Toronto’s artistic community, with the aim of positioning OCAD U as the nexus of the resulting relationships, and as a cross-disciplinary, collaborative institution. OCAD U’s Digital Media Research Lab is currently developing an app to read information from specific sections of the façade, allowing pedestrians to learn about different artists in Toronto. The intricate façade will be comprised of water-jet cut aluminum panels on a metal sub-structure secured by structural steel outriggers, peeling away from the edges of the pavilion to gesture to Frank Gehry‘s Art Gallery of Ontario and Will Alsop‘s OCAD U’s Sharp Centre for Design.

The pavilion will work with an app currently being developed. Image Courtesy of Bortolotto

Interior View. Image Courtesy of Bortolotto

“We’re proud of this exciting solution that brings together design and technology to redefine the corner and enable the university to communicate with the community in a new way,” says Bortolotto’s President, Tania Bortolotto.

A renovation of the office’s interior will produce a raw, industrial, minimalist space including studios, and interactive meeting and event spaces. This conversion will support experiential learning and attract pedestrians with views of the colorful student work inside.