Appleby College, Cockwell Hall
Oakville, Ontario
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Classrooms, Technology & Innovation Lab, Student Commons, Student Residence, Don's Suite, Common Room with Kitchen, Faculty Offices, Event Space, Roof Terrace
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Structural: Blackwell
Mechanical / Electrical: MCW
Civil: EMC
Landscape: MJMA
One of Canada’s leading independent schools, Appleby College is a 60-acre campus located on the shores of Lake Ontario. As it continually seeks to expand and enhance its academic offerings, the College is faced with the challenge of intensifying existing built areas so as to preserve valuable green space. Cockwell Hall was thus slotted between existing buildings, and we conceived it as a ‘fabric building’ that would sensitively knit itself together with its surroundings. It provides new classrooms, social areas, and dorm facilities, as well an Innovation and Technology Lab (ITL). Occupying most of the building’s ground floor, the ITL is a unique space on the campus, dedicated to the study and development of emerging immersive technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality. Conceptualized as a neutral black box, the space is designed for flexibility, with movable partitions and state-of-the-art lighting, AV, and IT.
The massing, façade articulation, and materiality of Cockwell Hall were designed to break down its size and harmonize with the existing smaller-scale campus fabric, which also combines contemporary and heritage structures.
New plantings and paving around all sides of Cockwell Hall add outdoor student social spaces with places to sit in sun or shade. The landscaped courtyard that runs the length of the building’s south side dovetails it with neighbouring structures.
The design team worked extensively with Appleby’s staff to ensure the dorm rooms were ‘right-sized’—efficiently planned to be big enough for two students while also not larger than needed.
We located a large new Common Room on the bridge linking the building to the existing Walker House Residence, thus providing a shared space that ensures the new dorm students are integrated into the community.
