A glass façade will be a featured element on the newly designed student learning center at Ryerson University in Toronto. The new building was designed by the international architectural team of Zeidler Partnership Architects of Toronto and Snøhetta of Oslo, Norway, and New York City.

The transparent glass skin of the 155,463-square-foot center will feature a surface design that will create varying light qualities within the interior space. The building also will seek a LEED Silver rating.

“The Student Learning Centre is one more step in realizing the vision established in the Ryerson master plan to wholly integrate the university’s campus with the city’s urban fabric,” says Tarek El-Khatib, senior partner, Zeidler. “The building will contribute to the retail and pedestrian life in the area and set the tone for ongoing revitalization in this historic commercial neighborhood. A generous and inviting entry plaza will gently draw both students and the general public up and into this new vertical community setting the standard for future development in the area.”

“The notion that learning is a static, solitary activity is outmoded,” adds, Craig Dykers, principal architect and co-founder, Snøhetta. “While it remains important to find places of introspection, it is also vitally important to create places where people can more actively seek knowledge, where social connections can intertwine and where all forms of activity, quiet and loud, can find a suitable home.”

The project is supported by the Government of Ontario, which has invested? $45 million. Construction on the building is expected to begin late this year, with a targeted completion date of 2014.