January 23, 2026

York University Markham Campus has been highlighted in Canadian Architect for its approach to uniting diverse disciplines within a vertically interconnected design.

Bringing together 4,000 students, faculty, and staff, the 400,000-square-foot academic building is designed as a vertical campus to optimize its compact site and maximize program space. The 10-storey tower invites a cluster of programs where teaching and learning spaces are organized around an interconnected atrium that promotes accessibility and collaboration. 

“The compact site offered an opportunity to challenge the traditional academic building typology and define a collegial academic community within a series of vertically interconnected, multi-storey spaces of gathering and interaction,” says Principal Don Schmitt.

Anchored by a five-storey podium, the campus opens from a highly accessible entry into a welcoming double-height atrium. Collaboration between different disciplines is supported by interconnected floors, fluid spatial geometries, and visually connected classrooms, workspaces and offices. Transparency at grade admits sun and natural light and showcases campus events and daily activity. The LEED Gold-certified building opens onto a Campus Green at three levels, further strengthening its connection to the site’s new landscape and surroundings through a continuous sequence of informal exterior public spaces.

The development of the campus demonstrates how design can support strategic academic partnerships and drive growth, innovation, and community impact.

Read the full article on Canadian Architect here.