April 24, 2026

The University of Toronto’s new Temerty Building has been featured in The Architect’s Newspaper in an article by Daniel Jonas Roche. Designed by Diamond Schmitt and MVRDV, in collaboration with Two Row Architect, the academic and research facility serves as an extension to the University’s Medical Sciences Building, linked through existing corridors to facilitate seamless connectivity.

“The new building will replace an existing wing of the Medical Sciences Building completed in 1969. The goal is to replace the wing with a more flexible and modern one to better serve users.” Daniel quotes Principal Don Schmitt on how the design is fundamentally about "bridging worlds." It prioritizes functionality and durability but also ensures the building will be warm and inviting. Its lower floors form a crossroads for the wider university community and opens to the surrounding landscape for the first time in 50 years.

Roche adds how the design draws directly from the local geological formations and historical architecture, noting that the building’s massing—defined by multiple recesses and chamfered corners—pulls from the "escarpments or steep cliffs of the Toronto region." “Striations in the facade are meant to evoke nearby Gothic and Neoclassical campus buildings.”

The article also highlights how the project opens up to the civic realm and the surrounding landscape: “The ground floor’s voluminous communal hall facing King’s College Circle is designed to be open and welcoming, and washed in natural light ... The large windows face the King’s College Circle, drawing connection with nature.”

Read more at The Architect’s Newspaper.