UTSC Retail and Parking Commons Mass Timber Study

Toronto, Architecture, Mass Timber, Commercial, In Progress

The UTSC Retail and Parking Commons is a major campus infrastructure project that consolidates surface parking, supports future academic growth, and establishes an active northern gateway to the University of Toronto Scarborough. The proposed structure accommodates close to 1,100 parking spaces, organized around a one-way, donut-style circulation system that supports intuitive movement, minimizes internal conflict points, and enables long-term adaptability.

The project was developed as a comprehensive mass timber structural study, advancing a mass timber hybrid parking and retail building. Working collaboratively with the City of Toronto, the design team pursued and secured an Alternate Solution to demonstrate equivalent performance in fire safety, structural integrity, and durability. Through this process, the proposed mass timber structure was successfully approved for permit, establishing a precedent for mass timber parking infrastructure within the city.

The structural grid and floor-to-floor heights were deliberately configured to allow for future conversion into a courtyard-based academic building, demonstrating the project's viability for long-term value and resilience. The mass timber strategy was explored to significantly reduce embodied carbon, leverage prefabrication for efficient construction, and improve the spatial and experiential quality of a typically utilitarian building type.