TMU Student Wellbeing Centre, Toronto
Seeking to consolidate and improve health and wellness services for students, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) identified a high-profile site for its new Student Wellbeing Centre (SWC) that addresses needs for physical, mental, and emotional services at the heart of campus.
The new 33,700-square-foot SWC, set to open in 2027, will consolidate medical, counseling, and health promotion services into one accessible hub.
The project by architecture and interior design firm Hariri Pontarini Architects (Toronto) incorporates O’Keefe House, a 19th-century former dormitory, which will be attached to a newly constructed 8-story mass timber tower with a double-height green atrium.
The Indigenous firm Two Row Architect (Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada) participated in the early design process to host talking circles with user groups and develop the project narrative which permeates every aspect of the design, from program adjacencies to material selection including mass timber. Two Row Architect introduced the Food Forest teachings of Elder Duke Redbird (ancestral teachings that have been guided and been practiced by Indigenous peoples), referencing nature as a healer and teacher.
Student Wellbeing Centre embraces a connection to nature
The design tackles the narrow site with a vertical layout, featuring cantilevered glass boxes and layered green terraces. These visible or accessible gardens offer a strong visual and physical connection to nature from lounges, meeting rooms, and administrative areas. A rooftop terrace above O’Keefe House will offer a courtyard-like retreat. Inspired by Indigenous teachings, the design concept—“tree of wellbeing”—frames nature as central to restoration and growth.
A carefully configured placement of programs and services balances the desire for transparency and accessibility with privacy and security to create a welcoming and nurturing beacon of student support services. For example, the Medical Centre is discreetly located on the upper floors, providing students with the respite from campus life they may need to promote mental health and wellness.
The project team employed warm materials including wood-lined interiors and exposed timber decking, natural light via floor-to-ceiling windows, and a sequence of stacked, accessible green terraces and roofs to create a homelike setting where students can comfortably access care.
Prioritizing Toronto’s Green Standard and Fitwel Certification
The building incorporates a curtainwall with 50 percent frit to limit solar heat gain and that provides shading and privacy while maintaining views of the campus. Additionally, a two-to-one solid-to-glazed window-wall ratio, along with the tower’s mass timber structure conform to Toronto’s Green Standard for sustainable design and performance requirements. The Student Wellbeing Centre is designed to FitWel 2.0 Certification, a healthy building certification that focusses on occupant comfort and creating a healthy environment for occupants and the building itself.
TMU Student Wellbeing Centre project details
Location: Toronto
Expected completion date: 2027
Owner: Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)
Total building area: 33,700 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: Not disclosed
Cost/sq. ft.: Not disclosed
Architect: Hariri Pontarini Architects
Interior designer: Hariri Pontarini Architects
General contractor: Pomerleau Inc.
Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti (structural), HH Angus (mechanical and electrical), WSP (civil, building envelope, sustainability), Senez Consulting (code)
Landscape architect: NAK Design Strategies
Indigenous architect – engagement: Two Row Architect
Art consultant: Hariri Pontarini Architects and Two Row Architect
Curtain wall: Clarity AP
Brick supply: Randers Tegl, install by Limen Group
Mass timber: Timmerman Timberworks, supply from Nordic Structures
Project details are provided by the design team and not vetted by Healthcare Design.
