Ontario Forest Research Institute

Ontario

Part of the largest forestry research campus in Canada, this building contains laboratories, offices, environmental chambers, greenhouses and administration, designed in four quadrants on two floors. One half of each quadrant has exterior views, whereas the other faces onto the interior glazed 'street'. Therefore, every office and laboratory has natural light, enhancing the quality of the working environment. Along the internal ‘street’ are located places to have an informal meeting, or present a formal paper. All designed to enhance the working environment within and also reinforce the importance of humanity within the workplace.

Each laboratory backs onto vertical service cores which are three storeys in height. The service cores allows remote access to the building’s mechanical, electrical and communication systems. Therefore, systems may be adapted at any time with minimal disruption to daily lab activities. Combined with component based lab casework, the owners have been able to easily reconfigure the laboratories necessitated by change, programme, or technology.

architect of record - short + ELLIS partnership

design and project management
david ELLIS architect
Designed while principal of short + ellis partnership architects inc.