The Built Form Framework provides a structure to guide the desired build-out of the campus and to create a harmonious relationship with open spaces and the natural heritage landscape that already defines the campus. The framework places a high regard on the creation of a respectful relationship with its heritage landscape context in terms of the height, orientation, and placement of buildings, creating a compact campus structure that minimizes building footprints. The framework also places high regard and respect on the existing heritage building structure and character.
A New Built Form Structure and Composition
The built form structure for King Campus is geared toward delivering on academic objectives, efficiency of movement and connectivity, placemaking, and to creating a safe, comfortable, quality environment, which boasts high quality buildings that reflect sustainability, provide a diversity of amenities, and support the open space framework and heritage resources. The focus for new building development is in the Main Campus Precinct and the East Campus Village Precinct. The composition of buildings in these areas should create safe, attractive places to linger, learn, recreate, appreciate nature, and in some areas, to live on campus. Individually, each building should be unique, fulfilling specific roles in terms of use, stature, architecture, orientation, and heritage conservation.
Each precinct has its own distinct built form structure that establishes the character of place and function of the area. As a campus in the landscape, buildings have to function as pavilions, organized to be both outward and inward facing, fronting surrounding streets and exterior open spaces, defining the perimeter of each area, while also defining and framing new internal open spaces. The structure of the built form, therefore, engages the public realm all around, creating new places and linkages between buildings internally and externally, and creating a new welcoming frontage and gateways to surrounding spaces.
The Main Campus Precinct, as the core area for academic growth, reflects most of the new building development on campus. Main Campus buildings are structured along three main axes (see Figure 2.49), one north-south, one parallel to Garriock Hall, and the other perpendicular to Garriock Hall, growing the campus in a south and south-westerly direction toward Sideroad 15, and creating a new address and gateway along the main roadway. All new buildings have an address along Garriock Drive, which is the new main campus road and transit loop for the precinct. Buildings frame two key open spaces, Garriock Central Quad, and the Residential Junction Plaza. Buildings also frame two new internal courtyards and provide a frontage for the Varsity Field.
The East Campus Village Precinct maintains the existing heritage building structure and provides a new open space context with paths and trails that are complementary to the character of the landscape.
Specific Built Form Guidelines
The following are specific built form guidelines for the King Campus:
- Building development should respect the scale and prominence of existing buildings or building features, as well as the proximity to open spaces, by providing proper building height transitions. This consideration is especially applicable to the built form heritage context primarily located in the East Campus Village Precinct and the former Eaton estate.
- The built form should support an open space framework with the goal of protecting, conserving, and enhancing existing natural heritage landscapes and open space assets.
- The priority for the height, scale, and massing of buildings on the King Campus is to respect and protect the natural environment by establishing a compact campus structure of buildings.
New Campus Buildings and Built Form Character
There are a total of eleven new campus building sites identified in the Main Campus
Precinct, including building additions; ten new campus buildings in the East Campus
Village Precinct, including building additions; and a new athletic centre building in the
Athletic Precinct. Buildings are identified in Figure 2.52.
The following describes the new campus buildings, their role, and built form character:
Buildings A – J: Main Campus Buildings
Buildings A to F define the Main Campus Core, the central hub and heart of the campus. These buildings create the framing structure for the Garriock Hall Quad, and are extremely important to the success of this space, as they provide the means of animating and bringing life and vibrancy to the quad. Façades must therefore be transparent and welcoming, with at-grade uses that generate activity and use of the open space. Building A functions as a gateway and focal point for the east-west entrance and view corridor into campus. It should have significant height and stature to be a visual landmark from Dufferin Street, strengthening the identity and wayfinding of the campus from the east. Building C, as one of the smallest and uniquely shaped buildings, stands as a distinct pavilion and threshold between the two main open spaces. The architecture and use of this building, and the design of the surrounding landscape, should capitalize on its unique form and placement, making it an attractive icon building. The location and size of Buildings D, E, and F presents an opportunity to locate new athletic facilities for the main campus, with frontages onto the Varsity Field and Garriock Drive.
Buildings G to J (and E) define the north-south leg of Garriock Drive and create a defining frontage for the street. Buildings are located close to the street, creating an urban street corridor with main entrances and building addresses on the street. The cluster of buildings creates a new context for the existing residences, and raises the bar in terms of quality architecture. Improvements to the existing residential building, particularly the facade, is recommended at the time of the new Building H addition. Buildings G and I present additional opportunities to expand the student residences on campus. Buildings G, H, and J are key gateway building opportunities. Building J, together with the existing barn, define the first point of entry into the campus from Sideroad 15. Buildings G and H create a transition from the rural character of the south entryway to the urban character of the main campus core. As with Building A, these buildings should have significant stature as visual landmarks from Sideroad 15, strengthening the identity and wayfinding of the campus at the south end.
Building K: Athletic Facility Building
Building K is a new community-oriented athletic facility oriented with a frontage and address onto King Campus Way and should be of a height that is easily visible from both perimeter roadways. The building should have a double frontage and two main points of entry, one from King Campus Way that is connected to the path and trail system; and another at the rear that is connected to the surface parking lot. A south facing façade sets the stage for long-term future development of the surface parking lot and trail system.
The building can accommodate a gym and change room facilities, a community activity centre for arts and clubs, offices, meeting rooms, and amenity retail.
Movement Framework
The Vision for the King Campus is that it becomes one of the most desirable and attractive campuses to attend not only for its programs, but also as a beautiful retreatlike setting in which to live, work, play, and study. Achieving this goal will be challenging because of the lack of access to transportation, caused by the campus’ remote location. As such, the primary transportation focus of the King Campus will be to improve travel options to and from campus. In addition, the Movement Framework also proposes a structure to accommodate other modes of transportation, such as a Seneca shuttle and bicycles. An extensive trails and path network will assist in making walking appealing. Universal accessibility will be considered in all aspects of movement on campus and through campus. The following sections outline the key transportation considerations associated with King Campus.
Pedestrians and Bicycles
The Campus Master Plan gives prominence to pedestrian and bicycle movement on campus, such that the campus environment is a continuous walkable, accessible, and cycling-oriented environment. The campus currently has a large internal trail network for pedestrians and bicycles that connect at various points. The Plan proposes future augmentation of the internal path and trail system to connect the entirety of the campus internally as it grows, and also to connect the campus to and through the future lowdensity residential neighbourhood development south of Sideroad 15. Trail connections south of the campus will extend the reach of the off-street trail network and potentially create opportunities to connect to King City and the King City GO Station.
In the Main Campus Precinct and the East Campus Village Precinct, pedestrians are given high priority as these are core people places, and enhancing the pedestrian and cycling experience is of utmost importance.
To foster a productive cycling environment to the greatest extent possible, the Plan calls for providing secure, weather-protected bicycle parking facilities (i.e. bike cages, lockers, bike parking under canopies, etc.) in strategic locations and in proximity to academic facilities and other destinations.
Transit
York Region Transit (YRT) currently provides 2 transit routes to and from the campus during the week (Route 22 and Route 32). Route 32 is only offered to the campus during rush hours on weekdays. Route 22 is an all-day service that is offered Monday to Friday with approximately 30 minute intervals between buses. Route 22 is also provided Saturdays with approximately 1.5 hour intervals between buses. There is no Sunday YRT service available to King Campus.
Based on a high level assessment, it appears that the weekday transit service is relatively well used during the day. However service on weekday evenings and during the weekends is marginal or non-existent, making it very difficult for students who don’t travel by car to have flexibility in their travel plans. The lack of transit service on the weekends is also problematic for any students who live in residence on the campus, as they have little or no alternative transportation options.
An important facet of the transportation strategy is for the College to advocate for additional transit service to and from the King Campus. Specifically, the College should request that YRT increase service during the day to facilitate the overall campus population growth, and also to improve service on evenings and weekends to improve access for students who need to stay on campus later, and for those who live on campus. This is particularly important to make the campus more attractive to students as a place to live and study. It is also important if the campus is to achieve a critical mass of people to create a more active, animated student environment, not only during the week, but also evenings and weekends.
Access
Road Network and Hierarchy
The primary move from an access perspective in the Campus Master Plan is to create a new north-south roadway, now called Garriock Hall Drive, that connects to Sideroad 15, becoming a new primary entrance for the main campus. Aside from serving a gateway function, the new road will improve access, as a more direct route to the main campus area. King Campus currently has two driveways on Dufferin Street, which require traffic to travel along a long one-way indirect route to get to the existing main campus building. Exiting the campus is more straightforward, but is still requires traveling along a long access route through the campus to Dufferin Street. The current access configuration is less desirable from a wayfinding perspective. To address this, the Campus Master Plan proposes that the more direct existing east-west roadway, called King Campus Way in the Plan, become a two way roadway as a main east campus gateway, providing direct access to the East Campus Village Precinct and the Athletic Precinct. It will still function to serve the main campus as a second access road.
To increase access opportunities, the Plan also envisions constructing a new east-west road connection into the campus from Dufferin Street, now called Eversley Hamlet Road, south of the new athletic facility, and central to the fields. This new access, which may be restricted to right turns only because of its proximity to the intersection of Dufferin and Sideroad 15, will also improve the access for users of the athletic facility and for staff and students of the campus.
Parking Supply
The King Campus currently has a parking supply of approximately 1300 spaces on the eastern and western portion of campus. This does not include additional spaces provided in the vicinity of Eaton Hall. From a parking design perspective, the Plan continues to rely upon surface parking for meeting the needs of the campus. No structured parking is anticipated, but one level of below grade parking can be considered for new buildings on the main campus. To make way for the proposed new academic buildings, the existing surface parking lots will incrementally be relocated, primarily to the northwest corner of the main campus area.
Parking Supply Strategy
While it will be important to minimize the amount of new parking required to accommodate the anticipated growth at the King Campus through Transportation Demand Management (TDM) initiatives and improved on-site services, some additional parking supply will be required. An order of magnitude estimate of the number of additional parking spaces required is approximately 400-500 new spaces. The majority of the new parking spaces should be located in the vicinity of the main campus.
An additional new surface parking lot is envisioned in the Athletic Precinct area. The lot will serve the proposed multi-use sports fields and athletic facility & community centre, and will provide overflow parking for campus uses. Additional small surface parking areas will be provided in three locations to service the East Campus Village building clusters.
On-Street Parking
The Campus Master Plan recommends the provision of on-street parking along Garriock Drive at key locations. On-street parking will be provided for in lay-bys. This is particularly important for easy handicap accessibility to buildings and short term visitor parking. With the exception of designated handicap accessibility locations, the on-street parking should be designated for short-term users (i.e. 3 hours or less) to provide convenient curb-side parking in key areas for visitors and other short term students and staff. Enforcement of the on-street parking permissions should be controlled through a carefully designed parking pricing structure. For example, the on-street meters should permit a maximum time purchase of 3 hours to ensure that regular students do not utilize the spaces for long-term daily parking. Figure 2.55 illustrates the proposed Campus Master Plan parking supply strategy.
Loading and Servicing
The loading and servicing of buildings on the Main Campus should be part of the building structure with access along the perimeter of the building cluster, keeping service vehicles out of the pedestrian zones. Buildings on the East Campus Village are serviced via two consolidated service lanes, as well as access along Lady Eaton Drive. With generous pedestrian sidewalks throughout these areas, campus buildings and open spaces can be accessed by emergency vehicles.
- New buildings on the Main Campus should have service access along the external Garriock Drive loop west of the campus. Buildings H, I and the barn will be serviced by laneways off of Garriock Drive.
- Buildings in the East Campus Village will be serviced along shared service corridors.
- Service entrances and loading areas should be integrated in the building footprint or consolidated, where possible, along shared service corridors.
- Existing service entrances and loading areas that are currently exposed to the public realm should be appropriately screened and integrated into the campus landscape. The existing service and loading area for Garriock Hall will remain but will be screened by building addition.
- Service lanes and corridors should function as pedestrian passageways as well as service routes, and treatment of these areas should be of the same quality given to all campus pathways and roadways that form the public realm.
Transportation Demand Management (TDM)
Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is the general term for strategies that result in more efficient use of transportation resources. TDM is comprised of various strategies that change travel behaviour (how, when, where, and why people travel) in order to increase transport system effectiveness. TDM strategies use various approaches to influence travel decisions. Some improve the transport options available; some provide incentives to change travel mode; others improve the accessibility of a site; and some try to affect the need to travel to and from a location.
Part of the recommended transportation strategy for the King Campus will be to create and implement a TDM Plan. The TDM Plan should be focused around several key strategies that suit the location and transportation context of the campus. The recommended TDM Strategies at King Campus, therefore, will not be the same as those in the Markham Campus or at the Newnham Campus.
The TDM Plan for the King Campus should include or consider the following elements:
- Hiring or appointing a TDM Coordinator to assist students with information on alternative travel options;
- Investigating the potential for a point to point shuttle bus service to and from the King City GO Station;
- Providing more on-site food and retail services to reduce the need for students to travel off-site; and
- Encouraging carpooling through the provision of preferential parking policies. The purpose of a TDM Coordinator for the campus would be to help provide information to students on available travel options and to assist them in finding other alternatives to the car. Example duties of a TDM coordinator include providing or coordinating a ride-matching service for student carpooling, acting as a point person for student transit passes, providing strategic input to the college management on ways to improve and support the use of non-auto modes, and coordinating awareness events and programs for students & staff.
Direct Shuttle Service to the King City GO Station
A point to point shuttle bus should be considered for the campus to take advantage of the proximity to the King City GO Station. There may be a significant number of students and staff that live in proximity to a GO Station on the Barrie / Bradford Line, however, because the King GO Station is too far from the campus to walk, these users likely drive. A direct shuttle service would provide students and staff with a quick and efficient way of getting people between the GO Station and the campus. Seneca already operates a shuttle service between its campus locations and it may be possible to incorporate a stop at the King City GO Station, and other logical transit access points, into the existing shuttle service route. This would require reviewing the existing shuttle schedule and coordinating its arrival and departure times to coincide with any GO Trains or GO Bus activity at the GO Station.
On-site Transit and Retail Amenity Services The campus currently lacks any significant on-site services or retail services. This makes it difficult for staff and students to stay on site when they seek day-to-day amenities such as groceries. This results in creating more traffic as people leave the campus to shop or get food. The current lack of services on campus is especially problematic for students who live in residence and have no access to a car. As the campus intensifies and grows, one way in which the college can support reducing the number of trips travelling to and from the site is by increasing the retail and food service opportunities on campus. This will reduce the need to leave the site to obtain these services. The Plan presents many opportunities to increase the retail presence on campus, especially in the Main Campus Precinct. It is beneficial not only for the purpose of reducing traffic, but also as a strategy to maintain a critical mass and density of people on campus.
A Carpooling Strategy for the Campus
Instituting a carpooling strategy for the campus will also be an important part of the TDM Plan. Rural locations such as King Campus tend to benefit the most from effective carpool strategies. As a start, the college, through the TDM Coordinator, can facilitate the enrolment of students and staff into a ride-matching service such as Carpoolzone or Rideshark. These services are internet programs that match a user’s home location to clusters of people who live in the same area, and who might be interested in sharing rides. The College could then further support the use of the carpooling program by creating priority carpool parking spaces in desirable locations and by potentially offering discounts or rebates on parking fees to students and staff who elect to carpool.
