Bahen Centre for Information Technology
Encyclopedia
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. The university website bills it as a "state of the art facility for education of information technology professionals in electrical and computer engineering, computer science and IT research."http://www.greatspaces.utoronto.ca/projects/bahen.htm Thus, it is primarily used by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is an academic division of the University of Toronto devoted to study and research in engineering. Founded in 1873 as the School of Practical Science, it is still known today by the longtime nickname of Skule...
, the Department of Computer Science
Department of Computer Science (University of Toronto)
The Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto is an administrative unit within the Faculty of Arts and Science. Established on 1 July 1964, the department is currently one of the highest ranked computer science departments in the world, placing first amongst Canadian universities...
and the Department of Mathematics
University of Toronto Department of Mathematics
The Department of Mathematics of the University of Toronto is located at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology.-Notable current members:* James Arthur,* Edward Barbeau, Professor Emeritus* Edward Bierstone, Professor, Director of Fields Institute...
.
The large building contains 50 laboratories, 10 lecture theatres (including the large Adel Sedra
Adel Sedra
Adel S. Sedra is an Egyptian Canadian electrical engineer and professor.-Career:Born in Egypt in 1943, Sedra received his B.Sc. from Cairo University in 1964 and his M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, in 1968 and 1969, respectively...
Auditorium), 13 tutorial, 9 seminar rooms, and about 300 offices. It is home to the Emerging Communications Technology Institute (formerly the Nortel
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
Institute), the Bell
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
University Laboratories and an Advanced Surface Coatings Laboratory.
History
The Bahen Centre was constructed to meet the growing needs of the university's computer science and electrical and computer engineering programs, as the university doubled the size and funding of the programs. The building was named after engineer John Bahen, president of the Peter Kiewit and Sons building company, who was the leading donor to the C$Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
108 million project. Jeffrey Skoll
Jeffrey Skoll
Jeffrey Skoll is a Canadian-born engineer and internet entrepreneur who lives in Los Angeles, California. With an estimated net worth of $US 3.2 billion , Skoll was ranked by Forbes as the 7th wealthiest Canadian and 347th in the world.He was the first employee and also first president of internet...
of eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
also donated $7 million.
The building was constructed at 40 St. George Street, immediately south of Russell Street, and wrapping around the Koffler Centre. This site had been home to several smaller structures. One of these historic buildings was slated to be moved, but was instead incorporated into the design by the architects. The facilities were officially opened October 8, 2002, after opening in the summer of 2002. The sixth floor however was finished only in August 2005 and the Department of Mathematics moved in.
Designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects Incorporated, the 20,000 gross square metre facility cost $111 million to build. The January 2003 issue of Canadian Architect magazine dubbed the Bahen Centre as "a complex interweaving of urbanity, public space and sustainability." It won the Ontario Association of Architects Award and City of Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Award, both in 2003. It also won a Bronze in the Environmental Category of the National Post Design Exchange Award.
Sustainability
There are many elements of the Bahen Centre that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. One of the biggest factors is the use of excess steam from the U of T steam plant to provide 92% of the total heating needs for the building. The Building also incorporates sun-shading devices along both the east and south side of the building reducing the amount of cooling needs during the summer months. Diamond + Schmitt also used the program of the building to create the most efficient use of space and add to the sustainability of the building. Due to the large amounts of computers used in the departments, labs were designed to face the coolest wall (north) to provide relief from the heat created by the computers. Incorporated into the building, a two story storm management tank feeds all the water features within the courtyards. This includes the small waterfall which leads from the south of the building to College St.Despite the claims of sustainability, the center used almost 470 kWh/m2 of energy in 2009–2010 U of T Campus Environmental Footprint, compared to the average of new commercial buildings in the 300–350 range.
Trivia
- The Bahen Centre lost the bid to host both the Wikimania 2006 and Wikimania 2009WikimaniaWikimania is an annual international conference for users of the wiki projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation...
conferences. - An action scene of an episode of the 4th season of the series FlashpointFlashpoint (TV series)Flashpoint is a Canadian police drama television series that debuted on July 11, 2008, on CTV in Canada and ran on CBS in the United States for its first three and a half seasons. In 2011, Ion Television began airing new episodes of the series in the United States...
has been shot in the central stairs from the 5th to the 7th floor of the building during the night of the February 18, 2011.