Architect(s): KPMB Architects
Address: 50 Tank House Lane, TORONTO, Canada
Latitude/Longitude: 43.6507278,-79.3576891
Photographs: Tom Arban
The facility combines the intersection of a school and a professional drama company.
The Young Centre for the Performing Arts (YCPA) was constructed based on a unique partnership between George Brown College and Soulpepper Theatre Company. The Young Centre is located within a former industrial site transformed into an arts precinct known as Toronto’s 19th century Gooderham & Worts Distillery District. It is housed by two historic tank houses and the space between them. A new wood canopy marks the main entrance. A roof and clerestorey supported by massive Douglas fir timber trusses spans the bearing walls of the tank houses and encloses the space between the tank houses to form the heart of the project. It is a place where students, actors and patrons can mingle during the day and evening. The project consists of four theatre spaces of various capacity and among them are a 400-seat flexible courtyard theatre and multivalent studio spaces that can be used for both practice and performance. Red brick and dark timber and also concrete floors and painted walls are all used to accommodate a budget that is tight while reflecting a commitment to drama as an art form that transcends its setting. These are limiting the utilitarian material palette.
Text description provided by the architects.
Project team: Thomas Payne, Partner-in-Charge; Christopher Couse, Senior Associate; Mark Jaffar, Project Architect; Goran Milosevic, Kevin Thomas, Anne Lok, Andrea Macaroun, Thom Seto, Krista Clark, Ramon Janer, Clementine Chang, Stephen Kopp, Andrew Sinclair, Carolyn Lee, and Virginia Dos Reis
Structural engineer: Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.
Mechanical/electrical engineer: Crossey Engineering Ltd
Heritage consultants: ERA Architects Inc.
Project manager: PHA Project Management Inc
Signage: The Beggarstaff Sisters
Theatre: Theatre Projects Consultants
Acoustics: Aercoustics Engineering Ltd.
Performance sound and video: Engineering Harmonics Contractor Dalton Engineering
Area: 44000ft²
Contributed by KPBM Architects
