Bahen Centre for Information Technology

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View of the Bahen Centre lobby.

Looking up in the Bahen Centre.

Building stairwell, third story.

The Bahen Centre for Information Technology is a building at the St. George campus of the University of Toronto. The university website bills it as a "[s]tate of the art facility for education of information technology professionals in electrical and computer engineering, computer science and IT research."[1] Thus, it is primarily used by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Mathematics.

The large building contains 50 laboratories, 10 lecture theatres (including the large Adel Sedra Auditorium), 13 tutorial, 9 seminar rooms, and about 300 offices. It is home to the Nortel Institute, the Bell University Laboratories and an Advanced Surface Coatings Laboratory. It is consistently rated the best building in which to have lectures by U of T students of all faculties.

[edit] History of the building

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 $108 million project. Jeffrey Skoll of eBay 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 CAD 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.