Diamond Schmitt opens York University’s new Markham campus academic tower

York University’s new academic building and campus in Markham unites 4,000 students, faculty and staff in a new academic community.

Designed by Diamond Schmitt, the gateway building to York University’s new Markham Campus invites a cluster of academic programs into a vertically integrated 10-storey academic tower.

Collaboration between different disciplines is supported by interconnected floors, fluid spatial geometries, and visually connected classrooms, workspaces and offices.

“The compact site offered an opportunity to challenge the traditional academic building typology and define a collegial academic community within a series of vertically interconnected, multi-storey spaces of gathering and interaction,” said Don Schmitt, principal at Diamond Schmitt.

York University’s new Markham Campus is designed as a vertical campus to optimize its compact five-acre site, and maximize program space. The 400,000 square foot multi-level academic building is anchored by a five-storey podium that opens from a highly accessible entry into a welcoming double-height atrium. Transparency at grade admits sun and natural light and showcases campus events and daily activity.

Accommodating 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the interconnected verticality of the design is defined by dramatic spatial composition that creates distinction for this landmark building. Fluid interior areas support teaching and research activities and a sense of community.

Ten floors of teaching and learning spaces are organized around an interconnected atrium that promotes accessibility and collaboration. The design is focused on creating a new academic model of efficient space utilization in compact urban places and new campus models, and each faculty occupies one floor with its own identity.

A key challenge in designing the new York University Markham Campus was the site’s high water table and poor load-bearing capacity.

A six metre grade change was created as a design solution to address the site’s upward water pressure. As a result, the building opens onto a sloping Campus Green at three levels, strengthening its connection to the new landscape through a sequence of informal and exterior public spaces, as well as to future development phases.

An Indigenous talking circle anchors the outdoor space, while low-incline curved pathways mirror the architecture and connect with the adjacent civic athletic centre, transit hub, and nearby commercial district.

Bronze aluminum clads the exterior, punctuated by a syncopated fenestration pattern.

The LEED Gold Certified building features glass vision panels that are placed to correspond with interior program spaces to maximize daylighting which balance energy performance with metal panels and spandrels.

Deep building recesses at mid-levels and curved geometries in plan, and a powerful relationship to landscape, distinguishes the university building and becomes a new paradigm for major academic facilities.

The initial phase of this campus expands access to post-secondary education for students and prospective students closer to home.

The development of the campus demonstrates how design can support strategic academic partnerships and drive growth, innovation, and community impact.

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