Designed by world-renowned architect Gensler, and executed locally by Arcadis, St. George’s Senior School — one of Canada’s most prestigious independent schools — has undergone a major campus renewal. The transformation includes two new four-storey academic buildings featuring science and art facilities, student collaboration zones, and school administration offices. A standalone mass timber dining hall and gathering space completes the expansion, thoughtfully positioned to connect with the adjacent forest.
Each academic building is centred around a large atrium, featuring a cantilevered concrete feature stair suspended from the roof by slender stainless steel tension rods. This architectural focal point introduced both structural and aesthetic challenges, requiring precise slab-edge detailing and coordinated roof anchorage to maintain stability and achieve the desired sense of lightness.
The dining hall structure is composed of mass timber and supported by custom glulam columns that branch like trees to carry a series of roof purlins. Concealed connection strategies — relying primarily on wood-to-wood bearing — required tight fabrication tolerances and early collaboration with the timber fabricator and erector. Careful sequencing was critical, as the branched columns contribute to the balance of roof loads during and after construction. Exposed stainless steel tension rods play an additional structural role, forming part of the lateral system by transferring loads from the CLT roof down to the concrete base. These elements quietly blend structural performance with architectural clarity.