The main building of University College, built between 1856 and 1859, is a centrepiece of the
St. George campus designed by architects
Frederick William Cumberland and
William George Storm. The selection of architectural styles was the result of "a tangle of disagreements and concessions, political as well as artistic", including the college's emphasis on freedom from denominational control. Cumberland met the requirements asked of him after taking part on a research and experience based trip to Europe in February 1856: "This course of action was consistent with Victorian architectural practice when new public buildings were being planned, which was to carefully study applicable building forms and adapt them, to the requirements of the job at hand. The design committee led by Cumberland initially designed a
Gothic structure, but Governor General
Edmund Walker Head disliked the style and suggested
Italian instead, later changing his preference to
Byzantine. The design committee would eventually include
Norman,
Romanesque Revival, and "faint traces of Byzantium and the Italian palazzo" styles in the design. Cumberland chose Norman Romanesque as the main influence because he thought it was the most appreciate for the topography in Canada. University College has the characteristic arched and rounded windows as well as huge, cavernous facades. The quadrangle and cloisters are enclosed within elaborately carved walls faced with stone, "felicitously sited amid landscaped grounds". Until the Laidlaw Wing was completed in the 1960s, University College was a U-shaped structure that was open on the north end. Before the fire of 1890, the building was laid out such that the east wing provided access to the convocation hall, the museum and the
library, and contained an entrance to the quadrangle. Residences and dining halls, classrooms, and public reading rooms were on the west range of the structure. The chemistry laboratory was relocated at the southwest range, in the present Croft Chapter House, because it was more logical than in the first study which was in the north. Today, the west wing is no longer used as living quarters, which are now provided by the college's three dedicated residential halls, while the convocation functions have long since been moved to
Convocation Hall.
Revitalization The historic University College building underwent a major revitalization beginning in January 2018. The revitalization project included: improving the accessibility of the building, relocating the
University College Library to its original location in the East Hall, transforming the West Hall into a new event space called the Clark Reading Room, creating a conference centre in Croft Chapter House, and introducing a
café called the Owlery located on the third floor outside of the Library. == Academics ==