Branksome Hall Innovation Centre and Studio Theatre

Located at Branksome Hall’s East Campus, across Mount Pleasant Road from the West campus, the Centre will serve as a gateway that connects the two halves of the campus and sponsors innovation and collaboration. An existing bridge over Mount Pleasant Road will connect into the Centre, creating a seamless and safe indoor pathway between the east and west campuses.

The facility will embrace the school’s newly articulated values that focus on creating a sense of community, inclusiveness, innovation, creativity, and making a difference, while amplifying the school’s core mission to challenge and inspire girls to love learning and shape a better world.

The modern brick, glass, and aluminum exterior material palette of the Centre carefully transitions from the brick and stone palette of the surrounding historic residential and institutional buildings and the modern aesthetic of the nearby Athletic and Wellness Centre. The transparent street-facing façade showcases the inner workings of the school and projects them outward to the community.

The Centre will enhance Branksome Hall’s programming and enrich the school’s learning environments. The state-of-the-art facilities will encourage students to explore and realize ideas that have a positive societal impact and will allow them to build on their existing partnerships and seek out new ones. This new state-of-the-art learning environment at Branksome Hall will serve as a catalyst for the entire community. The building will provide spaces that will fit any type of innovator, which will help students learn to take risks, build confidence, and become more adaptable. The space will promote greater diversity of thought, skills, and interests, and will enhance a sense of community among students, as well as with faculty, staff, and the broader community. Along with providing students with access to leading-edge tools and technologies, the Centre will also integrate the arts to allow students to fully realize their creative and innovative projects on various platforms, providing space for the exploration of multi-disciplinary initiatives.

The facility will include a new 200-seat studio theatre “black box” for performances, rehearsals, and classes, as well as provide much-needed room to host inspiring speakers, panel discussions, and community events. The building will also include fabrication and design spaces that will connect to an open lobby space that will serve as a central gathering “Pitch Space” which includes stadium seating for formal presentations as well as for informal collaboration and hanging out.

Ultimately, this facility will further set the school apart, creating an innovation hub that will bridge the gap in the current STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) environment and address gender inequity in these fields.