The Koffler Student Centre is the main student centre at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

's St. George campus, located at 214 College Street. The centre houses a number of different student services, including the main campus bookstore, career centre, and health clinic. The ornate building is located at the northwest corner of St. George and College Street streets in a building that was formerly the home of the

Toronto Reference Library The Toronto Reference Library is a public reference library in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the corner of Yonge Street and Asquith Avenue, within the Yorkville neighbourhood of downtown Toronto and is the largest and most visited br ...

History

The building was opened in 1909 as the

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2023 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making i ...

's Central Reference Library, Ontario's largest Carnegie library. It remained the home of the reference library until 1977, when it relocated to its current home at Bloor and Yonge. The building was then acquired by the

, converted into the student services centre, and renamed after university supporter

Murray Koffler Murray Bernard Koffler (January 22, 1924 – November 5, 2017) was a Canadian pharmacist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was best known for founding the Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, establishing the Koffler Centre of the Arts ...

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist ...

Architecture

Designed by Alfred H. Chapman, the Beaux Arts building features a grand entrance fronting College Street by St. George Street, with stairs rising to the former library's

piano nobile ( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...

. A second, less prominent ground level entrance, located towards the western part of the College Street façade, balances the composition. This main façade fronting College Street is characterized by a sequence of lower paired windows set in a smooth grey stone wall. Its contrasting yellow brick upper section features six two-storey windows set between Corinthian columns. The original library's reading and reference room overlooked College Street through the large front windows. An addition by Chapman and Oxley in association with Wickson and Gregg was completed along St. George Street in 1930, the theatre was renovated in 1961 by Irving Grossman, and 1985 marked the renovation and restoration of the building headed by Howard D. Chapman (son of Alfred H. Chapman) and Howard V. Walker. The building was listed a heritage structure in Toronto's inventory of heritage properties in 1973.

References

External links

Toronto Public Library page about the building
{{coord, 43.659056, N, 79.396895, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title University of Toronto buildings Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada City of Toronto Heritage Properties Chapman and Oxley buildings