A look at Ryerson University's new vertical campus in Toronto (PHOTOS)

Newly released photos of the recently completed Ryerson University vertical campus give an inside look at the 28-story addition to the Toronto skyline.

Released by the project’s architecture firm, Perkins&Will, the photos reveal the 300,000-square-foot Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex’s (DCHS) cutting-edge technology, integrated design, and green focus.

The massive orange and white complex, located on the east side of Ryerson’s campus, just around the corner from Yonge and Dundas, was completed in late 2019 as part of Ryerson’s 2008 campus master plan.

It’s the first vertical campus for Ryerson and now houses four different academic departments—Nursing, Midwifery, Nutrition, and Occupational and Public Health—several labs, administration offices, and dorm rooms for up to 330 students.

“The DCHS Complex uniquely expresses public space throughout the building, creating new connections to the adjacent campus at the ground floor and illustrating student life in a vertical axis,” said Ryan Bragg, principal of Perkins&Will’s Vancouver studio. “This expression reinforces the concept of a vertical campus, successfully integrating the academic and social lives of Ryerson students.”

On the ground floor, facing Church street, is a bright and airy public atrium, complete with a café and open space for students to gather and socialize.

The campus has been outfitted with new high-tech classrooms and labs to enhance student learning, including a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen for Nutrition students.

The building also features a brand new Digital Fabrication lab, which can be seen from the public atrium.

Incorporating green space and green technology was also a large part of the complex’s design. On top of the tower’s podium base is a green roof where fresh produce is grown for the atrium’s café.

The roof also has a greywater system that collects water to be used in faucets, toilets, and showers throughout the building.

Residents of the Ryerson University vertical campus, which was purposefully built with materials that have a low environmental impact, will also have the ability to view their own energy and water consumption online.

Since its opening, the building has already racked up one award for its design, taking home the 2021 Best Tall Building Award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.