EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hillfield Strathallan College (HSC) has a remarkable campus of 50 acres, which is seen by many in its community as an urban oasis within Hamilton. Serving learners from 18 months to 18 years within its four schools, the College is looking to the future and considering how to leverage its campus to meet its educational objectives. The campus master plan sets out a framework for the campus’s future development as it replaces aging facilities and embraces the full potential of its 50 acres as a “learning landscape.” The 17-month process to develop the campus master plan engaged the College community so that the future of the campus is built on the history, people, values and mission of HSC. The plan’s vision and guiding principles reflect the College’s Strategic Plan and the aspirations of College leadership, faculty, staff and students. The campus master plan is grounded in the defining features of the existing campus. These include the remnants of the past life of the site as a farm associated with the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital, the clustering of College buildings in the south-east of the site where they are generously buffered from surrounding streets, the circulation spine and communal spaces that bring the four schools together and the vast 50-acre site that distinguishes the College from other independent schools.

The program for the campus master plan maintains the current student population of approximately 1,250 students but increases the built area of the College to accommodate modern teaching spaces. It includes a new Junior School, Middle School and combined Dining Hall, administration and Learning Commons / innovation space. The campus master plan embraces the existing circulation network of exterior breezeways that join interior corridors as a structuring feature, extending the network to connect new buildings and create a circulation “pinwheel.” Programmatic elements are strategically located so that all arms of the pinwheel are anchored with communal spaces, with flexible teaching spaces inserted to allow maximum connection between indoor and outdoor learning. A new campus entrance is added from Garth Street, taking pressure off a reconfigured entry sequence from Fennell Avenue West. The campus master plan also embraces the concept of a “learning landscape,” which has been developed by HSC staff. It locates different landscape types in zones across the campus to allow the College to capitalize on the unique asset of its 50 acres. The campus is designed to educate the whole child in active landscapes, social landscapes, instructional landscapes, exploration landscapes, edible landscapes and storytelling landscapes, and to define a sense of arrival to the campus with entry landscapes. Built form guidelines are designed to ensure that future development creates a cohesive campus character within which each of the constituent parts has its own identity. Sustainability guidelines support HSC’s aspiration to be a leader in environmental sustainability and to teach students about climate change prevention and environmental stewardship through the campus. The phasing strategy for the campus master plan is based on the principle of minimizing disruption to the student experience by avoiding use of temporary learning spaces such as portables. Each of the three new buildings and associated landscape is defined as a phase, with additional landscape elements flexible to be implemented at any time. A Class D cost estimate for the campus master plan is intended to be a guide on construction costs and help the College to assess the relative value of building components and the overall infrastructure investment.

The HSC campus master plan lays out a path for the development of a physical campus that embodies the spirit of the College and will allow it to continue to deliver an exceptional educational experience for decades to come.

6 HILLFIELD STRATHALLAN COLLEGE CAMPUS MASTER PLAN