George Brown College

South of Queens Quay
just west of Sherbourne Common

The Daphne Cockwell Centre for the Health Sciences

The first phase of George Brown College’s waterfront campus, located on Dockside Drive, was the Centre for Health Sciences, which brought a new centre of excellence for health education and community wellness to East Bayfront. The centre houses four schools which were formerly spread across a variety of locations. These include the schools of Nursing, Dental Health, Health and Wellness, and Health Services Management.

The centre provides a unique hands-on learning environment that incorporates both simulation and direct patient care. Designed by Stantec Architecture and KPMB Architects in a joint venture, the building includes large open areas such as a tall, deep set of stairs that facilitate group discussions and encourage learning outside the classroom. Built to foster collaborative learning, the centre features many flexible learning spaces, a rooftop terrace and a three-storey glass podium student space, which also has public access.

In October 2015, George Brown College received an $8-million gift from Toronto business leader and philanthropist Jack Cockwell. The donation funded the college's redevelopment and expansion plans to ensure current and future students continue to receive career training in state-of-the-art facilities and develop the technical and people skills employers require. In recognition of this gift, George Brown College renamed its Centre for Health Sciences the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences to honour Cockwell's late mother.

Limberlost Place

In late 2017, George Brown College launched an international design competition among the firms uniquely qualified to undertake the development of the province’s first tall-wood mass-timber institutional building. After a jury reviewed proposals, the design for Limberlost Place (formerly The Arbour) was ultimately awarded to Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects in April 2018.

Limberlost Place reduces embodied carbon emissions by using mass timber in lieu of traditional building materials. The 10-storey facility will house the college’s School of Architectural Studies, including a mass-timber research hub, and its School of Computer Technology. It will also house the Brookfield Sustainability Institute where students, community partners and industry can connect to develop solutions to problems caused by accelerating climate change.

The name of the building, inspired by the Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve near Huntsville, Ont., was unveiled in December 2021, when Canadian business leader and philanthropist Jack Cockwell donated $10 million to George Brown College for the project, adding to his earlier donation to the college of $8 million in 2015.

Located at the corner of Queens Quay East and Lower Sherbourne Street — just north of the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences — construction of Limberlost Place began in 2021, and it is scheduled to open in the summer of 2024. Once complete, the facility will operate a not-for-profit childcare centre for the community.

Sustainable Learning Environment

Like all new developments on the waterfront, the campus has raised the bar for excellence in architecture by creating a beautiful and modern learning environment which incorporates Waterfront Toronto’s Green Building Requirements .

The Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences has achieved LEED Gold certification by implementing a range of sustainability measures. Some of the building’s sustainability features include a green roof, alternative fuel stations and energy and water conservation measures which are helping the college significantly reduce its energy usage and water consumption.

The new tall-wood, mass-timber facility, Limberlost Place, is a prime example of raising the bar on innovative low-carbon design. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the building will harness green energy from the surrounding environment using solar chimneys, rooftop photovoltaics and deep-water cooling.

Waterfront Campus Expansion

Since opening on the waterfront in 2012, George Brown College has built its first ever student residence, which opened and began welcoming students in 2016. The residence, named The George, houses 500 students and is located at the corner of Front Street and Cherry Street in the West Don Lands .

The residence facility also contains a spacious conference centre that college staff, students and the larger Toronto community can use. The space is officially known as The Lucie and Thornton Blackburn Conference Centre, in recognition of two important leaders in the anti-slavery struggle in Toronto and who were long time community contributors.

In 2019, George Brown College expanded their Waterfront Campus even more by relocating their School of Design into the Daniels Waterfront—City of the Arts complex at Queens Quay East and Lower Jarvis Street. The modern mixed-use space offers hands-on collaborative working spaces and labs developed to encourage students and industry partners to push the boundaries of design and user experience.

Connecting with the Community

Waterfront residents and visitors will also benefit from the campus. Not only does the college allow public access to the Daphne Cockwell Centre for the Health Sciences, but the college also offers public access to a broad range of health care services including lower cost health, dental and wellness clinics. The campus bookstore and a food court featuring healthy food options is also open to the public.