The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 63

Punting with Bill Shadwick
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Design
We also identified, as an important criterion in organizing the
building, the notion that all scientists should be visible to
colleagues as they arrived and departed, further engendering
the sense of togetherness and the interdependence of the group.
The resulting building concept of the palazzo-like block
with public space on an elevated piano nobile and scientists
private offices wrapped around a three-story court was a
response to this idea. The centrepieces of the courtyard were to
be a sensuous wood-clad helical stair, a fireplace with library
above, and a garden beyond and behind. Light-filled common
interior terraces immediately outside somewhat monastic
offices complete the order of the building.
Since Fields was different from many other university
buildings in that it was designed to accommodate a
multiplicity of visitors from other academic institutions, the
offices organized around the court have an inherent democratic
feel. It is possible to accommodate a post-graduate visitor
immediately next door to a famous scientist, all working
together on a challenge in pure mathematical science that,
if solved, could potentially change lives and further scientific
knowledge and understanding.
Mathematical considerations abound in the design of the
building, from its latent nine square grid; helical/axial stair;
golden section proportions of the palazzo and its windows;
8x8x4-inch cleft Bruce Peninsula limestone masonry units
calculated to deliver a delightful serendipitous visual play; and
in the memory of the original design’s library and its oculus,
which was intended to provide scientists with a framed view
of the cosmos.
Regrettably, a timber domed library with an oculus that
was part of the original design concept and was proposed to
project in front of the College Street façade of the palazzo