1st Floor Renovation Central

Recently the drawings for the new Technical Services Department were submitted to the City of Toronto’s building department.  The City reviews all construction drawings for compliance with code and assesses whether or not building occupants are able to safely evacuate the premises if an emergency situation arose.

The City’s building department recommended the university make a revision to the drawing in the Bibliographic Services department to relocate the emergency exit to allow easier egress for Bibliographic Services staff.  The revised drawing attached to this note outlines a new emergency exit corridor that is reflected in the new configuration of the Bibliographic Services department which we anticipate will be acceptable to the City.

The new corridor is designed for emergency exit purposes only, and will not be used as a natural thoroughfare in daily operations.  The introduction of this new corridor has led to minor alterations to the layout of the offices in Bibliographic Services ensuring all offices are at least 120 square feet in dimension.

The new emergency exit in Bibliographic Services eliminates the need for an emergency exit door in Bibliographic Services near the Scanning Room that was outlined in the initial drawing.  This door has now been replaced by a re-configured Scanning Room layout which takes advantage of some previously unused space.  The closing of this emergency exit door is also beneficial to the proposed layout of the renovated MAP Library, as this change provides additional usable space for the MAP library collection.

When you review the updated drawing you will also notice that additional doors have been installed in the main hallway.  This change is in response to a requirement from the City to build the corridors in such a manner as to restrict a fire from spreading from one area of the building to another area.

A series of revised drawings will be re-submitted to the City for approval shortly that incorporate these changes.  We anticipate it will take roughly 3 months for the City to review and approve these updated documents.  In the meantime, the renovation working committee will continue to meet as needed to fine-tune the particulars of the drawing for each department.

Update on the Renovations to the 1st floor of the Scott Library