Havergal College Upper School

Copper Wall Panel Manufacturer

Ontario Panelization
London, Ontario

Copper Installer

Lake Effect Company Limited
Sundridge, Ontario

General Contractor

Buttcon Limited
Concord, Ontario

Structural Engineer

Blackwell
Toronto, Ontario

Third Party Copper Review

CR Systems
Barrie, Ontario

Havergal College is an independent day and boarding school for girls from junior kindergarten to grade twelve, established in Toronto in 1894. The upper school expansion completed in 2021 provides Havergal students an arts and technology-focused space to inspire learning, curiosity, and creativity, and to enhance a shared sense of community within a remarkable natural setting. The new 22,000 square foot addition has transformed an under-utilized service area, creating a new landscaped courtyard alongside three stories of studios, adaptable teaching and gathering space. The new copper elements at Havergal upper school tells a story of the building's craft, attention to detail, resilience, sustainability, and its transforming character over time.

Copper has a unique ability to be formed into countless shapes and forms. At Havergal, this contemporary expression is both taut and crisp. Large rhythmic copper clad walls are made from 16-ounce copper pans with 2-inch single-lock standing seam, adding depth and scale. A sprung edge was introduced into the pan profiles to mitigate oil-canning and facilitate expansion and contraction of the copper throughout the day. Flashing transitions meet a variety of conditions from sill and soffit datums, curtainwall integration to special building movement joints and parapets. 16-ounce copper clad parapets feature a strong projecting shadow reveal and thin top edge, brake-formed with s-lock joints along the length. All parapets have a woven mesh underlayment between copper and roofing to promote a drainage layer out to roof below and separate roofing membrane from copper.

One of the innovations developed was how to maintain and return the parapet shadow reveal between different back-sloping parapet widths. A simple approach used a 1-inch standing seam at the different parapets to enable an infill condition that could be hooked and have the reveal appear seamless around the building. Another challenge was how a 150 millimeter structural joint between existing and new building could be incorporated at a back-sloping parapet. The result was a sloped, built-up copper pan curb.

The use of copper cladding was also incorporated into the vertical expansion joint detail at the opposite existing building junction. A conventional expansion joint was used and in front is a sliding copper sheet joint that integrates with the copper wall cladding.

This beautiful building will not remain static as it will continue to transform, evolve, and settle with its surroundings gracefully for many years.