Founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan and formerly located on Queen Street West, the “new” Trinity College on Hoskin Avenue is actually the second site for the complex. This Church of England College offers undergraduate programmes in the arts in affiliation with the University of Toronto and grants its own degree in theology. Designed by the renowned Frank Darling (1850–1923), the ambitious Master Plan for the new site was presented in 1915 but construction of the first phase was delayed nearly eight years and not completed until 1925, two years after the death of the architect. The plan of the new ensemble mimics (but does not replicate) the old complex, and new materials such as Credit Valley stone (instead of brick) and concrete floors and stone staircases (instead of wood) were effectively employed throughout the building.

Nearly fifteen years later, the Toronto firm of Allan George (1873–1961) and his partner Walter N. Moorhouse (1884–1977), designed impressive additions to the complex including the West Wing, with the Strachan Dining Hall, and the East Residence Wing containing Whitaker House, Welch House, Body House and the striking Henderson Tower which features a spacious Tudor portal leading to Philosopher’s Walk.

In 1953–55 the eminent London architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (grandson of Sir George G. Scott) designed the exquisite chapel now fronting on Hoskin Avenue. The north side of the quadrangle was finally enclosed and completed with the construction of Cosgrave House in 1963, designed by Somerville, McMurrich and Oxley. The entire ensemble thus became the closest evocation one may find in the city to the scale and atmosphere of the classic college quadrangles found in Oxford and Cambridge.

Robert G. Hill