In 1887, as a result of the Federation Act, Knox College was incorporated into the University of Toronto. In 1906 the College moved out of 1 Spadina Crescent and into buildings on St George Street. Planning soon began on yet another facility, this time located between King’s College Circle and St George Street (59–61 St George Street and 23 King’s College Circle). Constructed between 1912 and 1915 of grey sandstone with dressed limestone trim, this Perpendicular Gothic-style collegiate building, by Chapman and McGiffin Architects, is an excellent example of a medieval-revival academic residence and the design skill of Alfred Chapman.

The bold plan features a small grassy quadrangle with a central cloister joining the academic and spiritual areas with the residences. The walls within the quad, and on the exterior, are interrupted by a series of tall bay windows that spring from simple buttresses at the second storey. Hipped dormers, clad entirely in green slate to match the gabled roofs, reveal the residential nature of the south and west wings. Approximately 100 men and women are accommodated throughout the 3 1/2 storeys. A tower, at the centre of the west facade and the tallest part of the College complex, identifies this important academic and ecclesiastical landmark on the University of Toronto campus. With its robust buttresses, leaded glass windows, and powerful massing, the College provides a strong and architecturally interesting western edge to King’s College Circle.

The central rotunda, located in the middle of the eastern wing, has a vaulted ceiling, fan leaf tracery, octagonal piers, and stone steps flanked by richly carved and solidly built stone rails. To the south, pink marble stairs lead to the jewel of the College – the Chapel – with its vaulted Gothic ceiling, stone piers, fitments, and great window. On the north side of the rotunda, at the top of another set of stairs, is the academic heart of the college, the 70,000-volume Rev. William Caven Library, noteworthy for its oak ceiling supported by a series of elaborate, wood hammer beams. The library’s namesake was the principal of Knox College (1873-1904), the driving force behind the building of 1 Spadina Crescent (1873-5) and the president of the Pan-Presbyterian Alliance (1900-1904).

The College is richly appointed with English Gothic ornament. On the east and west elevations comical mascaron grace the upper reaches of the architecture. Large, arched metal doors, completely glazed with small divided panes and maneuvered by ring knockers, also add to the medievalism of the place. Like the ancient English universities from which the architecture derives, at Knox College religion, academia, and a monastic sense of serenity combine in what is arguably Toronto’s most architecturally traditional university residence.

Sean C. Fraser