The new Karen L. Jurjevich Innovation Centre and Studio Theatre (iCAST) on the East campus enhances our current facilities to meet the demands of our innovation curriculum and arts programs. iCAST is a world-class educational facility that allows our students from JK to Grade 12, teachers and staff to come together under one roof. This new state-of-the-art learning environment at Branksome Hall replaces the Allison Roach Theatre for Performing Arts, Drama Studio and original pool.

The new facility serves as a catalyst for our entire community—providing a space that will fit any type of innovator, helping students learn to take risks, build confidence and become more adaptable—skills essential in our rapidly changing world. The space promotes greater diversity of thought, skills and interests, and enhances a sense of community among students, faculty, staff and the broader community.

Along with providing students with access to leading-edge tools and technologies, this new building also integrates the arts to allow students to fully realize their creative and innovative projects on various platforms, providing space for exploration of multi-disciplinary initiatives.

The facility includes a new studio theatre, which in addition to housing performances, rehearsals and classes, provides much-needed room to host inspiring speakers, panel discussions and community events.

The building is 34,458 square feet, about half the size of the Athletics and Wellness Centre.

With reconfigurable spaces and tools, iCAST features fabrication and digital spaces such as machine, wood and robotics workshops where students can use computing and engineering tools to manufacture prototypes. Artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) labs ensure students will have the edge when it comes to future technologies. A pitch space invites students and industry experts to present and share ideas. The black-box studio theatre, with moveable seats to create various environments, offers experimental and traditional performance in dance, film, music, as well as film-making and screenings. A 2,550 square-foot tension grid enables professional-quality theatrical lighting plans.

The iCAST is a game-changer not only for Branksome Hall, but as the first-of-its-kind space for any JK-Grade 12 institution in Canada. Only three such facilities currently exist in the United States.

The project is a partnership between New York-based ENNEAD and Toronto-based MJMA (architect of the AWC). ENNEAD has experience redefining learning spaces, from Kindergarten to graduate school, and establishing spaces that inspire student development, promote collaboration and strengthen connections within the classroom and to the broader community.

The future belongs to innovators who can marry technology and “big data” to solve real-world problems. Emergent economic sectors didn’t exist 10 years ago, and many more have completely changed how we live and work. Organizations will require excellent problem-solvers. As Branksome teaches the “Innovation Mindset”—a learning process of creative ideating, testing, mistake making and reiterating⁠—we are evolving away from formal classrooms and traditional modes of knowledge sharing. Accelerating our curriculum, iCAST offers leading-edge tools and technologies in an architecturally prescient, flexible space, integrating the arts to allow students to fully realize ambitious, creative and innovative projects. The facility also accelerates our focus on performing arts, including a new studio theatre which doubles as a much-needed room to host inspiring speakers, panel discussions and community events.

While our curriculum has evolved to incorporate the latest pedagogical approaches, our facilities were due for a “next gen” update to keep pace. This flexible, multi-purpose space allows us to build on existing partnerships and seek out new ones. iCAST is for everyone, from JK to Grade 12. iCAST invites students, faculty and the broader community to work with innovation leaders in an innovation ecosystem of experts and mentors. iCAST’s design encourages the cross-pollination of disciplines as students co-create prototypes in the fabrication spaces. iCAST is a true incubator of people and ideas.

While this space is unique within JK-12 schools, post-secondary institutions are building these types of spaces to ensure graduates are prepared to enter the workforce. When our students move on to post-secondary education, they will have an advantage having gained confidence and literacy in a prototype space other students will not have experienced before. As well, iCAST cements Branksome’s place along the tech innovation corridor from Toronto-Waterloo, creating a unique feeder school of excellence in the downtown core. Toronto is now the third-largest tech hub in North America, boasting new and expanding involvement of tech giants such as Microsoft, IBM and Google. Branksome’s students are at the centre of this, prepared to take their positions in the job markets of tomorrow.

The building is not classroom space, but rather an extension of it, enabling the innovation agenda and curriculum to flourish. Research shows that all great innovative organizations have spaces that inspire and challenge traditional thinking. Architects call such spaces “the third teacher.” With performing arts and technology colliding in the same space, this is an ideal environment for students to develop a twenty-first-century toolkit, honing creativity and adaptability to embrace what has not yet been invented. With its moveable seats, the multi-media black-box theatre can host theatre productions, robotics competitions and more. Students can build confidence to pursue their passions—whether their dream is to be an artist or engineer.

At Branksome Hall, we are always looking for ways to improve our facilities and ensure our students are prepared to excel in a world of change and uncertainty. Although our students and academic programs are ahead of the “innovation curve,” this project enhances Branksome Hall’s programming and enrich our learning environments.

Our mission is to challenge and inspire girls to love learning and shape a better world. iCAST will help us to do this, making admissions to the school more competitive and further reinforcing Branksome’s reputation as a world-class educational institution. This project sparks innovation in our students and equips them with the tools to become more resilient, curious, agile and creative.

The building also provides improved accessibility and connectivity within existing buildings. The existing bridge over Mount Pleasant Road connects into this new building, creating a seamless and safe indoor pathway between the East and West campuses.

The facility further sets our school apart, creating an innovation hub which bridges the gap in the current STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) environment and addressed gender inequity in these fields.

Despite hard-fought advancements by countless female leaders, gender disparity in STEM is evident and ongoing, especially at the governance level. Women represent less than a third of those studying or working in STEM-related fields across Canada. Early engagement in STEM opportunities and programming is a key driver in helping young girls explore their interest in these fields and to consider them viable options for their future. iCAST provides a safe and leading-edge environment for students to explore their interests, so that they can go on to shatter glass ceilings and break the barriers of exclusion, closing the gender gap in STEM-related industries and beyond.

iCAST’s studio theatre will be a magnet for the broader community, housing performances, rehearsals and classes, and hosting inspiring speakers, panel discussions and community events. The Athletics and Wellness Centre, which opened in 2015, is an example of how Branksome’s spaces serve the greater community. Much like the AWC, the iCAST will offer programming for the broader community to explore their interest in STEAM. The programming and partnerships will expand existing community-based partnerships and allow us to build new ones, with innovation and industry experts to bring authentic learning into the classroom.