Strength to Strength Campaign Report

Transforming the Quad

After months of mud, dust, noise and chaos, the Trinity Quadrangle has been completely transformed, thanks to a $250,000 gift from a generous – and anonymous – benefactor.

For generations of students, the Quad has been a place to chat, flirt, toss a Frisbee or just enjoy a little sunshine. And while it wasn’t exactly an eyesore, a few years ago there was general agreement that the space was not developed to its fullest potential. Because of the vision of an unnamed friend of the Quad, and many other generous donors, the space is now an even more charming and bustling part of Trinity’s day-to-day life.

Designed by Toronto architectural firm gh3, the goal was to reflect the College’s heritage while still looking forward, and to find a way to make the Quad more appealing throughout the academic year, not just in the lush spring and summer months.

The old Quad’s less-than-stellar architectural features – cracked, uneven and sometimes mossy pavement, oddly placed central garbage cans, and too many criss-crossing asphalt paths – have been replaced with elegant and contemplative elements in the style of a medieval knot garden.

Trinity’s venerable Quad now features a large stone terrace with seating at the sunnier north end and, more dramatically, paving stones in a gothic tracery pattern. Each of the 20 adjoining sevenmetre squares have broad bands of walkable stone, and they enclose a stylized grass X – actually the Greek letter chi, the first letter in Christ, and an iconographic allusion to Trinity’s history.