On April 1, representatives of the Daniels Faculty's graduate student union, GALDSU, were at Hart House to receive the Ulife Best New Initiative or Idea Award presented by the Student Life Office of the University of Toronto in recognition of the renovation of GALDSU's student lounge, conducted over the summer of 2014. The award celebrates an outstanding new initiative or idea that was developed to solve an issue, improve the impact and function of an organization, and improve the lives and experiences of University of Toronto students.

 
The lounge renovation was motivated by the findings of GALDSU's Mental Health Survey from the previous academic year, and aimed to create a space for students to eat, relax, gather and enjoy. It also provided students an opportunity to collaborate with faculty, alumni, and staff to create a unique space which showcases their design skills and makes use of the fabrication capabilities available at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Many elements of the lounge’s design were done in-house, including the small wood-top tables, signage and lounge/café sliding door, making use of our woodshop and digital fabrication lab. Lounge 058 now provides a much needed student space at 230 College Street, hosting numerous activities and becoming the faculty’s unofficial living room.

GALDSU would like to recognize the efforts of all of its student volunteers, as well as staff, faculty, alumni, and friends who made the lounge possible. Special thanks to Hamza Vora (MArch3), Dayne Roy-Caldwell (M.LA2), Deagan McDonald (MArch3), Keltie McLaren (MArch3), Jocelyn Squires (MArch3), Kelsey Nilsen (M.Arch3), Elise Hunchuck (MLA2), Nithin Kadayil (MArch3), Leah Gibling (MArch3), and Joël León (MArch4), for dedicating part of their summer to this community project. We also want to make special mention of Johnny Bui and Thomas Abromaitis for their guidance, Tom Bessai, Maria Denegri, and Duncan Sabiston (MArch 14) from Denegri Bessai Studio for their mentorship and dedication, Andrea McGee and the staff from the Office of Student Services for their support, and Oscar Gil and the rest of the caretaking team at Daniels for their encouragement and patience.

We would also like to thank Scott Northsworthy (MArch 14) for the stunning photographs documenting the lounge, which can be viewed in the gallery below.