7 Washington Avenue, Toronto 5, Ontario/11 October 1963

Mr. J.F. Brook
Bursar
Trent University
Peterborough, Ontario

Dear Mr Brook:

[excerpt] .... My specific duties as Master Planning Architect to Trent University are as follows:

I will attend meetings of the Campus Planning Committee, and the Academic Planning Committee, as well as any other committee meetings that are of concern to the work being done. In addition to this, I will consult, as often as required, with the President, the Assistant to the President, and all members of the Trent staff who will affect planning.

I will make a study of the Trent region, its history and its buildings, and the materials it can produce or supply. This will be carried on in more detail in the Peterborough area with regard to land use, transportation, relation of campus to city, and potentialities of the river.

The study of the site itself will be done in cooperation with several experts, a climatologist, a soils engineer, and a tree consultant. It will show in detail climatic conditions, ground structures, and the position, names, and conditions of trees. Maps will be made showing site boundaries and contours, and rights-of-way, easements, roads etc will be recorded. This will also involve consultation with various authorities, such as the Department of Transport, Ontario Hydro, and city and district planners, to name a few.

Further information relating to site conditions involves working with a mechanical engineer to study water supply, sewage disposal, comparative heating systems, fire protection, signals, kitchen services, science services, underground wiring, closed circuit TV, the possible need for double glazing, air conditioning, etc.

A structural engineer will be used to study various structural possibilities, and lay down ground rules for structures that will guide buildings in the future. These structural considerations, added to the study of building materials and considerations of architectural expression and appropriateness, will give the basis for the eventual architectural character at Trent.

In addition to this, I would expect to explore particular detailed aspects of the buildings, such as various stairwell systems, residential rooms, tutorial rooms, etc.

All of this, and more, is the material from which the campus plan will be made. It is the function of the plan to show the significance of these facts and to remain sensitive to the effects of them.

The results of this work will be presented in the form of maps, drawings, models, photographs, charts and graphs, statistics and explanatory reports. It will be done to account for the plan at every phase of university growth.

It should finally represent the physical embodiment of the philosophy of Trent University, and at the same time be a practical guide to the building of a university that does not thwart this philosophy...

Yours very truly,
[signed]
R.J. Thom/Architect