WZMH reimagines schools, libraries with AI data centres

Key Takeaways:

• WZMH and sparkbird are looking to transform Toronto’s underused parking lots and library spaces into mixed-use community hubs. These development concepts, HUBS and ELEVATE, integrate housing, innovation, and sustainability to meet the growing demand for affordable housing in the city.
• One of the innovative components of these projects is the integration of AI-powered micro data centers. These data centers, placed in strategic locations such as libraries and schools, could create interconnected hubs that support local businesses, education, and generate revenue, making the projects financially viable for the private sector.
• Both HUBS and ELEVATE would leverage public-private partnerships to ensure the projects are self-sustaining, reduce operational costs, and create new revenue streams.

The Whole Story:

Toronto architecture firm WZMH and its research lab, sparkbird, are reimagining the city’s parking lots and libraries in an innovative way fund affordable housing and take advantage of underutilzed space.

Relief can’t come soon enough. With the city’s population expected to surpass 4.2 million by 2051, the demand for affordable housing continues to grow, while aging public infrastructure struggles to keep pace.

Zenon Radewych, a principal at the firm, explained that his team began looking at Toronto’s 100 public libraries and nearly 600 schools for opportunities. Many sit on underutilized land, including single-story buildings and vast asphalt parking lots.

There result was two forward-thinking initiatives, HUBS (Housing, Urban Bibliotheca, Servers) and ELEVATE, which transform underutilized spaces into mixed-use community hubs that integrate housing, innovation, and sustainability:

• HUBS modernizes Toronto’s aging library branches by revitalizing outdated single-story buildings into vibrant, multi-functional developments featuring new libraries, housing, and AI-powered micro data centers.
• ELEVATE converts underused school parking lots into much-needed housing while integrating citywide AI server hubs that support education and local businesses.

Both models leverage Public-Private Partnerships, ensuring these transformations are self-sustaining, reduce operational costs, and generate new revenue streams, while supporting the City’s housing and smart city goals.

“When you look at HUBS, and this applies to other cities too, many libraries are on great public transit routes in densly populated areas and are vintage buildings in need of repair on sites that could be a lot smaller,” said Radewych. “Modern libraries doin’t require the same footprint. Why not add density?”

Similarly, Radewych and his team looked at schools and found many have large parking lots that are empty most of the time. They propose partnering with developers to build residential units above these schools and maintain parking just for staff.

The AI data centre component is where things get really interesting. WZMH and sparkbird are proposing integrating AI-powered micro data centres into these projects, interconnecting them to create a larger server.

“We were looking at how to help solve this housing issue but in a way that makes it more exciting and financially viable for the private sector,” said Radewych. “It’s a way to generate revenue.”

He noted that data centre work his become a key part of WZMH and demand is only growing.

“I think there will eventually be small hubs deployed at facilities in dense neighbourhoods, close to fibre routes and keeping them small, even one server rack, means you don’t need lots of power or cooling so it simplifies this solution,” he said.

He added that for cities with aging library and school infrastructure, it’s a win-win. Communities can get new facilities as well as added housing above.

“It’s a new idea that’s starting to become more popular,” said Radewych. “We have looked at it carefully, picked th eright sites and the data centre component is icing on the cake. But how do we further reducing the cost of these buildings? Out of this, other ideas have come up through brainstorming, like modularizing the mechanical and electrical room. We want to take the next steps to really reduce the costs for construction and not impact the usable area.”

Check out these renderings of WZMH’s ELEVATE and HUB concepts: