The visitors centre at the Toronto South Detention Centre looks spacious and airy (April 22, 2013); such an architectural detail is irrelevant given what has been reported in the years that followed

I have shared information about the Toronto South Detention Centre in a previous blog post.

A Nov. 26, 2012 article in The Grid (a publication that is now defunct) notes that:

The Visitors Centre looks spacious and airy through the spotless glass walls, and rows of grey benches are lined up in the lobby. The sliding front doors have the feel of a shopping-mall entrance. (This is a far cry from the Don, where visitors had to wait outside until security buzzed them into a small, cramped room.)

The walls of the visitors centre, which you can see when you walk or drive by the detention centre, are translucent.

The use of translucent surfaces as a way to welcome the public is a characteristic of contemporary architecture, as I have noted in a series of blog posts related to redevelopment of church buildings and other properties in Toronto.

By way of an update, a subsequent post (Jan. 17, 2020) is entitled:

February 2017 Toronto Life article describes Toronto South Detention Centre as ‘$1-Billion hellhole’; January 2020 Etobicoke Guardian article indicates ‘inhumane’ conditions persist

The spacious and airy quality of of visitors centre is an attractive architectural touch but in the larger scheme of things, it’s a detail that is irrelevant given what has been reported in the years that followed.