Trent University entrance sign with the history of its first colleges: Robinson (1964), Traill (1964), Champlain (1967), and Lady Eaton (1968).

Trent University’s Champlain College along the banks of the Otonabee River. The principal buildings surround a grassy courtyard that opens onto the river itself. Eero Saarinen’s Morse College and Stiles College at Yale University served as architectural insprations for Champlain’s design.

A section of the Champlain College courtyard. Small half-open courtyards off the main lawn help to maintain an intimate scale.

The dining hall of Champlain College. Although modern in style, Champlain’s dining room is a classic residential college “great hall” with a raised platform at one end suitable for concerts and performances, and with ground-level windows offering a view of the Otonabee River.

A dining hall podium with the coat of arms of Lady Eaton College at Trent University.

The Lady Eaton College courtyard. Again, although the style is modern, the scale is human and intimate, and perfectly suited to the collegiate way of living.

The Lady Eaton College dining hall. The windows look out into the courtyard seen in the previous photo.

Swift House, one of the buildings of Catharine Parr Traill College at Trent University. There is no reason a residential college must have a single architectural style. A collegiate society can make itself at home in any collection of associated buildings as long as they are linked together socially into a unified whole.

The Traill College junior common room, a home-like spot complete with fireplace and small piano.

The dining hall in Catharine Parr Traill College. A perfect place to spend Sunday afternoon talking with friends.