Shortly after taking power in the first responsible government of the Province of Canada, Reformist politicians led by Robert Baldwin wrested control of King's College from the Church of England in 1849 and renamed it the University of Toronto.

Baldwin envisioned that denominational colleges would soon decide to affiliate themselves under the secular University of Toronto "with some vague status, perhaps as divinity halls".

Frederick William Cumberland was appointed in 1856 as the university architect to design and oversee the construction of the college's new building, completed in 1859.

[3] The fire spread rapidly when servants accidentally dropped two kerosene lamps on a wooden staircase at around 7 p.m. while preparing the illumination for an annual college exhibition.

During the boycott of classes, professor of history George MacKinnon Wrong wrote to Chancellor Blake in England that only one student turned up at one of his lectures.

The strike continued until 20 February, when students voted to return to classes after the government agreed to call a commission of inquiry.

[3] The selection of architectural styles was the result of "a tangle of disagreements and concessions, political as well as artistic",[10] including the college's emphasis on freedom from denominational control.

[11][12] Cumberland met the requirements asked of him after taking part on a research and experience based trip to Europe in February 1856: "This course of action was consistent with Victorian architectural practice when new public buildings were being planned, which was to carefully study applicable building forms and adapt them, to the requirements of the job at hand.

The building was an unconventional combination of varied parts incorporating British design for educational structures in England and Ireland.

Like most Romanesque buildings, University College has extremely thick masonry walls, built of many types of brick and stone layered upon each other.

The arches are semicircular, and consist of small columns that provide the structural support to hold up vaults on the side of walkways.

The focal point of the structure is at the south façade, where the stone tower at the centre of the composition contains the main entrance of the college.

[16] The quadrangle and cloisters are enclosed within elaborately carved walls faced with stone, "felicitously sited amid landscaped grounds".

Before the fire of 1890, the building was laid out such that the east wing provided access to the convocation hall, the museum and the library, and contained an entrance to the quadrangle.

The chemistry laboratory was relocated at the southwest range, in the present Croft Chapter House, because it was more logical than in the first study which was in the north.

[19] The revitalization project included: improving the accessibility of the building, relocating the library to its original location in the East Hall, transforming the West Hall into a new event space called the Clark Reading Room, creating a conference centre in Croft Chapter House, and introducing a café called the Owlery located on the third floor outside of the Library.

It provides fair trade coffee, tea, vegan and vegetarian products to University College students.

It is located in University College's Junior Common Room and is open during the academic school year on Monday to Thursday 8:30am – 6pm and Friday 8:30am – 4pm.

[23] The University College Literary and Athletic Society, colloquially known as the 'Lit', is the oldest student government in Canada dating back to 1854.

The Lit is also responsible for the student-run Diabolos' coffee bar, and the annual Fireball formal, commemorating the 1890 fire which destroyed the college.

Demand for places is high for a number of reasons: most rooms are singles, the community life is accepting and diverse and most main academic buildings are right across the street.