Editing Burwash Hall (section)

== Lower Houses ==
The Lower Houses, originally the ''Emmanuel College Residences,'' were intended to house theology students at Emmanuel College, whose current building was opened the same year.  '''Ryerson House''' (renamed to '''First House''' in 2021), '''Nelles House''', '''Caven House''', '''Bowles-Gandier House''' are now mostly home to undergraduate arts and science students. One story lower than the Upper Houses, they consist of four floors in order to reach the same height. All five houses are connected underground via the basement. The lower houses have only been partially upgraded.  Before the renovations the entire building was exclusively male, but now every house is co-ed.

The Lower Houses each have four floors, but are much narrower with each level having only four rooms.  Each level also has its own kitchen, but these are much smaller than in the Upper Houses. The Lower Houses do have far larger and better fitted common rooms that are similar to the ones the Upper Houses had before the renovations.  The rooms in the Lower Houses are also considered more luxurious with [[hardwood floor]]s and large sizes. Rooms in the Lower Houses are more expensive, however. Until 2003 the Lower Houses were restricted to upper year students but with the [[double cohort]] of graduates from Ontario schools many of the rooms were transformed into doubles and now hold first years.

There is typically one upper-year Residence Don for First, Nelles, and Caven House, and a second upper-year Residence Don for Bowles-Gandier House.

=== First House (Ryerson House) ===
First House connects the Upper and Lower Houses, and was originally named after the first principal of Victoria College, [[Egerton Ryerson]]. The house was renamed for the 2021–2022 school year, after an investigation into the legacy of Ryerson and his role in the Canadian residential school system. The Victoria University Students' Administrative Council initially called for a renaming in February 2019,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alam|first=Khadija|date=2020-03-17|title=Remembering Ryerson|url=https://thestrand.ca/remembering-ryerson/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=The Strand|language=en-CA}}</ref> which was followed by the Victoria University Research Panel on the Legacy of Egerton Ryerson in 2020, and ultimately the Presidential Report on the Legacy of Egerton Ryerson in 2021 which resulted in the change.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ryerson House Name Changed to First House » Victoria College|url=https://vic.utoronto.ca/news/ryerson-name-changed-to-first-house/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=vic.utoronto.ca|language=en-CA}}</ref>

Although the house had been named ''Ryerson'' since 1933, all five Lower Houses were temporarily named First House, Second House, Third House, Fourth House, and Fifth House from 1931 until 1933. The Board of Regents used these [[Placeholder name|placeholder]] names until they decided upon better alternatives. In 2021, the name of Ryerson House was reverted to its original title, First House.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shi|first=Roy|date=2021-10-13|title=Unravelled: Renaming Ryerson House prompts questions about history of equity at Vic|url=https://thestrand.ca/renaming-ryerson-house-prompts-questions-about-history-of-equity-at-vic/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=The Strand|language=en-CA}}</ref>

=== Nelles House ===
Named for Victoria principal, president, and chancellor [[Samuel Sobieski Nelles|Samuel S. Nelles]], Nelles House echoes the position of Middle House amongst the Upper Houses. Like Middle, Nelles House sits between the first and third houses in the set. However, Nelles is the exact same size and shape as Ryerson and Caven House.

=== Caven House ===
The only Lower House to not be named after a Victoria College student or administrator, Caven House comes from presbyterian minister [[William Caven]], the second principal of [[Knox College, Toronto]]. Although he was not directly involved with the affairs of Victoria, he consulted President [[Nathanael Burwash]] and Rev. [[Alfred Gandier]] about the division of Arts and Theology at Victoria. After great discussion, this spawned [[Emmanuel College, Toronto|Emmanuel College]], Victoria's Faculty of Theology.<ref name=":0" /> Since the Lower Houses were originally built for Emmanuel students, it is likely that this is the reason for naming the House after [[William Caven]].

=== Bowles-Gandier House ===

==== Name ====
Bowles House is named after Victoria president and chancellor [[Richard Pinch Bowles]], the first-cousin once-removed of [[Lester B. Pearson]].

Gandier House is named after [[Alfred Gandier]], the first principal of [[Emmanuel College, Toronto|Emmanuel College]].

==== Exterior Design ====
[[File:LB-Plans.png|thumb|400x400px|Lower Burwash Hall Floor Plans (2007)]]
The very last house in Burwash Hall has a unique style to the other three Lower Houses. Rather than continuing the trend of Upper and Lower Houses in a straight line on the East side of the property, Bowles-Gandier House, colloquially "BG", juts out on the West side of the Southern edge of Burwash Hall. Enclosing the residence structure along the property line where Victoria meets [[University of St. Michael's College|St. Michael's College]], the house forms an L shape with the other three Lower Houses.

==== Interior Layout ====
Unlike Ryerson, Nelles, and Caven House—which are all identical in layout—Bowles-Gandier is the amalgamation of Gandier House and Bowles House, which operated independently until the 1995 renovations.

The floor plan for Bowles-Gandier varies from the other Lower Houses, with a significantly larger common room and two triple-bedrooms on the main floor: each with an in-suite kitchen and bathroom.

The Bowles and Gandier stairwells are connected by a hallway on the second, third, and fourth floors. Each of these floors has a shared kitchen, and two bedrooms at the end of each hall with a connected bathroom, much like the other Lower Houses. They also have two double-rooms in the middle of the hall, which have a connected bathroom and kitchen, meaning BG has the highest kitchen-to-student ratio in Burwash.

==== Vic One Program ====
Bowles-Gandier is sometimes referred to as the Vic One House, since it is mostly reserved for students in the [[Vic One]] program. While not a requirement to live in BG, it has historically consisted of > 80% Vic One students.