It may seem like the old school on Hazelton being turned into a condo has disappeared. But, apparently, it's coming back.
A big selling point of the low-rise building at 36 Hazelton – other than the fact that
Mark Wahlberg bought a unit – was the facade of the old St. Basil's Catholic school that stood there. But if you walk by today, you'll just see the skeleton of the new place – it's final form just filled out recently – with no sign of the old brick.
"As with many adaptive reuse projects, the challenges were many," says Les Klein, principal at
Quadrangle, the King West firm behind the project. "They included keeping the heritage facade in place while building a new building (above and below grade) behind it; access to the site for construction. This required moving a portion of the heritage facade away for the duration of the construction process to allow access to the rear of the site."
As far as Klein is concerned, the facade, which should be back in place next year, is the key to the building.
"Change in communities should be organic," he says. "While the original use of the school was long out of date, its physical form provides a tie to the community’s historic roots. The new condominium points to the future of the neighbourhood, while being grounded firmly in its rich past."
Given both the scale and the high-end nature of the building, the owners of the unbuilt units demanded quite a bit of say in how their homes were being constructed.
"There were no 'typical' floor plans, and there were no 'typical' units. Each unit was an individually designed luxury home for a very sophisticated clientele," Klein says. "While each unit design has changed under the guidance of its owners, the building has such a strong character that it is able to accommodate the individuality of its owners without losing its identity or coherent design intent."
Klein expects 36 Hazelton, developed by
Alterra and built by Zinc construction, to be ready for its new owners by 2015.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Les Klein