The
60 Richmond Street East housing project made this year's list of the projects honoured by the
Ontario Association of Architects for excellence in design.
The 11-storey, 85-unit affordable-rent building was the first new housing co-operative to be built in years and will be used initially as a place to re-house those displaced by the nearby Regent Park redevelopment. It was built to LEED Gold environmental standards and designed by
Teeple Architects. It was built by
Toronto Community Housing.
"I think the most significant part of it is the way that it animates the street," says Gordon Grice, editor of Perspectives, the OAA's quarterly journal, citing its colourful cladding and saying the only other building as lively in Toronto is Will Alsop's
Sharpe Centre for Design. "It's a good urban neighbour."
According to the OAA's citation, "This project explores ideas for the future of urbanism in the North American city. It seeks to understand and express the notion that urban form can simultaneously be environmental form. 60 Richmond East is also an example of the imagination and dedication that is required in creating responsible architectural solutions for the current global economic and environmental climate."
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Gordon Grice
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