Design : Development News

Many large buildings have several architectural firms credited with its design, but rarely are their separate contributions as obvious as in the first building to be completed on the new eastern waterfront.

Headquarters for Corus Entertainment, the building at the base of Lower Jarvis Street next to Sugar Beach was designed by Toronto firms  Diamond and Schmitt and Quadrangle Architects and is owned by Build Toronto.

"You do want a harmony between the two," says Quadrangle principal Brian Curtner. "Our goals and objectives were different. They were building an office building for the city and we were trying to create a unique branding location for an innovative broadcast company."

The building's exterior design, which according to Curtner was originally handled by Eberhard Zeidler's firm, fell to Diamond & Schmitt when the building was being pitched to Global TV, according to Curtner. The designs were originally presented to TEDCO, now known as the Toronto Port Lands Company, which handles the leasing and managing of properties for the city.

Curtner says that though there were a couple of changes to the exterior, including an articulation on the facade and an 8th-floor "presentation theatre" and lounge, the designs were developed and executed separately. The result is a fairly ordinary black shell wrapped around a surprising interior of bends and curves, salvaged hemlock wood, transparencies and flow.

As the Waterfront grows -- a new George Brown campus is under construction next door to Corus -- Curtner expects their project to play a definitive role in the new neighbourhood.

"Will Corus be an integral part of the revised east Waterfront? Of course," he says. "They're young and hip and they're going to start demanding the type of life that they don't have there."

Now that the CityTV building is mostly silent, Speakers Corner shuttered and little activity behind its once famous Queen Street windows, the new Corus building may eventually take up its street-involved cultural mantel.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Brian Curtner

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The first seven of a new generation of 20 highway service stations were unveiled last week, all built to LEED Silver environmental standards.

"We had an original idea and came up with a strong, consistent brand," says lead architect Les Klein, of Toronto's Quadrangle, "and we were able to follow through with that with no difficulties whatsoever."

Built by EllisDon and operated by Host Kilmer Service Centres Inc. along the 400 and 401, in addition to being aesthetically consistent, the stations were designed to overcome the anonymity and placelessness highway rest stops often have, incorporating various digital media to display and promote local images and events.

The station's bathrooms use 40% less water than average, and are built with air-tight envelopes to ensure their high-efficiency insulation is able to minimize both heating and cooling requirements.

The stations are also universally accessible, with signage designed by Toronto's Bruce Mau Design.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Les Klein

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According to its architect, what promises to be a significant addition to the city's collection of streetscapes is just weeks away from getting its building permit.

At the moment, Market Street - the strip that runs from Front to The Esplanade on the east side of St Lawrence Market South -- is negligible. It used to be home to an excellent old-school bar and restaurant called The Fish Market, but now, the heritage designated buildings that used to house it and several other businesses are dilapidated and dis-used. The only visible tenant is the LCBO with its small Front Street frontage.

But Paul Obermann, the man behind the revitalization of the Five Thieves at Yonge and Summerhill, figured it deserved better.

"Our approach with how to keep that existing building, which has been patched and altered over the years, was quite a challenging one, made more challenging made by what Paul Obermann wanted to do," says lead architect Michael Taylor of Taylor Smyth. Obermann wants to "open up the whole ground floor of that building, one level below the LCBO, to create a whole new series of storefronts, which he imagines will have restaurants in them."

In this plan, the LCBO will be the major tenant, extending its reach all the way south to the The Esplanade. With them as anchors, Obermann hopes to attract a sort of Mirvish Village type of tenant collection to make the street a destination.

Taylor hopes to get the hoarding up in October, and to complete the whole project, including an entirely new building built in place of an old auto shop on the Esplanade, by late 2011 or early 2012.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Michael Taylor

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The Peace Park, long the centre of Nathan Philips Square and home to its own eternal flame representing the city's commitment to world peace, is being moved to the west side of the square as part of the redesign of the whole square.

"The new Peace Garden is going to be able to accommodate larger crowds," says Sheila Glazer, manager of strategic policy and projects for the energy and strategic initiatives section of the city's facilities management division. "But at the same time, it will be a more intimate setting for smaller groups than it is in the middle."

She says that whenever there were big events in the square, the Peace Gardens tended to not only be hived off, but it was generally where any necessary generators were placed. "Not exactly a tranquil, peaceful setting," she says.

The idea to remove the gardens from its symbolically central position was controversial when the square's new design, the result of a design competition, was debated by council, according to Glazer, but it passed what Glazer described as an "ultimately necessary" part of the $46.8-million redesign project.

The relocation has begun, with an expected 2011 re-opening, and a further re-commemoration in 2012 when the whole square is completed.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Sheila Glazer

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It's been 100 years since Viljo Revell was born, and 45 years this past Monday since his Canadian masterpiece, our City Hall, was opened, and the City Archives and the Toronto Society of Architects is putting on a series of exhibits and events to mark the occasion.

"City Hall had not just a huge impact on Toronto, but internationally," says Margo Welch, executive director of the Toronto Society of Architects, of the design that has ensured this almost half-century-old building is still referred to by most as New City Hall. "The opening of City Hall was really comparable to when the Guggenheim museum opened in Bilbao, it was just such an unusual building, so extraordinary, so specific. It kind of gave permission to local architects, to North American architects, to think more broadly, more interestingly."

The festivities began on Monday, with David Crombie, Frank Gehry and Lisa Rochon speaking in the council chamber. They'll wind up with a symposium, organized by Rochon, on the impact of Finnish architecture. In between, there's an exhibition in the rotunda featuring pictures of other of Revell's buildings, and artifacts from the original and controversial competition which Revell ended up winning.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Margo Welch


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Bridges are meant to connect, but this one managed to cut a community in half for years, until one city worker got an idea.

"In conversation with community members, this bridge would come up. I'd keep hearing about this bridge," says Andrea Raymond, a cultural outreach officer with the city's cultural services. She said the 871-foot-long Kingston Galloway/Orton Park bridge along Lawrence Avenue in Scarborough, with its narrow sidewalks and six lanes of traffic, was seen as boring and uninviting to local residents, who mostly walked over it rather than drove.

"One day when I was driving over the bridge," Raymond says, "I thought it might be a really good place for an art intervention."

Which is exactly what happened. For a total of $115,000, work began in July on a  huge mural by Rob Matejka and more than 20 local youth. It was completed at the end of August, and last weekend, it was the centerpiece of a local arts and community festival, which also included planting 800 native wildflowers in the part of Morningside Park that runs under the bridge.

The work was co-ordinated by the Scarborough Arts Council, Mural Routes and Evergreen.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Andrea Raymond


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The radical renovation of the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts will be ready for October 1, the 50th anniversary of its opening.

But better than the 189 re-milled brass doors, the 1,700 restored cherry panels, the fixed marble, the carpeting that now goes with the marble, the LED-lit coffered ceiling, the new Sony store and the removal of several architectural interventions that got in the way of architect Peter Dickinson's original design: there'll be a bar open from 4pm to midnight every day. And you won't even have to buy a ticket to a show to drink there.

The Balcony Bar sounds like it has definite new Toronto hang-out potential. It's part of a new approach the Sony Centre (aka the O'Keefe Centre, aka the Hummingbird Centre) to cater to the city it exists in now, rather than the one it was built into.

"The first show 50 years ago was Camelot," says Sony Centre CEO Dan Brambilla. "It represented the city at the time: homogenous. Now we have 232 cultures, so our programming is no longer focused on Broadway -- there are other theatres for that. We want to program to all the ethnicities in the city.

They want to feed them, too.

"Every night, the food will be paired with the show," Brambilla says. "If we have a Russian show, there'll be Russian food, and so on."

The idea is to bring the city into the Centre. The food will be cheap, the bar will be open to the public, and the whole building will offer free WiFi.

The renovation and restoration, which was budgeted at $30 million, was paid for by the sale of air rights to the developers of the new Libeskind condo going up next door.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Dan Brambilla

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Cube is finally nearing completion on College Street just east of Ossington.

Originally called N-Blox, when it had a slightly grander design, developer Jim Neilas cancelled immediately after its 207 launch due to overwhelming lack of interest. Within months, he had a new design, similar to N-Blox, by Roland Rom Colthoff and Richard Witt, both now with Raw Design.

Neilas, of Neilas Developments, is a former lawyer with an ambition to increase the density of the city's popular strips. "I'm tired of being hit over the head with the bible of Jane Jacobs, he told John Bentley Mays in 2008, describing his frustration of city council and community groups trying to block development.

Set for completion by the end of this year, with occupancy as early as January, the 21-unit, 6-storey black building already stands out in Little Italy.

"CUBE is best known for its contemporary front fa�ade that faces College," says architect Colthoff. "It's a simple expression of the units behind it...some are two storey and some are one storey. We wanted a clean and open design that had visual interest, this was a simple way of achieving that."

Units range from 983 square feet to 1,083, with prices from $516,075 to $635,900.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Roland Rom Colthoff

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Last week, Paul Raff Studio completed their design of the new lifeguard stands, to be installed on Toronto's swimming beaches over the course of the next year.

After wining the competition last year, the multi-disciplinary Spadina Avenue firm, which includes architects, artists and graphic designers, began work on what ended up being a very complicated project.

"We worked with Parks and Recreation and Urban Planning," says Raff, referring to the to chief city departments involved in the project, "and the police are the ones who deal with staffing the stands � they all have requirements, including some highly detailed signage requirements."

In the end, Raff says, they came up with a design he describes as "not flashy, Frank Gehry-style design," but one that integrated those signage requirements into the design, "just like the 1950s subways stations of Toronto, where the font on the walls is an integral part of the design of the buildings."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Paul Raff

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Two options for a new sports complex to be built in the Port Lands have gone to city council for discussion, one of which, a stacked, four-storey design, goes with the strong recommendation of both the Waterfront design review panel and a public meeting held late last week.

The site at the corner of the on Roadway and Commissioners Street, has been the focus of some controversy, including enthusiastic comment from several mayoral candidates who oppose the project entirely, more or less on the grounds that it would suburbanize Toronto's newest urban neighbourhood.

But John Campbell, Waterfront Toronto's president and CEO, says that if council approved the four-storey version, that won't be a problem.

"If you were in Toronto in the 70s when the Eaton Centre was built, there was no attention paid to the outside of the building, and it sterilized Yonge Street," he says. "My concern is to make sure the arena doesn't do the same thing. This will be an urban street in the future."

Though he says the city is still costing out the entire project, Campbell says that Waterfront's contribution will be $34 million.

The four-storey design is by Bob Goyeche of RDH Architects.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: John Campbell

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The Pug Awards were given out last week and the first housing co-op to be built in the city in two decades took top honours.

Decided by popular vote, the colourful building, designed by Teeple Architects, came in first, with the new Royal Conservatory of Music addition taking the top spot for commercial design. Coming in second for residential projects was Pure Spirit in the Distillery District, and the RBC Centre came in second in the commercial category.

Conceived originally as an award for the ugliest building built in Toronto each year, the Pug Awards have developed into a forum to highlight development issues in the city and discuss the aesthetic issues that often get swept aside by more practical concerns and controversies.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Darlene Hesas

The crane went up three weeks ago at the future site of The Modern, a 17-storey, 343-unit glass and steel condo tower currently slated for 2011 completion.

Designed by Du Toit Allsop Hiller Architects, the project was taken over by Empire Communities in 2008 after its original developer ran into financial difficulties.

Du Toit Allsop Hillier describes the building as being "slightly angled to provide better access to sun and views, while establishing a generous public entry plaza addressing the corner."

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Du Toit Allsop Hillier

The big black tower, said to be architect Peter Clewes' homage to Mies van der Rohe, is almost finished at Jarvis and Charles.

Built by Great Gulf Homes, X is the first phase of a two-phase development, the second of which will rise on the site of the old headquarters for Pizza Pizza. Phase I, which begins occupying this summer and will be fully completed by the end of the year, is 44 storeys with 410 units. Construction started three years ago, after demolition of the vacant former police headquarters building was completed.

"It's the boundary line, if you will, between this rolling, bucolic road where it hits the city grid," says Great Gulf's director of marketing and acquisitions, Geoff Matthews, speaking of Mount Pleasant, at whose base X sits, across the street from the Rogers building, "and it lines up against Charles and Isabella, which are all becoming higher density streets."

With a total square footage of about 400,000, the building sold out, with prices in the mid-$400 psf range.

When completed, there will also be a sculpture by Shayne Dark  out front.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Geoff Matthews

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Though it won't launch till May 29, 12 Degrees, a new condo planned for Beverly and Queen, is already getting some interest on and offline, due to its design, its low-rise stature and, of course, its location.

At 11-storeys, the 90-unit building is part of a new wave of development in the city, urban infill that joins communities rather than building new ones.

It's the first project for the BS�R Group, a collection of young builders headed by Tyler Herschberg and Tarek Sobhi, with various sorts of previous experience.

"We're not looking to create the next Liberty Village," says Hershberg. "We're looking to put proper density and intensification into areas where people want to live."

The site is an odd collection of properties, all bought from the same Swiss family, including some rental housing, some commercial property and a couple of laneways.

The demolition schedule depends on the pace of sales, but since it's a relatively small-scale building, Hershberg expects it to be completed roughly 18 months after they begin construction.

The building takes its name from the fact that above the podium, the first layer of four storeys in this corkscrewing building, designed by Core Architects with interiors by it-firm Munge Leung, will be shifted 12 degrees off the building's north-south axis.

12 Degrees will also feature a full-size roof-top pool.

Units will go from the $300s to just over a million for a three-bedroom.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Tyler Herschberg


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The first of the Distillery District's two new condo towers, built on the site of the only building in the district to be demolished, a 1926 rack house, poured its first concrete this week, on schedule at about 8 months ahead of its neighbour.

Clear Spirit will be a 40-storey tower, designed by Architects Alliance. Due for occupancy in mid-2012, it will add between 700,000 and 800,000 square feet of residential space to the district when paired with the other tower, called Gooderham for the family behind the original distillery.

"There will probably be one more restaurant," says James Goad, one of the motivating spirits behind the Distillery District and a principal of the Cityscape Development Corporation. "For the most part, it will fit the creative model [of the district], but we're also trying to provide some services for our little community here."

The tower will be characterized by deeper than average balconies, between 6 and 7 feet as opposed to the more usual 4. It will have about 10 three-bedroom units, around 1,600 square feet each, and will be seeking LEED certification.

Goad says that these are the last two buildings that will go up in the district proper, though the company owns lands adjoining the district that they have future plans for, including a (probably) low-rise building to the south.

Writer: Bert Archer
Source: James Goad

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