Taking advantage of its reputation as a hub for art and design education, Toronto’s OCAD U has established a start-up incubator and executive training hub called OCAD U CO, or CO for short, where public and private-sector clients can explore new pathways to thinking about innovation and problem-solving.
On the fourth floor of the new Daniels Waterfront City of the Arts building on Toronto’s waterfront, the bright and expansive 13,000-square-foot facility conveys both creativity with professionalism, and has plenty of versatility to accommodate CO’s wide range of teaching and workshop styles and methodologies.
The Bentway is transforming a 1.75km space under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway into a vibrant public place where visitors can experience a diverse mix of activities and programs. The initial phase – from Strachan Avenue to Bathurst Street – reinvigorates the area beneath the expressway into a vital artery for pedestrians and cyclists, stitching together seven neighbourhoods, expanding access to key areas such as the Fort York National Historic Site, and creating a new gathering place for Toronto’s growing population. The multifunctional space is an expression of Toronto’s unique creative energy and serves as an example of how the re-use of infrastructure can support new forms of public life.
Photography: Nic Lehoux, Andrew Williamson, Nicole Pacampara, Denise Militzer, Nicola Betts
Client and Management Team: The Bentway Conservancy in partnership with the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto, enabled by Judy and Wilmot Matthews Foundation with Ken Greenberg
In the leafy residential enclave of Summerhill in midtown Toronto, AKB have designed an unabashedly contemporary and exceedingly functional home for a professional couple with a young child. The new 3,900-square-foot home utilizes the foundation and side walls of a previous house on site, and occupies the footprint of the original building with only a modest expansion at the rear. The three-storey datum of the neighbouring homes is maintained.
Despite fairly tight site constraints on this urban cul-de-sac, the architects packed a typical residential program into four levels with great efficiency and economy. A balance of much-needed privacy and openness is achieved through a strategy that limits exposure to the street-facing elevation while drawing in natural light and neighbourhood perspectives at the back of the house. Views from all levels of the house to the seemingly endless verdant expanse of the adjacent parkette visually extend the clients’ modest garden space.
Contrast House explores the role of contrast in the modern renewal of a 120-year old home. Employing the use of contrast in a historic neighbourhood and as a means to amplify natural light, the design juxtaposes opposing elements to explore the relationship between light and dark, old and new. The owners, relocating to Canada from southern climes, hoped to brighten the dark, narrow house. Although the existing house possessed a south-facing façade, it was only 11 feet wide and due to a traditional Victorian layout, had no direct sight lines to allow outward views and access to light. As a result, the primary design challenge was to increase natural light in the space, accomplished through both physical and perceptual means. Physically, the long, narrow house was reorganized in plan and in section, introducing new sight lines to the expanded openings at the rear of the house and updating the layout for a growing family. Perceptually, contrast is used as a means to ‘brighten’ internal spaces without direct access to natural light. Contrasting elements are placed in proximity to visually intensify the natural light spilling down from the large openings above.
Informa Canada produces and manages over 45 annual conferences, trade and consumer shows in the construction, design, craft, art, real estate, and furniture sectors, including the Interior Design Show, IIDEXCanada, the Artist Project and Fan Expo. Informa is known for their global and holistic approach, offering unparalleled opportunities for industry insight from around the world, with a mandate of innovation and design excellence in their exhibitions. The fit-up for Informa’s Toronto expansion into one of midtown’s Class A office buildings comfortably accommodates a growing team of 110 employees in a 16,000 s.f. floorplate.
The Candy Loft exists on the second story of a hard loft conversion on a busy street in Toronto’s downtown west end. StudioAC was asked by the client to design this loft space in a way that would create a feeling of privacy within the city.
The plan uses an entry corridor and the location of the service areas to buffer the living space from the rest of the building – resulting in a very serene ambiance lined with large windows overlooking the canopy of the trees.
In the history of psychology, there was once a psychosurgical treatment called lobotomy, in which a hole was made in the skull near the frontal lobe, believed to cure mental disorders. For the atelier rzlbd, a series of its interior renovations for condominium units in Toronto have just been like this surgery, in which it has attempted to create an architecturally integrated space without touching the exterior and permanent elements. In these projects, what was once very generic, overly defined programmatically, and cluttered spatially was given a clear spatial order, latent in the existing floor plan, and simplicity that conforms to the resident’s specific lifestyle. These have been termed “architectural interventions,” in which the outcomes stand in-between interior design and architecture.
The Odeyto Indigenous Centre at Seneca College’s Newnham Campus is a home away from home for the FirstPeoples@Seneca.
Conceptually, the addition and renovation are inspired by the image of a canoe pulling up to a dock, stopping at Seneca College to gather knowledge before continuing on life’s journey. The canoe-like form docks alongside the contrasting rigid lines of the existing precast concrete building. As the only building on campus with an organic curvilinear design, Odeyto breaks away from the colonial grid that dominates on the campus.
Fashion House seeks to recapture the eclectic and creative energy of the historic Fashion District. The project is a unique interface of developer, architect, community and interior and fashion designers. Fashion House is a juxtaposition of business drivers with raw creativity within a community setting. The client wished to maximize the density on the site, and provide a significant outdoor amenity space that had sun all day and downtown views.
Resting on a rolling field, this modern rural country home outside Toronto was inspired by the stone walls that were used to separate farmer’s fields.
Stouffville Residence is grounded in the earth while being cantilevered over a vast landscape. The stone entry wall, low and private, hints program through a series of translucent glass boxes punching through the otherwise monolithic wall. This wall acts as a key organizational element anchoring a series of glass volumes that open up to the south of the building overlooking the property and offering commanding views of the landscape. The orientation of the project intends to minimize the building’s impact on the area while maximizing site lines and access to natural daylight. The roof seemingly floats above the stone entry wall suggesting a more gestural and dynamic roof on the dwelling’s other face.
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