Award

54 | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 3 Toronto House R EN D ER I N GS BY H AY E S DAV I DS O N /CO U RT E S Y W E S T BA N K TORONTO HOUSE by ROBIN BRUNET T oronto House (at the corner of Duncan Street and Adelaide Street West) not only adds to that city's inventory of both long- term and short-term stay apartments and commercial space, it achieves in spectacular fashion the difficult task of wedding a new structure with an existing historic building. Visually, Toronto House is stun- ning: new podium levels rise up beside the six-storey heritage-desig- nated Southam Press Building, built in 1908. The preserved historic struc- ture is capped by a 58-storey rental residential tower offering 426 rental homes and 38 flexible stay homes. "The project brings all the com- ponents of creative life and work – workspace and rental apartments, a private members club, fitness and wellness, retail and dining – together in a 'collision zone' that we think will be unique in Canada and something that we can build upon," states Tyson Parker, VP experiential development at Westbank, which developed the property in a joint venture with Allied Properties REIT. Westbank's intention with Toronto House was to build on the success of the Shangri-La Toronto only a few hun- dred feet away, to further curate this neighbourhood's built environment. Equally important, with over a quar- ter of the development assigned to office space (fully leased as Thomson Reuters' Global Innovation Hub) and a significant portion of the residences sized for families, Toronto House meets the City of Toronto's goals to add mixed-use and sustainable density in close proximity to a subway station. David Pontarini, founding part- ner at Hariri Pontarini Architects, says, "Realizing the significance of the Southam Press building, we gave careful consideration to retaining its visual integrity. By rebuilding the east and south facades of the heritage building and recessing the four-sto- rey addition above the building to a two-metre setback from the façade, the experience of the heritage build- ing form was preserved along the streetscape. In contrast, the slender, elegant form of the tower dominates the skyline with its modernity." The architects also ensured that the street level would be enlivened by cre- ating a restaurant sidewalk patio that would be accessed through new win- dows and doors, respectfully cut into the existing architecture. Southam's red brick cladding with stone, wood, and terracotta was con- trasted by vertical fins of varying widths of the new structure running from the base to the top of the tower, intended to provide shade and min- imize glare while accentuating the elegant proportions of the building (the fins also enclose two storeys of mechanical structure and cause one's perception of the building to vary according to different viewing angles). Pontarini goes on to note that, "The site posed various difficulties due to its narrow north-south orientation, spanning just over 30 metres in total, including a three-metre easement on the southern side. These constraints led to several design and construction challenges. A primary concern was the placement of the tower, as the City's heritage planning division requested a setback from the heritage build- ing facade on Adelaide, while zoning by-laws required a setback from the south property line. Balancing these conflicting requirements without compromising the tower's floor- plan necessitated close collaboration between Westbank and the consultant team, working with the City to develop a workable solution." Ground broke on the project in early 2019 with the Southam building's north and west walls restored in-situ and reincorporated into the new podium; Icon West's work was overseen by heri- tage specialists ER A Architects. Pontarini says, "The site's narrow- ness created access challenges during the construction of below-grade levels, resulting in the removal and subse- quent reconstruction of parts of the heritage building after the completion of below-grade construction." Demetry Stergiou, designer at Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, points out that retaining the heritage com- ponents was a significant structural challenge. "The bricks of the façade were four to five bricks deep and expanded and contracted significantly during the course of a year, so in wed- ding the new structure to the facade we connected to it only laterally so the new structure and the façade could sway together. Otherwise, they were separate: for example, the new poured concrete floor extends two inches away from the façade." Stergiou adds, "As for the new structure, the different usages of interior space meant we designed dif- ferent structural columns and beams for each space." The project was completed with a phased occupancy plan that allowed the office tenant to inhabit the lower 10 levels of the project while construc- tion continued on the residential levels above. Westbank and the consul- tant team had to closely co-ordinate with city examiners, inspectors, base building contractors, and fit-out con- tractors to sequence and prioritize construction elements. By October of 2021 Icon West had progressed construction to the point where the 11th floor – which is the first level of the tower – was beginning to rise above the podium. Toronto House topped off in October of 2023, and when the project is complete early next year, the result will be a building tailor-made for the growing creative class of Toronto, one of North America's fastest growing technology hubs. A LOCATION 19 Duncan Street (Office) and 255 Adelaide Street W (Residential), Toronto, Ontario OWNER /DEVELOPER Westbank Corp. / Allied Properties REIT ARCHITECT Hariri Pontarini Architects GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Icon West Construction STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT Jablonsky, Ast and Partners MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Lisi Mechanical / Reinbold Engineering Group ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd. L ANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Janet Rosenberg & Studio TOTAL SIZE 500,000 square feet TOTAL COST Undisclosed

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