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FEBRUARY 2015 | 71 Chaz Yorkville RENDERINGS COURTESY PAGE + STEELE/IBI GROUP ARCHITECTS Chaz Yorkville by ANGELA ALTASS E denshaw Homes Limited's new con- dominium development, Chaz Yor- kville in Toronto, Ontario, has been designed to work both on the street and in the sky, says Sol Wassermuhl, presi- dent, Page + Steele/IBI Group Architects. "At grade, Chaz Yorkville is an elegant five-storey limestone-clad pavilion with a series of punched recessed windows, fitting contextually into the Charles streetscape and significantly reinforc- ing the street wall and scale of Charles Street," says Wassermuhl. "Above the base is a sleek glass tower rising 47 floors with a sculpted cap." This is the first multi-family ground- up development for Edenshaw Homes. "Our clients were interested in creating a project that is architecturally distinct and speaks to quality of design and materials," says Elaine Cecconi, found- ing partner, Cecconi Simone Inc., whose work on the project involved the sales centre and model suite as well as the amenity and common areas, suite lay- outs and standards. "The clients wanted a building that offers superior amenities and wonderful spaces for residents to use. This atten- tion to detail is carried into the suite interiors, which are highly livable and functional. There are many signature designs that have been created specifi- cally for Chaz suites, including custom kitchens and baths," adds Cecconi. The building design incorporates eight corner units on each floor with multi-directional views of the cit y skyline. "Five-storey-high cutouts at some of the corners expose illuminated round metal clad columns at random intervals throughout the building exte- rior," says Wassermuhl. "Specialty light- ing also illuminates the two-storey Chaz Club and outdoor terrace, which dra- matically project out on the south side of the 31st and 32nd floors with views across the city to the lake, providing an iconic focal point to the city." The Chaz Club features an outdoor terrace, demonstration kitchen, 20-guest dining room, lounge and bar area with ceiling-to-floor windows. "The unique Chaz Club box cantile- vers five-and-a-half metres from the main building footprint and creates a unique amenity space with an amazing view," says Kevin MacLean, project engi- neer, Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. "We worked with PCL and its forming sub- trade to design shoring to support the cantilevered wall and flooring system of the box, without impacting the cladding installation below." Other amenities include a fitness st udio w it h steam rooms, rela x- ation studio with massage chairs and hydrotherapy massage beds, yoga/ pilates studio and a business center. A computer gamers arena is outfitted with specialized gaming chairs and two theatres are custom designed for movie lovers and sporting fans. This condo also has a pet spa equipped with a stainless steel tub and blowdryer. The $178-million, 400,000-square- foot project was originally schemed to be 39 levels. "The height was increased without impacting suite layout," says MacLean. "Interesting features of the project are the fly-by tower columns where interior suite columns pass out- side the building envelope at select levels by cutting the slab back to recess around the columns. We worked with the archi- tect to develop a clean detail that con- cealed the support behind the columns." The majority of the tower's lateral and gravity elements are transferred at the ground floor through a series of transfer slabs, ranging in depth from 900-milli- metre thick to 3,000-millimetre thick to allow for below-grade drive aisles and efficient parking layout on a very tight site. "We worked closely with the rebar detailer and fabricator to detail the transfer slab reinforcement to allow for modular prefabrication, which drasti- cally increased the speed of installation of an extremely large rebar tonnage," says MacLean. The building structure caused the most co-ordination issues of the project, says Al Medeiros, partner, MCW Consul- tants Ltd. "There are some very large transfer slabs and we had to find ways around them," says Medeiros. "I would say that the co-ordination between the mechanical/electrical services and the building structure was the biggest chal- lenge that we had to deal with." The tower sits on a large raft foun- dation under the core and columns in proximity to the core. "This required close co-ordination with PCL and its subtrades to implement a complex pour sequence to allow the two-metre-thick raft to crank around and under the ele- vator pits to minimize site excavation," says MacLean. Although the project may have expe- rienced some challenges, this is not unique, says Cecconi. "There is never a project without challenges," she says. "What defines a project are the solu- tions to the challenges. This is what drives our designs and results in inno- vations. It is what keeps us interested and engaged in what we do as interior design professionals." The lobby area features fireplaces and living room style seating. The pal- ette in the lobby includes warm whites, light woods and pale greys, and latticed screens offer privacy without cutting off the space. A lobby lounge features book- shelves and banquette seating while the lobby living room has a wet bar and dining room. An adjacent landscaped courtyard features a barbecue deck. A billiards room can be configured to form one entertaining space with the barbecue area. Chaz Yorkville will be a key marquee project in the City of Toronto, especially with the Chaz Club located at the higher levels, says Medeiros. "The views will be great," he says. "There are some inter- esting lighting designs around the cor- ners of the building and the Chaz Club so it will definitely be seen in the night sky of Toronto." A LOCATION 45 Charles Street East, Toronto, Ontario DEVELOPER Edenshaw Homes Limited ARCHITECT Page + Steele/IBI Group Architects GENERAL CONTRACTOR PCL Constructors Canada STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT MCW Consultants Ltd. INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTANT Cecconi Simone Inc. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Landart TOTAL AREA 400,000 square feet TOTAL COST $178 million

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