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FEBRUA RY 2016 | 75 The Madison RENDERINGS COURTESY KIRKOR ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS The Madison by LAURIE JONES J ust outside of downtown Toronto, on the corner of Yonge and Eglinton, a newborn community is rising amidst an established neighbourhood. At the heart of the area is The Madison, a 750,000-square-foot twin tower mixed-use condominium complex with retailers that include a 40,000-square- foot Loblaws and an LCBO urban concept store, all built into the complex's seven-storey pedestal base. "This is the first building in this style for us and the way we sculpted the project is a combination of the architect's design and our vision," says Josh Zagdanski, VP with The Madison Group. "The goal for all of our developments is to create a lifestyle and community within the building." The Madison is comprised of a 33-storey tower matched by a taller, 36-storey building. "The wow factor begins at the lobby of the residential entrance with a fantastic interior design by Studio Munge," Zagdanski explains. "The fourth floor amenity area for residents has a salt water indoor lap pool, a large party room with a kitchen, a media/TV room and a yoga room that is connected to the gym and opens onto an outdoor terrace. The barbecue area has four unique cabana areas for private dining. Purchasers of the units appreciate the combination of lifestyle options along with grocery and other retail stores literally at their doorstep." David Butterworth, design architect and partner with Kirkor Architects & Planners, says the original concept was for a single tower. "The developer had the great fortune to pick up an entire block that used to house a movie theatre," he says. "That was tremendous for us because we could start looking at a different scale and style of building. This was the point where we decided to add a grocery store to the second floor of the complex, leaving the main floor for ancillary retail. From there we created a true mixed-use live/work building. The site worked because we had an opportunity to create an east- west laneway in the back that allowed trucks to come in one way, drop off, then exit the site without big turning circles that can be problematic." With the two towers there is a minimalist suggestion because one is convex and the other is concave. "The Madison has a Ying and Yang front to it with a subtle change in direction on the facade that reaches out to Eglinton," Butterworth says. "It is built between a lot of square buildings so we were trying to achieve something that has an organic, or softer touch with the towers as they come down to the podium and into the public realm." For Loblaws, the second floor signage on the vast display of glass was important. "We really worked on the double-height entrance design because it is important to lead shoppers into the building," says Butterworth. "In the early stages, we had many discussions with the city planners and urban designers. We realized the people who live in The Madison building can just go downstairs to shop instead of buying groceries to last for days. That creates more frequent trips to the store where residents could bump into neighbours, strike up a conversation with those they see regularly and become part of the community, rather than being an anonymous LOCATION 101 Eglinton Ave E., Toronto, Ontario OWNER/DEVELOPER The Madison Group PROJECT MANAGER Madison Eglinton Limited ARCHITECT Kirkor Architects & Planners CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Tucker HiRise Construction Inc. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Stephenson Engineering Ltd. MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT M.V. Shore Associates Ltd. INTERIOR DESIGN Studio Munge LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Terraplan Landscape Architects ACOUSTIC & SOUND AND VIBRATION CONTROL CONSULTANT HGC Engineering GEOTECHNICAL & CODE CONSULTANT exp Services Inc. TOTAL SIZE 750,000 square feet TOTAL COST $150 million 11:43 AM

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