Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/687429
60 | J UNE 2016 One York Street to the Harbour Plaza residences, and access was created from the office tower to the podium rooftop garden oasis, food court and health club. The architectsAlliance team designed the podium roof shared amenities "to flow within the base columns of the residential towers almost like a ribbon," according to associate Adam Feldmann. As for the towers themselves, the team developed the idea of a wicker basket effect early on that would mimic the waves of nearby Lake Ontario. "This we ultimately accomplished with five different floor plates and the balcony edges," says Feldmann. The balcony railings of Harbour Plaza, incidentally, are perforated aluminum, a solution to the growing concern in Toronto of shattering glass. "As a bonus, the aluminum shines a lot whiter than glass, which invariably tints green," says Feldmann. For the top of the towers, architectsAlliance decided on glowing beacons that would shine down on the curtainwall. Construction challenges were, understandably for a project of this magnitude, numerous, beginning with the underground parkade, which was excavated below lake level. "Keeping the water out as well as protecting the wood pile foundations of an adjacent historic building was a key priority," says Belanger. Another challenge was the project's proximity to the Gardiner Expressway. "We didn't have any space to waste," says Belanger. "We used the footprint very wisely, with a lot of just-in-time material deliveries allowing the construction of the commercial and residential towers to proceed simultaneously." The office lobby of One York Street was challenging for Xi Xin (Fisher) Li, senior associate for Stephenson Engineering Ltd. "We used a series of pre-tensioned cables, no mullions, for the curtainwall in order to achieve Sweeny's architectural vision," he says. Structural steel trusses were required to resist the upward force of the concrete base structure, and with regard to the tapered panels sloping down towards the columns that would give the retail portion of the development such a unique visual appeal, Li calls the formwork required, "extremely tricky, plus it took a while to determine the optimum thickness. But everything ultimately worked out." Mulvey & Banani International Inc. designed all the electrical, security, telecom and lighting systems, as well as the office tower's rooftop photovoltaic system. When it came to the lighting of the main lobby entry, ease of maintenance was the prime consideration. "We went with indirect lighting focusing on surface walls and floor lighting aimed upwards, rather than putting lights in the 50-foot-high ceilings," says executive VP Joe Berardi. And because the offices of One York Street all have exposed ceilings, "we used energy efficient equipment and careful layout in order to satisfy LEED requirements," according to Berardi. As far as Phil Bastow, VP of The Mitchell Partnership Inc., is concerned, the biggest challenge "was going from LEED Gold to Platinum fairly late in the design process. This required us to put in much larger heat recovery systems, with stacked vent units almost double the height of the original specifications. We also went with a higher efficiency condensing boiler plant for the penthouse." Precise co-ordination was required for the three cranes building the towers, and EllisDon crews, who were responsible for construction up to and including level four of the podium together with the office tower, had to contend with severe weather conditions. "Concrete pouring was done during a horrendously cold winter," recalls Sweeny. "We also had to contend with tremendous rain in the middle of excavation." Although One York & Harbour Plaza Residences are still being finalized and elements such as landscaping (presided over by NAK Design Group) are still underway, Belanger is impressed by the project's success to date. "We're thrilled with the design and the way the project unfolded," he says. "We've earned many accolades already, and better still, the office tower is almost fully leased. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome." A PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY MENKES DEVELOPMENTS LTD. Door, Frame & HarDware Consulting supply & installation seCurity integration speCializing in CommerCial Base BuilDings, p3 projeCts & Corporate interiors 52 prince andrew place toronto on m3C 2H4 p: 416-391-5555 F: 416-391-5065 trilliumarchitectural.com Proud to work with Sweeny &Co ArChiteCtS, And elliSdon CorPorAtion At One YOrk Street Rendering Courtesy Sweeny &Co Architects Inc. Arch.indd 1 16-05-27 10:12 AM NAK Design Green Reason.indd Oakridge