Futurism at home
Condo designers across the city are pushing the limits
At Tridel’s recently completed Ten York, residents coming home with their arms full of groceries can turn on the lights, raise the blinds and preheat the oven with just a few spoken commands. That’s because almost every home function in the builder’s new Innovation Suite is voice-activated. The fridge will tell them when they’re running low on groceries, and they’ll never have to fuddle with charging cords — or physically touch a toilet seat to raise or lower it — again.
The suite was designed to be a cross between a showroom and a creative lab, where the development company could showcase the many ways of integrating technology into condo design.
And while it may be the most extreme example of the futuristic turn condo design is taking, new builds across the GTA are offering residents high- tech features that seem to take more inspiration from the Jetsons than Architectural Digest.
That said, the slickest examples of home tech are barely noticeable. According to Adrian Wang, Tridel’s director of innovation and sustainability, technology in the Innovation Suite is meant to be seamless. “We didn’t want it to be thrown in your face,” he says. Overseen by Stella Salvador, Tridel’s principal designer, the suite’s high- tech elements are mostly hidden out of sight.
All that’s obvious are the typical markers of a luxury unit: marble surfaces, brushed bronze accents, minimalist millwork.
“We wanted to make sure nothing was tacky or gaudy,” says Adrian. But a series of invisible mics and speakers have been embedded in the ceiling so residents can command appliances from any part of the home. It was designed for maximum convenience, and can facilitate maximum laziness. Residents can turn on the bath or shower from bed, and wait until it reaches the perfect pre- set temperature before hopping in. There’s also no need to pop out for dry cleaning: Tridel partnered with LG to install one of its styling units, which uses hot steam to clean and press clothes hanging in the closet.
Automation carries into the master suite, in a more dramatic fashion. There, a glass panel runs from the entrance to the wall behind the master bed and into the bathroom, covering the shower and bath area. What makes the glass special is that it goes from transparent to opaque with a voice command, transforming the room from an open- concept suite to one that’s shrouded in privacy.
In the ensuite, the Kohler toilet — the same model Drake has in his Toronto home — features a motion- sensored seat and cover. When it’s down, the seat rises when it senses incoming movement and will close once the toilet is flushed. The toilet also emits soft elevator music when you sit on its heated surface; preferred temperatures can be pre- set for more than one user.
Some of these innovations have already been made available to Ten York residents, who moved in in 2019. The feasibility of others — such as the opaque-to-transparent privacy glass — is still being considered, given the challenges that come with installing far- from- standard features. Still, many smart community elements — like keyless fobs, cellphones connected to lobby cameras, and control systems that can manage temperature and lighting from afar — are now standard in all Tridel buildings.
These integrations are largely the brainchild of Ted Maulucci, a former Tridel CIO who, inspired by intelligent buildings in Korea, founded the Toronto company SmartOne Solutions. The two-yearold firm — which builds networks for residential communities that provide shared services like security monitoring and concierge connecting
— has seen explosive growth among condo clients in the past year and a half. He started by helping design Tridel’s Ten York and is now working with 23 developers, including Brookfield, Mattamy Homes and Minto. He says there’s been a groundswell of movement toward these kinds of smart systems.
Another local developer, Distrikt, is incorporating technology from Smartone into all of its condos, including Distrikt Trailside 2.0 and Distrikt Trafalgar in Oakville — scheduled for completion in 2020 and 2021. Both properties will offer Distrikt Ai, a personal artificial intelligence assistant that welcomes you home, lets you accept parcels remotely and allows you to control lighting and temperatures from afar. It will also recognize your licence plate and let your car in at the gate, as well as the plates of approved friends and family members who come to visit. Residents can also monitor lobby and doorbell cameras, engage digital locks, schedule condo amenities, receive messages from the building managers and be connected to staff through Distrikt Ai.
Over at Concord Pacific’s Central Toronto condo, at Adelaide and Widmer, proximity to offices like Shopify and Amazon pushed the project’s developers to put technology at the forefront of the plans. All common spaces — even the underground parking levels — were constructed to support Wi-fi, so residents would never have to drop a call or postpone a work email. All parking spots will also come with electric charging stations, and conference rooms will be kitted out with video conferencing abilities.
From the outside, the development has a distinctly futuristic esthetic; its facade is almost transparent. “The main level is basically a glazed box stretching the entire length of the site,” says Gabriel Leung, Concord’s VP of development. On the amenities floor, meanwhile, the glazed bottom of the hot tub hangs down next to the entrance, so that passersby strolling down Widmer will see what looks like a glowing UFO- like nest above, shimmering from the churning water inside. Even the activities are high-tech: instead of ping pong or billiards, Concord opted for a golf simulator machine, where residents can whack virtual balls into the distance.
It may all seem like more than the average condo buyer goes looking for. But in an 800-person survey Tridel conducted about amenities, six of the top 10 items most wanted were smart- home- related — including digital door locks, parcel storage and voice-commanded features.
“It has to do with convenience but also the pervasive theme of connectivity,” says Wang. “We want to feel engaged not only to other people, but also our homes.” It calls to mind the 2008 Georgia Tech study that found people could become so emotionally connected to their Roomba that they’d shell out thousands for repairs rather than replace it. Smart condos might foster a similar relationship between condo and owner — and provide some AI comfort to those living alone.
a series of invisible mics and speakers have been embedded in the ceiling so residents can command appliances from any part of the home. It was designed for maximum convenience, and can facilitate maximum laziness.