Urban Update
Five projects putting fresh spins on seasoned city spaces
“MISSISSAUGA HAS A UNIQUE LAYOUT AND ACTS ALMOST AS A CITY WITH TWO GRIDS. YOU HAVE DUE NORTH AND SOUTH FORMING ONE GRID, AND A STREETSCAPE THAT RUNS DIAGONAL TO THOSE DIRECTIONS. OUR TWIST IS MEANT TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO BOTH COMPOSITIONS.” – MANSOOR KAZEROUNI, GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF BUILDINGS AT IBI GROUP
1 NEW HEIGHTS
Mississauga’s master-planned M City community is heading in a new direction: up. Architecture firm IBI Group has designed what will become the tallest building in Mississauga for Urban Capital Property Group and Rogers Real Estate Development. Like its sister towers M1 and M2, M3 will cut a slim figure on the city’s skyline, with zigzagging sawtooth balconies reaching up 81 storeys to a dramatic sloped crown. The slanted and stepped top not only complements the balconies’ black-and-white pattern, but creates terrace units for those living in the clouds. At the podium level, a wraparound space for shops and a linear park will animate the site. MCITYCONDOS.COM; IBIGROUP.COM; URBANCAPITAL.CA
2 HEART OVER HEELS
Landscape architect Claude Cormier + Associés’ competition winning scheme for York Street Park–a new green space set to replace a spiral Gardiner Expressway off-ramp – includes an illuminated heart suspended high above the common. Following in the paw prints of Berczy Park (see pg. 87), the Montreal firm has devised a series of whimsical follies reflective of a new theme: love. Think heart-shaped reflecting pool and a mirrored stainless-steel arcade with a crimson centre. CLAUDECORMIER.COM; WATERFRONTORONTO.CA
3 CHEERS
So you’ve been asked to grab a drink in a 1930s incinerator known as the “Destructor on Symes Road.” Here’s why you go: Plant Architect Inc. renovated a portion of the R.C. Harris legacy building into a space for Junction Craft Brewing, which it shares with The Syme, an events company. And while the building’s brick detailing and porthole clerestory windows were carefully restored by Jedd Jones Architect, highlighting a palimpsest of historic additions, Plant ushered in a gleaming brewery, taproom, retail space and HQ for Junction Craft that celebrate the building’s present-day industry. BRANCHPLANT.COM; JUNCTIONCRAFT.COM
4 COMMUNITY MINDED
Famous for being the least-used subway stop on the
TTC’S metro map, Bessarion Station is again making headlines. This time, the story takes place above ground. First, Concord Park Place, a massive 5,000-unit residential project, began adding condos (and Rocket riders) to a former Canadian Tire distribution centre. Second, landscape architect DTAH’S Woodsy Park brought public artwork and an ice rink here. Most impressive of all, though, is the Bessarion Community Centre by multidisciplinary design firm MJMA. When completed in late 2021, it will be the largest such facility in Toronto, accommodating recreation, aquatics, childcare and even a new TPL branch. MJMA.CA; CONCORDPACIFIC.COM
5 START SOMETHING
MARS Discovery District and its partner, the University of Toronto, are gearing up for a major expansion along the waterfront, not far from Sidewalk Labs’ proposed Quayside neighbourhood. The science and technology incubator will lease a new 2,229-squaremetre hub from Menkes Developments and Waterfront Toronto starting in 2021, when the new Waterfront Innovation Centre opens its doors. Designed by Toronto’s Sweeny&co architects, the angular building will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, highspeed broadband networking (fuelled in part by solar power generated on site) and large meeting spaces. SWEENYANDCO.COM; MARSDD.COM; MENKES.COM
“THE PROJECT PUTS INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES, FROM BREWING TO PACKAGING, SQUARELY IN THE FOREGROUND… RAW INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS WITH ART DECO ELEMENTS LIKE SKYSCRAPING BOTTLE CHANDELIERS AND QUINTESSENTIAL TALL WINDOWS DOMINATE THE INTERIOR.” – PLANT ARCHITECT INC.