A touch of superstardom at Yonge & Eglinton
Pharrell involved in twin tower condo project
The name — “untitled” — might be a study in understatement, but the recently announced condo project in the Yonge and Eglinton core has the potential to be both a cultural and residential hit. It is, after all, a unique collaboration between an architect, an interior design firm, and one of the music world’s biggest celebrities.
Details of the project were released at a kick-off marketing launch held earlier this month at Dundas Square, when Reserve Properties and Westdale Properties announced that Pharrell Williams — the American singer, songwriter, music producer, fashion designer and entrepreneur perhaps best known for his 2013 mega-hit Happy — would be involved in the twin- tower project to be located on Broadway Avenue.
Just how involved he is might set untitled apart.
Other celebrities have put their names (and sometimes their money) behind condominium projects, and in the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood in particular, fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld (now deceased) designed the lobby areas for Art Shoppe Lofts + Condos. Williams himself is no novice when it comes to design collaborations, having been part of initiatives with Chanel, Adidas and other brands.
But untitled is his first foray into multi- residential development, and his involvement appears to be both intimate and active. And his music, the developers say, directly influenced the project’s design.
“Bringing in a cultural icon with vision from outside the realm of real estate will allow us to break the mould in terms of what has traditionally been done,” said Sheldon Fenton, president and CEO of Reserve. “There is not an aspect of untitled that Pharrell hasn’t touched. He has been involved in the architecture, interiors, the amenity program and even selecting the cloths and furnishings that go into all the rooms.”
Williams, who spoke at the event via video link, clearly has found a project — and a team — that allows him to push the creative envelope. “Everyone at the table,” he said, “had a collective willingness to be open, to be pushed, to be prodded and poked, to get to that uncomfortable place of question mark, and to find out what was on the other side.”
The celeb also has plenty of creativity and talent around him, notably Kelly Cray, principal of Toronto- based design firm U31, and architect Mansoor Kazerouni, global director of buildings at IBI Group.
Kazerouni’s “ability to see points and lock in on whatever it is that he finds interesting is one thing, but there’s another side where he takes the viewer on his journey,” Williams said. “It was a pleasure working with him to watching him think from zero to 100.”
Shane Fenton, chief operating officer with Reserve, said the thinking and philosophy that ended up governing the design process for untitled was “less about adding items and instead focusing on reducing and stripping away to get us to the essential core elements of the design.”
“Pharrell pushed us towards designing spaces that felt universal,” he added. “Instead of dictating a lifestyle onto our purchasers and residents, we aimed to create harmonious spaces that could serve as the backdrop to their lives. That lens was applied throughout the entire building until we ended up with something that felt both timeless and singular.”
The seeds of the exterior design, he recalls, were sown early in the process, when Kazerouni “raised the concept of a classical musical performance common in India known as the Jugalbandi, where two solo musicians perform intricate duets. For Mansoor, this idea entwined the artistry of music and architecture. Pharrell was instantly intrigued.”
The team employed parametric design principles — an approach that incorporates computer algorithms to transform design intents into ( often complex) spaces — to develop the project’s exterior: a sculpted, fluid form that Shane Fenton says follows “the wavelengths and patterns of hit song Gust of Wind, articulating the building as a visual abstraction of music. As you go around the building, no two faces are the same. Each face will be its own moment of the song.”
Inside, plans call for 750 one-, two- and three- bedroom units, split between two towers with a joint podium. Amenity space will total 30,000 square feet. The goal is to create spaces that “should act as a harmonious backdrop to let you live your life,” Williams said.
“What got you into the building is the lobby; what’s going to keep you is how honest the units are and consistency of what got you in there. I always feel like a song and a living space are the very same. It’s how a song sounds in the very beginning that attracts you, but it’s what the lyrics really mean that keeps you.”