White hot designs for colour
Creativity of adult colouring trend inspires the design and functions of a midtown highrise
A chance discussion about a new artistic outlet has gained some serious traction in the design of a downtown building.
“I knew my dad would appreciate the new trend in adult colouring, because it’s a way to be creative and relieve stress,” said Diana DeSantis, 21, a medical student. “So I picked up a book to show him what was being produced.”
Turns out her dad, Andy DeSantis, is creative director of Montana Steele Strategic Marketing and the company working with the builders of the new condo development, Whitehaus.
After their conversation, DeSantis saw an ad for a colouring event and a story listing adult colouring as a new trend. “From there, it just organically grew into the concept for Whitehaus,” said Andy. “The timing was right. Sometimes you stretch for an idea and sometimes it comes knocking on your door.
“When we’re working on art, our brain’s right side takes over, and we lose track of numerical, left-sided concepts like time . . . It’s blissful, and not the kind of experience most of us can easily replicate nowadays, as ‘grown-ups,’ ” said Andy, adding: “The colouring craze isn’t just a way back to childhood, but a path back into a state of creation where process trumps results.”
The slogan for the building, at Yonge St. and Helendale Ave. — steps from Toronto’s second-busiest intersection at Yonge-Eglinton — was a natural: “Life happens between the lines,” referring to builder Lifetime Developments’ vision for a canvas allowing owners and residents to create their own environment.
The building takes its name, Whitehaus, for the planned white exterior.
“With the opportunity to use clean, crisp, white material, you will get a fresh, simple clarity,” said Donald Schmitt, a principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects,
Whitehaus’ interior common spaces will be black and white, with splashes of colour
the architects for Whitehaus. “It allows the life within the retail area and the colour of life to show.”
Whitehaus plays up the colouring trend with six illustrators commissioned to create their impressions of the neighbourhood for reference materials and sales kit packages.
A colouring contest will include area residents and potential owners in the cre- ative spirit of the new building. Prizes will be gift certificates to local stores and eateries in the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood. Visit whitehaus.ca for more information about #ColourMeWhitehaus.
The condo’s interior common spaces will be black and white, with splashes of colour. Condo suites will be white, with a choice of white or black cabinetry.
“When you think of a white canvas, it is reflective of everything one is and one does,” said Anna Simone, a principal at Cecconi Simone Interior Design, the firm responsible for the building’s interiors. “Ownership of your own place is all about creative process and it is not complete without the person engaging it.”
Simone added that her creative thinking is often kindled by others’ thoughts and ideas, and so it was important to create that bridge at Whitehaus.
Common areas will also provide residents the places and opportunities to socialize while exploring their creative sides. An artists’ studio will include work tables and easels where residents can paint, draw, sketch, sculpt and pursue creative activities.
The studio will be connected to a performance kitchen, where cooking classes and demonstrations can be held. The entire combined area is also intended for private parties and events.
In addition to a fitness room, the Whitehaus will also house a Ping Pong lounge — another way to bring people together and inspire connections, said Brian Brown, vice-president of the condo’s development firm, Lifetime Developments.
“I definitely feel the building will attract a very social group — the young or young at heart,” he said.
“The lobby won’t be just a lobby; it will be a social area with communal tables like you see at Starbucks and breakout sofa areas. We’ll bring life down to the lobby and make it something active, warm and welcoming.”
A third-floor terrace will include a barbecue and lounge area, as well as a pet-friendly area. At 29 storeys, the 366 suites will range from 377 square feet for junior suites (studios) to1,140 square feet for two bedrooms plus a den.
Four townhomes, fronting onto Helendale Ave., are also planned. Prices will go from the mid-$200,000s to about $700,000 for condos; Townhomes will be priced at just under $850,000. Occupancy is expected in 2019. As well, there will be four floors of retail space, including a third-floor restaurant.
“The broad range of suite sizes was done intentionally to attract a diverse group, from young folks who see the neighbourhood as an extension of their unit and just want to sleep in the building to a more-middle-aged group who will be attracted by the location, the movies and the restaurants,” Brown added.