In our last post on the Athletes Village, or Canary District as it is now known, we talked about how the DundeeKilmer Integrated Design Team consisting of Ontario practices architectsAlliance (aA), KPMB Architects, MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects and Quebec practice Daoust Lestage inc. (DLi) was able to provide a coherent urban experience through the use of shared core design principles. On this post of “The Architects behind The Games” we take a look at the individual contribution of each practice within the Canary District.

Above: George Brown College Student Residence, designed by aA; Below: To the left is Cooper Koo Cherry Street YMCA designed by MJMA with the George Brown College Student Resident behind. Photo Credit: Tom Arban

 

Blocks 1/14: The George Brown College Student Residence, designed by aA, and the Cooper Koo Cherry Street YMCA, designed by MJMA, create as a western gateway into the Canary District. Two seven-storey bar buildings, providing 257 units of student housing for the GBC Waterfront Campus, are set atop the two-storey YMCA and project out over Front Street East extension, supported by a double row of two-storey high columns. A fully glazed bridge links the two bar buildings, providing wonderful views across the Village and a convenient and secure way for students to move between the two buildings. A dramatic feature staircase rises diagonally across the eastern face of the podium, from an entrance on Street ‘D’ to a second floor conference centre. User-specific entrances ensure that casual visitors cannot access residential floors. Through human-scaled, pedestrian friendly civic gestures, the design of the YMCA creates a social hub, providing access to community and wellness services for the entire precinct. The YMCA defines the street edge along Cherry and Front with a fully glazed base allowing visibility to the life within, showcasing the civic spaces to the street and creating an open and inviting public identity. 

Above: Blocks 3/15, affordable rental housing units in Canary District. Photo Credit: Tom Arban

Blocks 3/15: Blocks 3 (10 storeys) and 15 (12 storeys), designed by DLi, provide 253 affordable rental housing units to be operated by Fred Victor and Wigwamen Incorporated. Their architecture was inspired by the District’s industrial and rail history. The strong composition of simple rectangular forms is clad in clear and coloured glass and framed with fibre cement panels, scaled to reference the high-shouldered limestone buildings of the nearby Distillery District. The core inspiration – the form and colours of rail shipping containers – is made explicit with magnified graphic floor numbers and signature colors to identify entrances and elevator lobbies throughout the buildings. The residential buildings are elevated above retail space on Front Street and two-storey townhouses facing onto a mews running between the buildings. A north-south promenade connects the two buildings establishing a dialogue between the lobbies and amenity spaces and creating an urban courtyard at the scale of the Village. East-West pathways line both buildings and the courtyard to ensure a clear connection with the YMCA.

Above: Canary Park Condominiums and Townhomes viewed from Corktown Common park. Photo Credit: Brent Wagler

Block 4: Canary Park Condominiums and Townhomes contains 439 market condominium units, designed by KPMB, is massed in two parts: an 11-storey building emphasizing the arc of Bayview Avenue, and a 15-storey building facing faces the new 18-acre Corktown Common park, right where the vibrant and colourful new Front Street Promenade will start. The building serves as an eastern gateway into the District. The two components are connected by a common double-height lobby. Townhouse units face onto Bayview, while retail uses along Front Street enhance and enliven the linear park on the north side of Front Street. Street level façades create scale and rhythm and unique storefront identities. Retail strategies build on the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games legacy by focusing on health and wellness. Shifting precast and glazed volumes in a dynamic composition that conforms to setback requirements and responds to adjacent buildings within the precinct to create a distinct but cohesive development. Brick is used to relate to the existing heritage buildings of the Distillery District in a contemporary way. A public mews accommodates drop off and servicing requirements and provides secondary pedestrian routes that connect through all blocks.

Above: Canary District Condominuims and Townhomes. Photo Credit: Tom Arban

 

 

Block 11: Canary District Condominiums and Townhomes, also designed by KPMB, contains 369 market condominium units with a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms units in an 11-storey and 9-storey slab building on Front and Mill Streets connected by 5-storey wings centered around a raised courtyard. Corners of the wings are opened up to create mews like service and pedestrian lanes that allow for mid-block connections through the site. The raised courtyard sits on top of a parking structure and provides common amenities centered around a landscaped court. Rooftop gardens on all buildings are used to achieve green roof performance criteria in a way that maximizes overlook opportunities from adjacent buildings. Retail frontage is created along Front Street, Live/work units along Mill Street and townhouses along the 5-storey wings to create a fine grain character that extends the scale and richness of the Distillery District into the precinct. The façades are animated with shifting precast volumes and materials selected for their quality, durability and compatibility with the neighbourhood as a whole.