Over the past decade, 69-acre Regent Park has been reshaped by a heavy revitalization process. As new streets were opened to connect the neighbourhood to the city, new rental, affordable and condominium units were built and complemented by extensive retail space and state of the art amenities, including The Daniels Corporation’s Daniels Spectrum, an art and social-oriented facility designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects.

Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park, picture by Lisa Logan

Recently held at The Globe Theatre in London, UK, the Civic Award Trust Ceremony recognized 32 projects for their excellence in architecture, sustainability and design while having a positive social, cultural, environmental, and/or economic impact on the community that surrounds them. Amongst these 32 projects, Daniels Spectrum was the only winning project in Canada and one of two from North America.

Daniels Spectrum's Ada Slaight Hall, picture by Lisa Logan

Currently operated by Artscape, the 60,000-square-foot LEED Silver certified building brings together more than 10 different tenants such as Artspace, the Centre for Social Innovation, Pathways To Education, and the Regent Park Film Festival. A 300-seat black box theatre and sound-isolated studios provide resident performing arts companies with performance and rehearsal space, and local residents with a wide range of events to enjoy that bring the community together. Donald Schmitt, Principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects said “The design objective was to facilitate interaction among the tenants, students and the public and to make the centre a vibrant and welcoming crossroads for the community.” Below, a video documents the making of the building.



This is not the first time that the Daniels Spectrum has been honoured for its design and social impact on the neighbourhood and its residents. In 2013, the BizBash Event Style Awards awarded the building with the Best New Venue in Canada for Meetings and Events, while in 2014 it was the Architectural Record Magazine that granted the venue with the Good Design is Good Business Award.  

Want to know more about Daniels Spectrum? Visit our dataBase file for more renderings and information, linked below. If you want to talk about it, click on the associated Forum thread link, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.