Rx for a sick condo lobby
Shiny new public spaces to keep up with the neighbours
DAVE LEBLANC
From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080207.re-leblanc0208/REStory/RealEstate/home
February 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
Okay, eight or nine cans of paint, discount carpet, furniture, lighting and a few cheap prints for the walls. To avoid conflict, propose beige everything and furniture that's vaguely "antique." Oh yeah, hire cousin Bob since he'll work under the table. Done.
With many condominium boards, that scenario has played out — or will in the next few years — as many buildings from the 1970s, '80s and '90s come due for a lobby-lift — some for the second or third time. Unfortunately, playing safe has resulted in the city being "littered" with "unfortunate interiors," architect Paul Reuber says.
A resident/owner of 35 Church St., Mr. Reuber should know. He and members of a refurbishment committee — chairman Richard Anobile, along with Sue McLeod, Larry Millar and Michael Stewart — have just completed a $1.4-million overhaul of all the public spaces at the building and its sister at 80 Front St. The two make up the award-winning Market Square complex designed by Jerome Markson in 1980.
The group's myriad steps over a period of three years illustrate the complexity of condo refurbishment and underline the tenacity required by volunteers if any aesthetic beyond beige and bland is desired. Market Square's shared spaces were renovated previously in 1992, and most residents were unhappy with what the hired consultant delivered, Mr. Reuber says. After exhaustive consultation, "what you end up with is everybody's second choice. The colour goes, the this goes, the that goes [and] something traditional which everyone can relate to ends up coming in."
Enlarge Image
Above, the new lobby at 35 Church St., decked out with a popsicle-yellow wall, pumpkin leather sofa, Nienkämper Kloud chairs and a custom-designed area rug. Below, what it looked like before. (PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAUL REUBER INC.)
Rx for a sick condo lobby
Mr. Anobile confirms, "No one really got what they wanted" despite the "process that's supposed to be democratic." So, this time, a certain amount of veto power was given to the committee while still maintaining transparency. Instead of asking the board to vote on individual colours, they were asked to make decisions on bold combinations of wall and carpet colours. To make things interesting, different colour schemes were proposed for each of the seven floors, since it wasn't uncommon for residents to get off the elevator at the wrong floor and try their key in someone else's door.
"We sold it as a set, and as a set [the board was] able to approve it," explains Mr. Reuber, who has used colour-coded floors successfully in his own buildings. "When we arranged them like a bowl of Smarties, you couldn't say no to any one of the schemes; they were … kind of like a bouquet of flowers."
A floral arrangement is an apt description. In 35 Church's spacious lobby, where there once lurked faux-antique chairs, grandma's china cabinet, mirrored walls and shiny brass gee-gaws on the ceiling, there now struts a popsicle-yellow wall, pumpkin leather sofa, jujube-like swivel chairs (actually Nienkämper "Kloud" chairs by Karim Rashid) and an area rug electrified with colours that relate not only to walls and furniture, but to a large Michael Mitchell photograph of lilies near an Eglinton Avenue gas station.
Interestingly, Mr. Reuber designed the rug (it sports his woven-in signature), which was then custom-fabricated in Tennessee for less than what the previous generic rug was purchased for in 1992.
Mr. Stewart, a furniture designer, created the floating mahogany credenza and matching concierge desk; in 80 Front's smaller lobby, his rug design occupies pride-of-place.
After fake half-columns and doorway arches "from Versailles" were "shovelled out" of corridors and elevator lobbies, Mr. Reuber says, the colour-coding — earthy on lower floors and lighter "sky" colours on uppers — was implemented.
Slate colours around elevator doors also are darker on lower floors, lightening to greens and pale yellows above. In addition, each elevator-lobby has its own Mitchell photograph that relates to its colour scheme.
In the case of the second floor, the photo relates to function: Since access to the barbecue terrace is nearby, the photos is of a Toronto hot dog vendor.
To avoid colour overload, wallpaper in corridors is mostly neutral; only the building's repeating structural beams pick up the scheme.
When all of Mr. Mitchell's "edgy" photographs were hung, a gallery-style invitation was distributed to residents and, that night, "a chatty crowd assembled, some with wine glasses in hand" to tour the building, Mr. Reuber says.
The incredible "economy of scale" achieved given the hundreds of meters of carpet, litres of paint and rolls of wallpaper kept costs down, as did the fact that Mr. Reuber and Mr. Stewart volunteered their talents.
Interior design firm Scassera Meschino Inc. and project managers JCO & Associates were called in to do the "grunt-work" since, Mr. Reuber says, architects "generally have five minutes of pleasure followed by 17 years of pain," and he had enough to contend with at the office.
Mr. Anobile, a television producer, admits his home's public face was so "dowdy" before, he led the refurbishment committee despite the "hundreds and hundreds of hours" required.
"All around us we have these new buildings, … all shiny [with] Internet connections, and that's not what this building has," he says.
"What it has to offer is what the other buildings can't offer: incredible, well-laid-out suites that are spacious — the smallest happens to be 800 square feet — and they go from about $350,000 to over a million," he explains.
And now, finally, shiny new million-dollar public spaces to match.
Shiny new public spaces to keep up with the neighbours
DAVE LEBLANC
From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080207.re-leblanc0208/REStory/RealEstate/home
February 8, 2008 at 12:00 AM EST
Okay, eight or nine cans of paint, discount carpet, furniture, lighting and a few cheap prints for the walls. To avoid conflict, propose beige everything and furniture that's vaguely "antique." Oh yeah, hire cousin Bob since he'll work under the table. Done.
With many condominium boards, that scenario has played out — or will in the next few years — as many buildings from the 1970s, '80s and '90s come due for a lobby-lift — some for the second or third time. Unfortunately, playing safe has resulted in the city being "littered" with "unfortunate interiors," architect Paul Reuber says.
A resident/owner of 35 Church St., Mr. Reuber should know. He and members of a refurbishment committee — chairman Richard Anobile, along with Sue McLeod, Larry Millar and Michael Stewart — have just completed a $1.4-million overhaul of all the public spaces at the building and its sister at 80 Front St. The two make up the award-winning Market Square complex designed by Jerome Markson in 1980.
The group's myriad steps over a period of three years illustrate the complexity of condo refurbishment and underline the tenacity required by volunteers if any aesthetic beyond beige and bland is desired. Market Square's shared spaces were renovated previously in 1992, and most residents were unhappy with what the hired consultant delivered, Mr. Reuber says. After exhaustive consultation, "what you end up with is everybody's second choice. The colour goes, the this goes, the that goes [and] something traditional which everyone can relate to ends up coming in."
Enlarge Image
Above, the new lobby at 35 Church St., decked out with a popsicle-yellow wall, pumpkin leather sofa, Nienkämper Kloud chairs and a custom-designed area rug. Below, what it looked like before. (PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAUL REUBER INC.)
Rx for a sick condo lobby
Mr. Anobile confirms, "No one really got what they wanted" despite the "process that's supposed to be democratic." So, this time, a certain amount of veto power was given to the committee while still maintaining transparency. Instead of asking the board to vote on individual colours, they were asked to make decisions on bold combinations of wall and carpet colours. To make things interesting, different colour schemes were proposed for each of the seven floors, since it wasn't uncommon for residents to get off the elevator at the wrong floor and try their key in someone else's door.
"We sold it as a set, and as a set [the board was] able to approve it," explains Mr. Reuber, who has used colour-coded floors successfully in his own buildings. "When we arranged them like a bowl of Smarties, you couldn't say no to any one of the schemes; they were … kind of like a bouquet of flowers."
A floral arrangement is an apt description. In 35 Church's spacious lobby, where there once lurked faux-antique chairs, grandma's china cabinet, mirrored walls and shiny brass gee-gaws on the ceiling, there now struts a popsicle-yellow wall, pumpkin leather sofa, jujube-like swivel chairs (actually Nienkämper "Kloud" chairs by Karim Rashid) and an area rug electrified with colours that relate not only to walls and furniture, but to a large Michael Mitchell photograph of lilies near an Eglinton Avenue gas station.
Interestingly, Mr. Reuber designed the rug (it sports his woven-in signature), which was then custom-fabricated in Tennessee for less than what the previous generic rug was purchased for in 1992.
Mr. Stewart, a furniture designer, created the floating mahogany credenza and matching concierge desk; in 80 Front's smaller lobby, his rug design occupies pride-of-place.
After fake half-columns and doorway arches "from Versailles" were "shovelled out" of corridors and elevator lobbies, Mr. Reuber says, the colour-coding — earthy on lower floors and lighter "sky" colours on uppers — was implemented.
Slate colours around elevator doors also are darker on lower floors, lightening to greens and pale yellows above. In addition, each elevator-lobby has its own Mitchell photograph that relates to its colour scheme.
In the case of the second floor, the photo relates to function: Since access to the barbecue terrace is nearby, the photos is of a Toronto hot dog vendor.
To avoid colour overload, wallpaper in corridors is mostly neutral; only the building's repeating structural beams pick up the scheme.
When all of Mr. Mitchell's "edgy" photographs were hung, a gallery-style invitation was distributed to residents and, that night, "a chatty crowd assembled, some with wine glasses in hand" to tour the building, Mr. Reuber says.
The incredible "economy of scale" achieved given the hundreds of meters of carpet, litres of paint and rolls of wallpaper kept costs down, as did the fact that Mr. Reuber and Mr. Stewart volunteered their talents.
Interior design firm Scassera Meschino Inc. and project managers JCO & Associates were called in to do the "grunt-work" since, Mr. Reuber says, architects "generally have five minutes of pleasure followed by 17 years of pain," and he had enough to contend with at the office.
Mr. Anobile, a television producer, admits his home's public face was so "dowdy" before, he led the refurbishment committee despite the "hundreds and hundreds of hours" required.
"All around us we have these new buildings, … all shiny [with] Internet connections, and that's not what this building has," he says.
"What it has to offer is what the other buildings can't offer: incredible, well-laid-out suites that are spacious — the smallest happens to be 800 square feet — and they go from about $350,000 to over a million," he explains.
And now, finally, shiny new million-dollar public spaces to match.
