Shops at Don Mills (redevelopment, Giannone Petricone/Pellow + Associates )

[nfitz]

I don't see how outdoor malls work better than indoor malls, especially in Canada where we have long winters. Please enlighten me.

Any street I've seen with stores has been outdoors ... and all these new big-box outlet malls that are killing many of the older shopping centres are outdoor malls.

Did you visit the Don Mills Centre in the last few years before they ripped it down? It was a ghost-town.

 

[adma]

(XHume's spin--though a little deceptive, as it wasn't exactly the 50s original, except for debased bits here and there, that was ripped down for this one)

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/619229

Don Mills centre will be the anti-mall

Christopher Hume

Cadillac Fairview has seen the future – and it looks a lot like the past.

Next week, the developer will open its latest shopping centre, a total overhaul of an older facility at the corner of Don Mills Rd. and Lawrence Ave. E.

But don't be fooled by the location; the new development is far from suburban. Instead of the ubiquitous big box full of the usual retail suspects, this venue, "Ontario's first outdoor urban village," is made up of shops, restaurants, offices and residential units organized around a square and a network of narrow tree-lined streets.

"We want people to enjoy this place," explains Cadillac Fairview vice president Anne Morash. "There's a hunger for public space."

Public may not be quite the right word. After all, this remains privately owned. But it feels public, and that's the main thing.

"This area needed retail that is in some way authentic," argues architect Ralph Giannone, whose firm Giannone Petricone designed the centre with pellow + associates architects. "This is not fictitious."

Indeed, it is the context – Canada's first planned community – that's starting to look fictitious. It's easy to forget, but when Don Mills was planned in the 1950s, suburb wasn't a dirty word. Half a century later, all that has changed, and so it was only a matter of time before change reached suburbia.

Of course, as large as the project may be (14 hectares when complete), it occupies a tiny corner of Don Mills. The usual elements – strip malls, overly wide roads, parking lots, and nondescript apartment buildings – are still much in evidence. To be fair, however, this may be suburbia, but it's not sprawl. That didn't appear until later.

Still, reality has to enter somewhere, and Don Mills is as good a place as any.

Though Morash refers to the new centre as an "emerging format" in the evolution of the mall, it represents a sort of closing of the circle. It's not quite a return to the roots of retail; in these parts such roots were never allowed to take hold. Although the 1950s mall, demolished to make way for this "village," was outdoors, it was a far cry from being a deliberate architectural recreation of an urban village. There was no "town square," skating oval, fountain, canopies or storefronts. There was never meant to be.

Now we have the anti-mall, the very thing the original facility was intended to replace.

As Giannone makes clear, "This is a mixed-use development, an infill project." In other words, the old single-use planning regime at the heart of the suburban ideal has also given way to something more subtle and reflective, a real life.

Naturally, there must still be parking, but now it's in a four-storey structure, not spread over acres. The streets that run through the place are narrow, pedestrian-scaled. Indeed, if there's one thing that distinguishes the village from its predecessors it is scale, based here on people, not cars.

The results can be seen in every detail, from the numerous benches and better-than-average materials to the fact the buildings are architectural and come right out to the sidewalk.

For now, however, it remains a construction site. When it opens next Wednesday, only 40 of the 100-odd shops will be occupied; the rest won't be ready until July or August.

So far, success seems certain. The advantages of the new/old approach are so obvious, they cannot be denied.

The issue, Morash says, is: "How to create urban space?"

If that's the question, this is the answer.

Christopher Hume can be reached at chume@thestar.ca

 

[yyzer]

from today's Globe: - didn't know about the Douglas Coupland-designed clock tower.....

The rise and shine of new Shops at Don Mills

LISA ROCHON

E-mail Lisa Rochon | Read Bio | Latest Columns
April 18, 2009

lrochon@globeandmail.com

At last. At last a new retail, office and housing development in Toronto that makes no bones about being located in the here-and-now. The Shops at Don Mills is contemporary, if politely so, without the slightest nod to Victorian London or any French chateau. This is Canada's first serious shot at the urban village, a 12-hectare open-air shopping experience that turns the mall inside out and allows about 100 shops, restaurants and services to circle a town square.

Despite its dreary name, the Shops at Don Mills matters because it's a redevelopment that rejects the kitsch mock-ups of yesteryear - a fallback position of many conservative Toronto developers. The urban villages that flourish in the United States - Crocker Park or Legacy Village located in greenfields outside of Cleveland - are not so brave. So many French mansard roofs and brick pavers. Such happy-go-lucky places of urban artifice.

"A lot of these centres ... are out in the middle of nowhere and they're looking for instant sense of place," says design architect Ralph Giannone, whose firm collaborated on the Don Mills urban village with Pellow + Associates Architects and Rudy Adlaf, senior vice-president of architecture and design at Cadillac Fairview. "It's actually better to leverage that existing sense of place."

To that end, brick in elegant taupe and buff has been used on storefronts to reflect the palette of 1950s Don Mills housing. There's a dynamic rhythm set up in the way that storefronts are articulated, with some pushing forward, others receding. The interesting relationship between planes floating up and against each other was part of what was expressed by modernist architects, such as Ron Thom. His way of using brick coursing patterns or stamping decorative patterns into Indiana limestone at Massey College inspired some of the strategies at Don Mills. Leaf motifs representing the oak, the maple and the linden - the three major trees planted within the urban village - have been custom-stamped into the stone and featured on several storefront elevations. Pitched roofs have been banished; instead, there are flat roofs and upper levels in spandrel glass painted green and blue. A second-floor eating terrace will serve shoppers at McNally's Robinson.

Originally, Giannone Petricone Associates Architects was hired to do the two 26-storey residential towers currently proposed for the west flank of the site. But their innovative mixed-use project on the shores of Port Credit convinced Cadillac Fairview to assign the firm to a full retail interpretation.

Creating the kind of visual interest typically found in any Toronto neighbourhood helped to guide the team. The Douglas Coupland-designed clock tower sits at the south side of the village green, which will be an ice rink in winter, next to an automated water fountain. About 90 Hungarian oaks selected by landscape architect John Quinn surround the park. There are the amenities that one comes to expect with privatized "public" shopping: Colourful plantings, human-scaled lighting standards, soft and hard canopies to protect shoppers from the rain. There are bike racks and dog-poop stations. One drawback is the sterile steel benches, which could have been warm-to-the-touch wood seating.

There are reasons to be cynical about the privatized urban village. American critic and sociologist William F. Whyte complained that the planning brochures for post-war housing developments used all-purpose happy language and that the images of new towns nearly always included children holding balloons.

Attracting people, dogs and balloon-happy children is part of the design gig. In lesser hands, selling the commodity in Don Mills might have turned the clock back on architecture. Instead, the Shops at Don Mills has delivered design on real time.

 

[Archivist]

Here is an image from an ad I found today for a new 12 storey condo tower called Reflections at Don Mills Centre, called reflections. New proposals entering the market are pretty rare these days, nice to see one coming up.

 

[catcher_of_cats]

Interesting shape, but I wonder about the awkwardness of that corner with the windows in regards to cleaning and light penetration. Good to see the residential component actually start.

 

[yyzer]

Attention News/Assignment Editors:

Shops at Don Mills - Ontario's first urban village - opens its doors
<<
One of largest redevelopment projects in Canada combines best-in-class
tenants, public spaces and neighbourhood's rich history
>>

TORONTO, April 22 /CNW/ - The new Shops at Don Mills makes Canadian
retail history today, as Ontario's very first urban village opens its doors to
the public. Located in Toronto at the intersection of Don Mills Road and
Lawrence Avenue East, the Cadillac Fairview development - one of the largest
redevelopment projects in Canada - represents a new evolution in retail,
showcasing a fresh concept where visitors stroll from stores to restaurants to
public spaces in an open-air setting. More than 100 best-in-class shops and
boutiques, restaurants and amenities are moving in, including many
first-to-market tenants including Canada's first Anthropologie store,
Ontario's first McNally Robinson bookstore, Salomon Sports' first North
American non-resort store, and Toronto chef Mark McEwan's 20,000-sq.-ft.
gourmet food store.
To celebrate the opening, Shops at Don Mills is hosting a series of
special events today in the central Town Square, including an Earth Day
children's concert at 1:30 p.m. and a special heritage ceremony at 2 p.m. led
by Heritage Toronto, the North York Preservation Panel, and Don Valley West
Councillor Cliff Jenkins. Festivities continue throughout the weekend,
including a live concert on Saturday, April 25 at 3:30 p.m. featuring R&B
singer Jully Black with special guest Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila; guest
appearances on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. by Chef Mark McEwan, caterer Rose
Reisman, clock tower artist and author Douglas Coupland; and, Franklin story
time with McNally Robinson Booksellers on Sunday, April 26. Buskers, magicians
and balloon artists will be strolling the site throughout the week.
"We're extremely excited to be opening this new retail concept in such a
vibrant neighbourhood," said Alexandra Whyte, General Manager, Shops at Don
Mills. "Shops at Don Mills is all about unique experiences. Not only will
visitors from across the Greater Toronto Area find the best in fashion, food
and services, they will also be treated to inviting public spaces, engaging
artwork and a host of community activities throughout the year. From a local
perspective, Shops at Don Mills will serve as a hub of cultural and community
life for the neighbourhood's residents and businesses."
Shops at Don Mills, located on the site of the former Don Mills Centre,
is a mixed-use development combining a diverse range of fashion stores,
restaurants, offices and neighbourhood amenities with parks, hundreds of
mature trees and extensive landscaping. The focal point is the 58,125-sq.-ft.
Town Square featuring an oval 7,134-sq.-ft. ice skating rink, a distinctive
clock tower designed by famed Canadian artist and author Douglas Coupland, and
Canada's first robotic water feature designed by Karajaal of Quebec. Street
names and heritage plaques reflect the neighbourhood's rich history. Events
and festivals will be held in the public spaces throughout the year, and a
wall dedicated to Canadian art will showcase exhibitions by Toronto-area
students this spring.
The residential portion, to be developed in two phases by FRAM Building
Group, will include 1,300 units as well as a 41,000-sq.-ft public park. A
network of pedestrian pathways and private streets will link the retail and
residential environments.
"Shops at Don Mills is a retail concept completely unique to Ontario and
represents the latest chapter in retail's evolution," said Anne Morash, Vice
President, Development, Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited.
"Pedestrian-friendly, outdoor retail experiences have traditionally been
limited to major urban centres. Shops at Don Mills extends this experience
beyond the downtown core."
Shops at Don Mills - eight years in the planning and three years in the
making - was developed by The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited. The
architect and design collaborator was Harry Pellow of pellow + associates
architects inc. Design was led by Rudy Adlaf, Cadillac Fairview's Senior Vice
President, Architecture and Design, in collaboration with Ralph Giannone of
Giannone Petricone Associates Inc. and pellow + associates architects inc.
Shops at Don Mills has been built in accordance with the City of
Toronto's Green Development Guidelines and is required to meet the objectives
of Cadillac Fairview's national sustainability program, known as GREEN AT
WORK(TM). There are 86 bike racks throughout the site, including in the
four-level parking garage and on the streets. Shops at Don Mills is fully
wheelchair accessible, with two battery recharging stations (one in each of
the mews). It is also pet-friendly, with "doggie stations" providing
compostable bags and waste receptacles.
For more on Shops at Don Mills and a full listing of grand opening
events, please visit www.shopsatdonmills.ca.

<<
About The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited
-----------------------------------------------
>>
The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited is one of North America's
largest investors, owners and managers of commercial real estate. For more
than 50 years Cadillac Fairview has been leading the way in commercial real
estate with innovative design, development and management. Cadillac Fairview
focuses on developing and managing high quality office properties and regional
shopping centres in Canada and the United States, as well as international
investments in real estate companies and investment funds. With a portfolio
valued at more than $16 billion and nearly 50 million square feet of leasable
space, Cadillac Fairview and its affiliates own and manage 84 properties
across North America, including some of Canada's landmark developments, such
as Toronto-Dominion Centre, Toronto Eaton Centre, Pacific Centre and Chinook
Centre. Cadillac Fairview is wholly-owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan, which invests to secure the retirement income of 284,000 active and
retired teachers in Ontario. For details, please visit
www.cadillacfairview.com.

 

[jks]

any pics??

 

[wyliepoon]

April 23

Artwork facing Lawrence Avenue... but only the LCBO has an entrance on Lawrence.

Shops at Don Mills street sign... 99% similar to the new City of Toronto street signs (the font and the shade of blue are slightly off)

Bike ring in foreground

The landmark Coupland Clock Tower

View from Don Mills/Lawrence intersection.

*****

This is my first-ever glimpse of the Shops, and I thought that it was somewhat of a refreshing experience. Like I had expected, it feels like a hybrid between the the power centre (shops in lowrise buildings), a high-end mall like Yorkdale, and Cornell-style new urbanism.

Unfortunately for us urbanists, it seems like the overwhelming majority of visitors today came by car. There is a parking garage at the Shops, and the old parking lot facing Don Mills is still in use. Add to the fact that there's plenty of parking spots on the shopping streets, and the Shops looks quite car-friendly. The bus stops on Lawrence or on Don Mills don't look any busier with the opening of the Shops. The Shops provide plenty of bike rings, but none were being used. The good thing is that everybody is forced to walk around outside after they have parked their cars.

I was not impressed at all at the treatment of the Shops facing Lawrence. Except the LCBO on the NW corner of the complex, there are no store entrances facing Lawrence (there is a ramp that leads to the RBC branch). With the parking lot still separating the Shops from Don Mills Road, the Shops is very much disconnected from the surrounding community.

The Shops seems to make a lot of effort to look like the rest of Toronto. The street signs are virtual copies of the new City of Toronto street signs. The garbage bins are modeled after an earlier version of City garbage bins. The lack of spectacular street furniture at the Shops is very Toronto-like. In that I'm also not impressed.

As a brand new shopping experience I think the Shops has much to offer. As a study in urban design I think the Shops still needs a lot of improvement. However I think that this is a nice start.

 

[taal]

Not bad ...

One can compare it to a similar smaller development around Vaghn Mills. Overall though all I'm really liking is the new public square along with the water fountain. What really hurts this project is as you mentioned the treatment of the shops fronting the main arteries. I think that's the problem with all these developments - they make themselves impossible to integrate with the rest of the community. Instead, the idea is to create an urban oasis so to speak which doesn't take into account it's surroundings (current or future) although does attempt to create a more urban feel inside which ends up being isolated.

 

[luxome]

wow, didn't know the project is completed. gota check it out myself tomorrow. thanks for the great photos.

 

[allabootmatt]

Thanks for these; I had been having a very hard time picturing this. Incidentally, the garbage and recycling bins being used are *much* more attractive than the new ones being rolled out everywhere else.

 

[khris]

I was waiting for someone to upload some photos.
I am going to have to wait until I go there (if I ever do), before I can really judge it.
However, it really feels like a movie set to me. I know it's not finished, yet, but I would have liked to see homes above the retail, not just a an outoor mall.

 

[whatever]

Nice photo update, I couldn't quite figure out what they were doing from all of the articles I had read. Looks kind of like a power centre, with the only exception being that the parking is on the outside of the stores and not in the middle of them (a retail cluster instead of a retail ring). If nothing else it looks readily redevelopable; those parking lots are just begging for some sort of densification.

 

[Tewder]

April 23

*****
Unfortunately for us urbanists, it seems like the overwhelming majority of visitors today came by car. There is a parking garage at the Shops, and the old parking lot facing Don Mills is still in use. Add to the fact that there's plenty of parking spots on the shopping streets, and the Shops looks quite car-friendly.

Thanks for the tour Wyliepoon!

I'm not sure that the accommodation of cars makes it an urban failure. In the absence of a well-integrated system of public transit we have to be realistic that some of the outer-flung areas will always be more reliant on the dreaded car than more central areas. Don Mills is/was a suburb in the historic sense of that word which is not necessarily about 'sprawl' in the way that we have come to understand it. The car here is relegated to the side while the main experience is for the pedestrian. It is not the urban utopia we fantasize about but it is a positive compromise anchored in reality. How nice it would be if some of the local BIAs in small Ontario towns were to look at something like this and work with their own assets to create similar people-friendly spaces.

I was not impressed at all at the treatment of the Shops facing Lawrence. Except the LCBO on the NW corner of the complex, there are no store entrances facing Lawrence (there is a ramp that leads to the RBC branch). With the parking lot still separating the Shops from Don Mills Road, the Shops is very much disconnected from the surrounding community.

Then again it may be appropriate to turn its back on Lawrence, a busy and congested traffic artery that is rather unfriendly to the sort of pedestrian experience being encouraged here.

The doors are just opening so maybe we can expect greater integration with the surrounding area as the centre matures. Transit into the area, the development of residential around it, and the softening of surrounding roads through landscaping etc will help.

... it really feels like a movie set to me. I know it's not finished, yet, but I would have liked to see homes above the retail, not just a an outoor mall.

It does have a bit of a creepy Pleasantville feel to it, even if a little more slick. Still I can excuse it given the local historic context. Some claim it is a refreshing departure from kitschy pseudo-Victoriana or mock-colonial but really is it all that different in spirit? Faux is faux after all.

 

[hkric88]

what's the best way to TTC here? As in from the nearest subway stn with the shortest route to this location?

thx