Toronto Catalyst at 77 Wade | 43.72m | 7s | Seeker Labs | DIALOG

Belle Ewart said:
Why enshrine building height restrictions or any other building code into law if they are only to routinely be ignored and overridden? And yes, no one has an inherent right to sunshine. But everyone doesn’t have right to have a say in how their neighbourhood looks in regard to major changes. This building will have a major impact on the hood and people living there need to have input
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Zoning cannot be "ignored" or "overridden". There is, of course, a process for changing zoning, which most new buildings in Toronto require as the as-of-right zoning nearly everywhere in the city is so outdated as to be meaningless. That process comes with mandated public meetings where you are welcome to give input on the proposed changes. In this case, if the staff report is correct, a community consultation meeting was held in 2018. I hope you gave your feedback there!
 
We're talking about all the wrong things here - shadows, height. What's most important and generally completely unremarked upon is how worthwhile and inevitable development can be done in precarious neighbourhoods of relative affordability like this without creating runaway gentrification and forcing people out of their homes and livelihoods.
 
7-storey hybrid wood commercial building set to rise in Toronto
Today, tech-oriented and innovative companies desire work environments that hum with architectural character. 77 Wade achieves this with the use of wood construction and the fusion of contrasting materials. The provision of communal spaces for both the building’s users and the public, paralleled with the use of appropriate landscape design and softer and transparent cladding materials, makes 77 Wade Avenue a state-of-the-art contemporary office building that addresses the City and its urban citizens with a unique and innovative architectural language.
More.... https://www.canadianarchitect.com/s...l-building-set-to-rise-in-toronto/1003746730/
 
This building looks great. I wish there were some daytime renderings though... it's tough to get a sense of what it looks like naturally, without perfectly and uniformly lit interiors at dusk. High hopes though.
 
Summary
The purpose of this report is to advise that City Planning staff will be bringing forward a Final Report on the Zoning By-law Amendment Application at 57-77 Wade Avenue. The report reviews and recommends approval of the application to amend the Zoning By-law, with conditions.

Background Information
(June 10, 2019) Report from the Director, Community Planning, Toronto and East York District - 57-77 Wade Avenue - Zoning Amendment Application - Final Report - Notice of Pending Report
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-134345.pdf)
 
www.theglobeandmail.com

Planned Toronto office building pushes limits of mass-timber construction technology

A mid-rise building in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood harkens back to a 1920s-vintage warehouse
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

For decades, 77 Wade Ave., a parcel in an industrial pocket in the Junction near Lansdowne Avenue and Bloor Street West, housed an auto-body shop and a ready-mix concrete plant. But when contractors start excavating the rubble-strewn site next month, they’ll begin the construction of Toronto’s tallest tall-timber office building to date – a visually striking venture that cuts its reliance on carbon-intensive building materials – concrete – and is within minutes of three rapid transit stops and a bike corridor.
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Mr. Solomon says he’s not able to reveal the lead tenant just yet, but feels confident that 77 Wade will be fully leased up and profitable by the time it opens in about two years.
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Bah... It's not in The Junction. Not even within the Junction Triangle (though just across the tracks from it). It's sort of Bloordale, but definitely #Blansdowne. :)

"But when contractors start excavating the rubble-strewn site next month"
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I wonder how accurate that is. I thought Metrolinx were using this property (in addition to a few others nearby, like the former Lansdowne TTC barns and Value Village) for staging the Davenport Diamond work.
 
This easily overlooked pocket along Wade Ave is actually a pretty interesting little nook. Okay you'll have to move safely away from the funky smelling section caused by the Nitta Gelatin plant on Paton. But IMO this hidden corner has a hybrid composition of West End Toronto with a great cafe in Propeller, mixed in with a tinge of industrial Buffalonia, and perhaps some wishful vibes of an ultra raw Meatpacking District. Okay enough dreaming for tonight, I'm off to catch some Zzz's.
 
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It's publicity. Take it for what it is. Mr Solomon is not in the business to say it won't be fully leased and profitable at any time. At least we don't have to wait too long to find out.
 
I love this quote and subtle jab: "Demonstrates what's possible when a team of creative thinkers challenges themselves to think outside the box- or code".

Too bad the same isnt applicable for ~80% of architecture firms and developers in Toronto.
 
Hoarding is now up, although no work has begun yet:

July 11, 2020

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canada.constructconnect.com

Mass timber permit approvals still a challenge and requires ‘persistence’, says speaker - constructconnect.com - Daily Commercial News

With mass timber gaining acceptance for a new breed of midrise buildings, often coined “the missing middle,” architects and code consultants face hurdles getting building permit approvals for designs that don’t fit with convention. At a recent webinar ho
canada.constructconnect.com canada.constructconnect.com


A mass timber project requiring a number of alternative solutions is 77 Wade Ave. near Bloor Street and Lansdowne Avenue in Toronto.

At eight storeys, it is the first mass timber project above the six storey height allowance under the Ontario Building Code.

To satisfy the building department, one alternative design solution for the additional two storeys was to keep the total square footage in the eight floors to no more than the code’s requirement for a six-storey building, Keays told the webinar.

Further building a case for the mass timber design, the consulting team changed the width of the stair exits to “escape the definition” of a highrise, converted one elevator to a fire fighter’s elevator and pressurized stairwells, he said.

The Wade Avenue project is a glue-laminated timber and concrete hybrid office development.

Keays described it as a design that marries “known systems” under the building code, such as hollow-core slab, with a timber system to satisfy building code officials.

“The reality of wood buildings is that a lot of them are going to exceed the performance of the building code,” he explained.

He said there are times when separate regulatory bodies have different requirements, leaving the design team caught trying to come up with an alternative solution to meet compliance. The roof design at Wade Avenue is a case in point. While the building code prescribed a Class A roof design, the city’s Toronto Green Standard wants a green roof.

Keays, who has worked around the globe as a fire and code consultant, said a lot of the material and systems used to back up alternative solutions are from other standards in the U.S. and overseas.

In late 2021 the National Building Code is expected to allow mass timber buildings up to 12 storeys, an increase of six storeys from the current national code standard.
 
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