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Earlier today, the City of Toronto's Design Review Panel (DRP) was offered a first look at emerging Urban Design Guidelines for the new provincial courthouse to be built immediately northwest of City Hall. Today's DRP presentation provided more details about the project's design criteria, which have been laid out prior to AECOM's involvement. While a design architect for the courthouse has not yet been chosen, the presentation outlined the general type of built form that would be appropriate for the area, as well as the environmental, administrative, and public realm requirements that the project will have to address.
Set to rise to a height of 22-25 storeys—plus a mechanical penthouse—the new facility will be the first 'tower courthouse' in the city, marking a departure from the larger footprints and lower heights of Toronto's older courthouses. Situated almost directly behind City Hall's 20-storey west tower—where an archeological dig has just been completed—the courthouse requires a design and configuration that preserves the iconic status of Viljo Revell's civic landmark.
As such, the presentation—delivered by Eric Turcotte of Urban Strategies and Carl Blanchaer of WZMH Architects—explained that the tower will step beck to the east, allowing City Hall to dominate the vista from Nathan Phillips Square. Furthermore, the building's design will have to be rigidly rectilinear to prevent an aesthetic intrusion on City Hall's distinct curving presence, maintaining the architectural rhythm of the area.
While a 22-25 storey height may not seem like a significant impediment to the existing composition of the urban landscape, the courthouse's likely 4 m (or higher) ceilings would make it significantly taller than modern condominium towers with a comparable number of floors. This means that the tower's visual impact has to be sensitively restrained to preserve City Hall's visual—and symbolic—predominance.
The presentation also outlined a commitment to quality, durable design, with a long lifespan required from the civic building, which will house both offices and courtrooms. A "contemporary but timeless design" has also been targeted by the Planning team, meeting IO's minimum sustainability requirement of LEED Silver Certification for new government facilities.
For security reasons—and to symbolically suggest the equality of all people before the law—the courthouse can only have a single entrance, which will face south, fronting Armoury Street. The presentation outlines that a small public plaza will be created in front of the entrance, while the removal of parking spaces along Centre Avenue and Chestnut Street would facilitate wider sidewalks and new landscaping alongside the tower's east and west elevations. Vehicular access would take place along the north side of the tower, allowing for smooth traffic flow from Chestnut to Centre, with access points on both streets.
While the presentation was well received by the panel, a number of suggestions and concerns were raised. In particular, meeting IO's minimum requirement of LEED Silver Certification was seen as a somewhat unambitious target, and it was suggested that stronger sustainability standards be implemented.
The relatively small size of the public plaza on Armoury Street—which would see the northern lane of traffic removed to create a public space—was also critiqued. The team was implored to maximize the space and smoothly integrate it into the context of Nathan Phillips Square, which—the panel suggested—could be done by re-paving Armoury Street to match the square, designating it as a predominantly pedestrian space.
The panel also implored the PDC team to take the architectural character (and history) of the area into greater consideration when finalizing the design, expressing a desire to see the building cohesively integrated into the surrounding context. In addition, the panel suggested that the building's ageing process be incorporated into the design, with the possibility of an aesthetically rich patina put forth for the team to consider.
Though the project is still in its early stages—with a completion date of 2021 outlined today—the DRP meeting provided useful insight into how Toronto's future courthouse will take shape. Infrastructure Ontario (IO) has also recently announced that an AECOM-led consortium was selected as the planning, design and compliance (PDC) team to lead the project. We will keep you updated as more details regarding the project continue to emerge. In the meantime, you can get in on the conversation in UrbanToronto's dedicated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
