The next phase of Tridel and Hines' nascent Bayside Toronto community was revealed today. Just east of the Aqualina and Aquavista construction sites—where cranes are beginning to lift the waterfront community into place—the Bayside sales centre was the site of today's announcement. It is also within sight of the waterfront community's latest residential phase, which we have now learned will be designed by Denmark's 3XN. 

Looking north at 3XN at Bayside, image courtesy of Tridel/Hines

Together with representatives from Tridel, 3XN's Kim Herforth Nielsen and Audun Opdal were on hand to discuss the design, which is characterized by an interplay of stacked volumes. Nielsen, a co-founder of the firm, stressed "views of the water, neighbourhood parks, and city skyline," as a driving force of the 15-storey building's irregular form. 

3XN co-founder Kim Herforth Nielsen introduces the design, image by Jack Landau

With a series of 64m² terraces topping the building, the massing strategy allows each residence an unobstructed view of the water, while the building's sloping and somewhat irregular form avoids the impact of a monolithic presence on the waterfront. For the architects, the goal was to create an intimate community ambiance within a dense urban environment. Particularly inspired by "the cottages of the Toronto islands," Opdal describes the outdoor spaces as a conduit for socialization.

A closer look at the stacked terrace from the 7th floor amenity area, image courtesy of Tridel/Hines

For 3XN, the design attempts to recreate the intimate urban ecology of some of the city's best residential neighbourhoods. Maintaining an architectural typology of "human-scale volumes" across the body of the building, the terraces create comfortable environments with "texture, colour, depth and variety," Herforth Nielsen explains. Individualized landscaping will also allow residents to create more private spaces, while a 7th floor amenity terrace with pool (seen above) will provide a fully communal space.  

Looking northeast, the building will look out over Aitken Place park to the west, image courtesy of Tridel/Hines

The massing strategy also works to preserve sunlight to Aitken Place Park, which will neighbour the development to the west. The L-shaped building—which extends north along its western frontage and narrowing out towards the east—is set to feature "approximately 200 units," Opdal tells us, though finalized details are still to come. 

3XN's Audan Opdal is the principal architect for the project, image by Jack Landau

Tridel's Jim Ritchie describes the project as an "end-user dominated" development, which will features suites "in the 1,000 ft² to 2,000 ft² range." Marketing for the upscale project—which will likely be geared towards down-sizers and families—is set to begin towards the end of the year, and we can expect more concrete details to emerge throughout the coming months. 3XN's design was chosen following an international competition, with Toronto-based Kirkor Architects listed as architects of record. 

The building is represented by a stand-in scale model to the right of Aitken Place Park and Aquavista, image by Jack Landau

Once complete, the 13 acre Bayside neighbourhood will feature six residential and two office buildings, and will bring approximately 1,800 new homes to the waterfront. Developed in line with Waterfront Toronto's vision, the $1.1 billion master-planned development is reshaping a significant part of the city's east lakefront, with the mixed-use community a far cry from the post-industrial landscape that once dominated much of the area. The proposal has just been seen by Waterfront Toronto's Design Review Panel for the first time, and still has to pass through the City of Toronto's planning application process.

A contextual rendering showing 3XN's design alongside Aquavista, image courtesy of Tridel/Hines

We will keep you updated as the project continues to develop, and new information becomes available. In the meantime, make sure to check out our associated dataBase file for more information. Want to share your thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment in the space below this page, or join in the ongoing discussion on our Forum.