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One of the more unique development proposals in the city is 55 Yonge, a 66-storey tower from H&R REIT situated in the heart of the Financial District at the corner of Yonge and Colborne streets. The building is distinguished by its unique facade treatment, and is designed by BDP Quadrangle collaborating with PARTISANS. The development made an appearance at the Toronto Design Review Panel earlier this month, and while Panel members offered advice on how to improve the building, it left an overall positive impression on the experts.
The new tower would replace two existing commercial buildings on the property: a 12-storey tower at the southeast corner of Yonge and Colborne, and a 5-storey building just to the south. The ground floor and second floor of the new tower would contain over 1,100m² of retail, while the 13 storeys above would contain over 13,500m² of office space, replacing the existing offices on the site. At the 15th floor, the building pinches in where two levels of amenity spaces are located, and in the tower portion above, 482 condo units are contained on the remaining floors. The proponent team also indicated that they were in talks with the TTC and City to potentially provide connections to the adjacent King subway station and to the PATH network.
The facade is described by the design team as a "high-performance responsive facade" that is draped over the building like a textile, which blends together the podium and tower with a uniform, uninterrupted aesthetic. The facade pinches in at the 15th floor and 55th floor, which corresponds to changes of use in the building and also allows for a change in size of the facade modules. The lower office modules have slightly more fenestration and a different floor-to-floor span than the upper modules, which also helps with solar mitigation and energy savings. At the 15th floor amenity spaces, the facade becomes an open trellis as it angles over the outdoor terraces, creating a seamless transition from podium to tower.
The Panel was very impressed with the design of the building, describing it as "seductive," "enticing," "beautiful," and "ambitious." They were excited about the unconventional facade design, and were encouraged by the various ways the design team was exploring to make the building more environmentally sustainable. That said, there were a few key areas where the Panel suggested some tweaks to improve the relationship of the building to its surroundings.
One contentious issue where the proponent is at odds with the City's wishes was regarding the treatment of the ground plane and the setback of the building from the property line. The sidewalks along Yonge are quite narrow in this area but accommodate a large volume of pedestrians, so the City is looking for some setbacks from the property line to increase the size of the public realm. However, the design team argued that the adjacent buildings along this stretch, many of which are heritage, would still be maintaining that narrow sidewalk width, and that the City would be better served by using the existing right-of-way to enlarge the sidewalks instead. They cited the Yonge Tomorrow initiative, which will pedestrianize the stretch of Yonge between Queen and College Streets, as a precedent for using the existing right-of-way, and thought it better to extend that south than to push back the building facade.
The Panel largely sided with the City on this one, repeating their mantra that if a building is asking for a lot, it needs to give a lot back to the city. In this case, they argued that any public space, however small or discontinuous, that is given back to the public realm is better than none at all. They suggested either cinching in the building at its base, much like the treatment given to the tower facade above, or simply pushing back the glazing at the ground floor and separating it from the vertical facade elements to create an arcade. Both of these ideas, they argued, would increase the public realm, satisfy the City's requirements, and still maintain the architectural language of the tower.
Another area of concern from the City is the shadow cast by the tower on St James Park and Cathedral. The top of the tower is purposely angled so that the shadow does not hit the front facade of the cathedral, but it would still cast a shadow on the front lawn of the cathedral for short periods of time during the year. The Panel felt that the proposal was almost there, but that they should aim at having no shadows on the front lawn of the cathedral at all. It was also commented that the top of the tower felt disjointed and "lopped off", and that it had not received the same level of care and attention as the rest of the building facade. Panelists encouraged the design team to play a little more with the tower's peak to get it just right.
The Panel also pushed the design team to delve further into the sustainability aspects of the project. They pointed out that the demolition of the existing buildings is a huge waste of embodied carbon, and that part of what the tower can "give back" to the city in return would be to make it very energy-efficient. Suggestions included playing with the depth of the fins on the facade to respond to solar heat gain, and focusing on the building details to limit thermal bridging.
Overall, the Panel applauded the proposal and complimented the proponents on designing such an elegant tower. The final vote was 7-1 in support of the project.
We will keep you updated as 55 Yonge continues to work its way through the planning process, but in the meantime, you can learn more from our Database file for the project, linked below. If you'd like to, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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| Related Companies: | BDP Quadrangle, Bousfields, Counterpoint Engineering, EQ Building Performance Inc., Janet Rosenberg & Studio |
