Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Approval applications submitted to the City of Toronto on behalf of Trinity Point Development by the Goldberg Group showcase prospective renderings of Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects' design for a 22-storey residential mixed-use building.

Looking west along Shaftesbury Avenue at Summerhill subway station to the proposal, image from submission to the City of Toronto

Located at 1212 through 1220 Yonge Street, at the southwest corner of Alcorn Avenue and across from Shaftesbury Avenue and its entrance to Summerhill subway station, the application seeks to demolish a series of existing low-rise commercial buildings on a 1,365m² assembled plot in favour of an organic tower inspired by the developments that line Yonge Street's Summerhill neighbourhood. These existing three to four storeys buildings currently provide retail uses at grade and commercial offices above, typical of this stretch of Yonge Street.

Existing buildings on the west side of Yonge Street south of Alcorn Avenue, image retrieved from Apple Maps

Designated as a Mixed Use Area 'C' in the Yonge-St Clair Secondary Plan and defined within a Strategic Growth Area according to the City of Toronto's Growth Plan, the subject site's centrality and immediate proximity to higher order transit and surface transit outline its potential for growth and intensification. A 'Major Transit Station Area' can be defined as an "area within an approximate 500 to 800 metre radius of a transit station, representing about a 10-minute walk." 1212-1220 Yonge Street is approximately 90 m from Summerhill subway station, 625 m from St Clair subway station, and 600 m from Rosedale subway station, further emphasizing its appeal.

Site location at 1220 Yonge Street, image from submission to the City of Toronto

The 22-storey mixed-use proposal has a four-storey podium fronting Yonge Street and Alcorn Avenue. Rising to a total of 80.3m, the development has a Gross Floor Area of 13,862m², which includes 13,360m² of residential and 502m² of non-residential, which will give the site a density of 9.9 FSI.

The curved, more organic tower form that Brisbin Brook Benyon Architects have elected for is meant to appear less intrusive within the Yonge-St Clair neighbourhood. The softer edges provide fluidity to the slender tower helping to define the Yonge Street and Alcorn Avenue intersection.

The staggered filleted edges fronting Yonge Street — clad in limestone panelling and clear glass — define the grade-level retail units whilst improving the public realm through carefully curated hard and soft landscaping proposals. Set back 5.4m from the northeast property line at its greatest, this outdoor space is protected by an overhanging upper floor that shelters pedestrians accessing the double height, 7.1m tall residential lobby and retail units below. At ground level, 3.5 levels of underground parking are accessed via a laneway leading off Alcorn Avenue to the site's western perimeter providing 66 vehicle parking spaces and a portion of the scheme's 193 bicycle parking spaces.

Looking southwest across Yonge Street to the proposal, image from submission to the City of Toronto

Horizontal bronze colour metal channels pragmatically define each level and expertly wrap around the protruding balconies to give the scheme a sense of harmony. The expansive clear glazing abundant in 21st-century condominiums offers up views of the neighbourhood for residents and seemingly reduces the overall mass of the proposal.

In total, the development consists of 185 residential units comprising 65 one-bedroom units (35%), 99 two-bedroom units (54%), and 21 three-bedroom units (11%), which exceeds the City of Toronto's requirements for percentages of unit types. A total of 302m² of indoor amenity space and 351m² of outdoor amenity space are also provided for residents.

UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, 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:

EQ Building Performance Inc., Goldberg Group, Grounded Engineering Inc., LEA Consulting, RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering