Centennial Hotels Limited are looking to kickstart a redevelopment of the Cambridge Suites Hotel in Downtown Toronto with a proposed 71-storey mixed-use condominium building designed by WMZH Architects. The Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications prepared by Bousfields Inc. would see the existing 21-storey hotel building retained and altered with a series of structural and design interventions allowing for another soaring 230.85m tall tower to be erected in Toronto's Financial District.

Aerial view looking southwest to the existing building (l) and the proposal (r), image courtesy of WZMH Architects

Situated at 15 Richmond Street East on the southwest corner with Victoria Street, the 1,082.63m² site is currently occupied a 21-storey mixed-use building with retail uses at grade level and 231 suites-style hotel units above that has been present since 1990. This lies within both Toronto's iconic 'Financial District' and the Downtown Yonge East neighbourhood, characterized by high-rise buildings and the subject of residential, commercial, and institutional intensification.

Site location at 15 Richmond Street East, image courtesy of WZMH Architects

Existing vehicular access is provided via a covered private driveway leading off Richmond Street East to the North. This driveway serves both the subject building and adjacent 151 Yonge Street, providing a vehicular drop-off point and allowing subsequent access to the shared underground parking. 15 Richmond Street East's centrality means it is well served by the existing transit network. At 120m, Queen Station is the closest of the TTC's subway stations; however, the site also benefits from a further five subway stations on Yonge-University Line 1, each no further than 690m away. Two surface transit services also supplement the site, the 501 Queen and 504 King streetcar routes that operate east to west. Within about a decade's time, Queen Station will also welcome the Ontario Line 3 subway, construction of which is starting presently.

Looking southwest to the existing Cambridge Suites Hotel, image courtesy of WZMH Architects

Totalling 40,683m² in Gross Floor Area with a floor space index of 37.58, the proposal is configured in a "canyon" typology as dubbed by Planning Rationale documentation. This sees a 23-storey podium building that corresponds with the massing of the site's existing building with a further 48 storeys added above, containing a total of 565 residential units comprised of 330 one-bedrooms (58%), 169 two-bedrooms (30%), and 66 three-bedrooms (12%), which meets the City of Toronto's requirements for percentages of family-sized unit types. Alongside this, the proposal would also feature 1,684m² of Indoor amenity space and 165m² of outdoor amenity space. 

Looking southwest to the proposed redevelopment of the Cambridge Suites Hotel, image courtesy of WZMH Architects

A process diagram that simplifies the expansion process of the building has been produced by WZMH Architects. Step by step, it covers the various moves to transition the current building into the expanded one.

  1. roof comes off, new more efficient mechanical floors added along with transfer slab
  2. existing floors to be expanded to full extents of widest sections, new thermal façade applied including bird-friendly glass, electrical system completely updated
  3. 48 new storeys extended above new transfer slab
  4. tower sculpted by recessing lowest transitional floors and west side, green roof where possible
  5. balconies added in places, and accent frame applied to create rhythm on the exterior

The process of expanding on the current building, image courtesy of WZMH Architects

Using the existing building as a base instead of tearing it down retains its embodied carbon and drastically reduces the emissions that would result from tearing down the existing structure for a full new building replacement.

At grade, the base building would maintain the existing 0m setbacks along Richmond Street East, Victoria Street, and the southern property line, to maximize gross floor area. 126m² of retail space would front Richmond, sitting adjacent to a dedicated residential lobby, vehicular loading zone, ancillary spaces, and a vehicular ramp, accessed from the existing shared driveway. The underground garage would provide 21 vehicle parking spaces and a portion of the proposal's 571 bicycle parking spaces.

Lower portion of the expanded 15 Richmond Street East, image courtesy of WZMH Architects

Externally, the redeveloped building is defined by a staggered rectangular grid of light-coloured aluminium panels that efficiently segment the building horizontally and vertically and prevent the building from feeling monotonous. These are interspersed with metallic mullions and transparent glazing panels that allow WMZH Architects to leave a creative mark on the façade and define individual residential units.

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:  Bousfields, Ferris + Associates Inc., Grounded Engineering Inc., RWDI Climate and Performance Engineering, WZMH Architects