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Situated at the corner of High Park Avenue and Annette Street, between West Toronto’s High Park and Junction neighbourhoods, Medallion Capital Group’s 260 High Park development is moving towards structural completion in its fourth year of construction. The project is framed around the adaptive reuse of the early 20th century High Park Alhambra United Church, transforming the former place of worship into a residential community through a reworking of the original building plus an L-shaped four-storey addition around it, creating a total of 70 new units in the process.
Tracking how construction has progressed, the project broke ground at the end of 2019, but visible work wouldn’t commence until the following Spring. By June of 2020, shoring was well underway on the parcel of land located south of church building, above which the four-storey addition would rise.
Simultaneously, demolition was advancing on the church’s western volume that formerly housed the sunday school; this section was the only significant portion of the original exterior structure that would be demolished, the rest would be retained. Heritage work was also making more progress on the removal of the stain glass windows, which were taken off site for safe restoration.
Returning to the site just under a year later, the most notable change is the addition of the tower crane. With the excavation process completed at this time, the crane installation marked the start of the forming process for the addition, beginning with the foundations.
Fast forward to last week, and we see a project that would be unrecognizable if it wasn’t for the landmark Church building anchoring the corner. Beginning at the south end of the site, the primary volume of the addition is now topped off at its complete height of four storeys, bringing a distinct new presence to the historic site that mimics the scale of the heritage building. We can also see that the ramp down to the underground parkade is nearing completion along the southernmost edge of the building.
Moving northward, the impression of the central courtyard and walkup to the primary entrance of the building can now be felt, with the structures that will frame it on all three sides mostly complete.
The addition also extends north, along the site’s west side, with the portion of the sunday school building's original walls retained where they face Annette Street in the northwest corner of the site. In the image below, while three floors can be seen connecting to the heritage walls, the fourth floor is already being formed above, but with a step-back incorporated into the massing, it cannot be seen from the adjacent sidewalk, allowing the appearance of the congruent heights to remain intact.
With Finegold Alexander Architects and ERA Architects presiding over the heritage component, and Turner Fleischer Architects responsible for the new build structure, the design team has work collaboratively to deliver a product that respects heritage elements while adding new volume that is complementary and not overwhelming, all while delivering new housing.
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: | Clark Construction Management Inc, McIntosh Perry, MEP Design Inc., Turner Fleischer Architects, U31, Wilkinson Construction Services Inc. |
