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UrbanToronto is celebrating 20 YEARS throughout October with stories and images looking back over the last two decades. Today we start our looks back at architecture and planning over the period, the first of several deep dives.
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The year was 2003. The world was still in the aftershocks of 9/11, the SARS virus swept across the globe (remember when we called them “SARS masks”?), Beyoncé released her debut solo album, and it would still be another four years until the iPhone hit the market and we all said goodbye to our Blackberries. Jean Chretien resigned as Prime Minister amidst the Sponsorship Scandal, while George W. Bush led the United States into the invasion of Iraq. Closer to home, David Miller succeeded Mel Lastman as Mayor of Toronto, and Dalton McGuinty toppled the Conservatives from power to begin the Ontario Liberals’ 15-year dynasty in the Premier’s office. It was also the time that UrbanToronto's Forum began to take off.
We are publishing a series of retrospective articles looking back at 20 years of UrbanToronto, examining how the city we all know and love has evolved into the global powerhouse that it is today. Using our extensive database of local knowledge, built up over the past two decades, we are presenting our unique perspective on Toronto’s growth and the buildings, movements, people, and planning that have had the biggest influence on our built environment today. As Toronto has emerged into the 21st century, UrbanToronto has been at the centre of it all, and we look forward to celebrating this special moment with our beloved readers as we reflect on the past and glimpse into the future of Canada’s largest city.
Toronto Architecture in the 21st Century
Since 2003, Toronto has grown to become the fourth-largest city in North America and a formidable player on the global stage. With this new status has come an unprecedented building boom unlike the city has ever seen. Since 2015, Toronto has held the title of having the most construction cranes in North America each year, and continues to outpace construction in most North American cities. One might argue that Toronto’s architecture has become more ‘global’ as a result — that is to say, it looks similar to many projects happening elsewhere in the world, swept up in the disappearance of the vernacular that has accompanied globalization. But if you look closely enough, there are aspects of our buildings that make them uniquely local.
Where does one begin unpacking such a broad subject such as architecture? With so many possible avenues to explore, this article will only focus on the building typologies that have had the biggest impact over the past 20 years, and which comprise the vast majority of UrbanToronto’s publications. That means we will not be focusing on private residential homes, townhouses, or small-scale commercial buildings, but instead will focus on the more visible projects that define broader trends in how Toronto’s architecture has evolved.
There are several trends that have defined Toronto’s architecture over the past two decades. We have selected a few to focus on below that we consider to be the most influential, which have reshaped the city and created the image that defines Toronto’s identity today.
Get to the Point (Tower): Toronto Builds Up
There has been one type of building that has dominated the Toronto architectural scene over the past 20 years, and that is — to no one’s surprise — condominiums. Land scarcity driven by restrictive zoning by-laws and coupled with a rising demand to live closer to the city centre has forced developers to look up to the skies and build increasingly denser and taller buildings.
If there is one piece of architecture that the City of Toronto has perfected, it would be the tower-and-podium typology. A tower-and-podium building is defined as having a wide, bulky base, typically built out to the property line and rising no more than 10 storeys, with a skinny tower rising above, typically set back from the property line on all four sides. This massing was codified in perhaps the most architecturally influential City of Toronto planning document of the 21st century, the Tall Building Design Guidelines. The Tall Building Guidelines are used by city planners to assess development applications and were officially adopted by City Council in 2013, though the ideas contained within are a consolidation of guidelines that planning staff had already been using in the years prior.
The tower-and-podium form is very prevalent in Canadian architecture, most notably Toronto and Vancouver. It is a distinctly 21st century model, and while it has been the standard for high-rise residential buildings since the early 2000s, it has been implemented in various ways over the years. In their architectural expression, earlier buildings tend to treat the tower as an extension of the podium, where both components were often finished with the same materials or patterns and the tower often comes down to meet grade. Perhaps the best example of this treatment can be seen in the CityPlace and Fort York neighbourhoods, where towers meet the ground without setbacks from their base, and the architectural finishes are homogeneous on both podium and tower.
In more recent years, architects have been expressing the podiums and towers as two visually distinct components. Developments like The Well and the Festival Tower, for example, have a clear break in massing, materiality, and expression between the podium and tower. Others, like One Bloor East and Wellesley on the Park, attempt to blend podium and tower together with similar expression and materiality, but there is still a clear distinction in massing between the two. Neighbourhoods like Regent Park and the Entertainment District display various forms of this play between podium and tower where materiality, patterns, and massing are used in different ways to distinguish the two components from each other. This distinction may be a result of increasingly mixed-use developments, where the podiums often contain non-residential uses at least on the ground floor, and where there is a desire to visually distinguish the separate uses from each other. But suffice it to say that it is very rare these days to see a tower expressed as a single volume from top to bottom.
Regardless of its expression, the tower-and-podium model continues to proliferate across the city, with entire neighbourhoods being built using this form. It certainly is one of the most influential typologies that has transformed Toronto’s streetscapes over the past two decades, and one which has become a signature style for the city.
All Dressed Up And Nowhere to Go: Building Materials
When it comes to finishes, there is one material that has clearly dominated Toronto’s 21st century architecture: glass. The architects and engineers of the 20th century gifted us with the concept of transparency in architecture, and those ideas have permeated nearly every realm of building design. Window walls and curtain walls are one of the easiest and most economical ways to clad a building, and they offer versatility in their design while maximizing sunlight and views for the occupants. The ideas of light, openness, and transparency have been fully embraced in Toronto’s 21st-century architecture.
We are all familiar with the forest of glass-clad skyscrapers spread across the city, but our love of glass is not just restricted to high-rise buildings. Many civic and institutional buildings, traditionally built as imposing masses of brick, stone, and concrete, have made an intentional pivot to glass in the 21st century in order to present a more transparent, public, and welcoming face to visitors. There is a clear trend in the design of new community centres, libraries, universities and colleges, health care facilities, and municipal buildings, among others, to be more open, fluid, and public-facing in both their interior and exterior design, and glass is an integral component of crafting these kinds of spaces.
It could perhaps be said, however, that Toronto has gone too far in its love of glass, the prevalence of blue-green glass condos eliciting many a gripe from residents in the city. There is, however, a trend in recent years to shift away from the monotony of all glass-and-spandrel finishes to a more eclectic mix of materials, driven by sustainability initiatives to reduce window-to-solid wall ratios and perhaps a general fatigue of seeing too many mullions.
Masonry has become a more common material of late, particularly on podiums but sometimes on towers as well, such as with The Selby or PJ Condos, often appearing in the form of precast brick panels, precast concrete panels, or terracotta. Metal panels have also been a popular alternative to glass spandrels, as is the case with Picasso Condos, the Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex, and the Canoe Landing Community Centre and Schools. Along with a more eclectic choice in materials, architects have become braver with adding splashes of colour to their buildings, though the jury is still out on whether or not to call this a trend, as cladding selection in Toronto still overwhelmingly falls in the realm of neutral tones and greys.
As an alternative to mixing materials, architects have also been playing with balcony forms as a way to provide visual interest to what would otherwise be a glass rectangle. Developments like the Massey Tower; One Bloor East; 411 Church Street and its neighbour Stanley Condos; and Harbour Plaza Residences feature unique balcony shapes and patterns that create a distinct aesthetic for the building, while still employing standard window wall facades behind.
Glass has dominated much of Toronto’s architecture over the past 20 years, and continues to play an important role in the design of many building typologies. Recent trends, however, indicate a shift away from the more uniform glass facades of the 2000s to more textured and layered volumes, whether it be in the form of new materials, funky balconies, or other unique facade treatments. There may be some monotony from two decades of glass, but Toronto’s built environment is becoming more and more eclectic.
Star Power: Landmark Architecture and the Starchitects
No review of Toronto architecture is complete without mentioning the many landmark buildings constructed by famous architects — known in the industry as ‘starchitects’ — over the past 20 years. With the rise of Toronto’s status as a global city has come the attraction of international designers to leave their mark on the city with buildings that have attracted worldwide attention for their avant-garde designs. There is no overarching style that characterizes these buildings; each one is unique to the style of its site and its architect, designed to intentionally be different from everything else around it. Their common thread is that each is intended to be a landmark, a piece of iconic architecture with its own unique identity.
While Toronto was no stranger to starchitects before the turn of the century — Mies van der Rohe’s TD Centre, I.M. Pei’s Commerce Court, and Santiago Calatrava’s Allen Lambert Galleria are some examples — they were few and far between. In recent years, however, the floodgates have opened, and nearly all of the big-name starchitects have or are planning to build in Toronto.
There were three landmark projects that opened in quick succession in the mid-2000s that thrust Toronto into the international spotlight. OCAD University’s Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design was the first to open in 2004, designed by acclaimed British architect Will Alsop, which still stuns passers-by with its unusual checkered box propped up by colourful steel posts. This was followed by Frank Gehry’s expansion of the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2007, a more restrained intervention from the Canadian-born architect compared to his other deconstructivist works, whose loopy interior staircase and cavernous Galleria Italia still impress today. Finally, Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind completed his expansion of the Royal Ontario Museum in 2008, and — love it or hate it — its sharp angles certainly make a bold statement that carries the same ‘wow’ factor it did 15 years ago.
Since then, a roster of starchitects have come to Toronto and left their mark, including Snøhetta (TMU Student Learning Centre, 2015); Foster + Partners (Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy Building, 2006; York University subway station, 2017; The One, under construction); Fumihiko Maki (Aga Khan Museum, 2014); Charles Correa (Ismaili Centre, 2015); Moshe Safdie (Pearson Airport Terminal 1, 2004; Monde, 2016); Renzo Piano (Ontario Court of Justice, 2023); Bjarke Ingels Group (King Toronto Condos, under construction; Union Centre, in planning); Richard Rogers (St Lawrence Market North Building, under construction); and Jeanne Gang (One Delisle, under construction). Others like Herzog de Meuron (1200 Bay) and Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Centre for Civilizations, Culture, and Cities) have buildings in the design and planning phases.
Usually restricted to institutional or civic buildings, starchitects are getting more and more involved in residential projects in the city. A trio of internationally-renowned Danish firms are making their mark on the Toronto landscape: Henning Larsen Architects were involved in the East Harbour and Downsview master plans, while also designing the winning competition entry for the Etobicoke Civic Centre; COBE Architects have several buildings completed and under construction in the Canary Landing development, while The James at Scrivener Square is currently under construction; and 3XN have built Aqualuna at Bayside, with Aquabella, T3 Bayside, and 64-86 Bathurst all under construction. Many of the starchitects listed above have or are planning to build residential projects in the city as well, including Daniel Libeskind (L Tower, 2015) and Frank Gehry (Forma, under construction).
Special mention also needs to be given to landmark buildings designed by our own home-grown starchitects. Internationally-renowned firms Diamond Schmitt Architects (Four Seasons Centre, 2006), Hariri Pontarini Architects (Jackman Law Building, 2016; One Bloor East, 2018; Pinnacle One Yonge, under construction), and KPMB Architects (Gardiner Museum, 2006; Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre, 2009; TIFF Bell Lightbox and Festival Tower, 2010; revitalization of Massey Hall, 2021) are building landmarks both in Toronto and around the world.
Needless to say, each starchitect project has raised the international profile of Toronto and pushed the boundaries of what is possible in this city. The sprinkling of international flavour has provided some vibrant and playful landmarks over the past 20 years, and there are many more to come.
Emerging Trends for the Next 20 Years
What will Toronto’s architecture look like in another 20 years? It is a tough question to answer, but there are a few emerging trends that look to be gaining momentum, which have the potential to make a significant impact on the city’s built environment in the coming decades.
Mass timber construction, particularly its use in high-rise buildings, is certainly a trend to watch out for. In 2022, changes to the Ontario Building Code officially came into effect which increased the allowable height for mass timber structures from 6 storeys to 12 storeys. Several mass timber buildings have already been completed or are under construction in Toronto, including 80 Atlantic, T3 Bayside, T3 Sterling Road, and George Brown College’s Limberlost Place, all of which range in height from 5 to 11 storeys. Two more proposals currently in the planning stages are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with mass timber: the University of Toronto is planning a 14-storey academic tower, and a 28-storey rental residential tower is being proposed for 191 College. It would be no surprise if more mass timber mid-rise and high-rise buildings began appearing across the city.
Much of the hype around new construction in Toronto tends to focus on towers, but the future may be focused on development at a much smaller scale. Mid-rise developments have already been making an impact city-wide, particularly with the City encouraging the development of mid-rises along avenues in more suburban locales, and this trend is likely to intensify with land becoming more and more scarce in the city centre. The concept of the Missing Middle is also gaining steam as a potential solution to the housing crisis. Defined as all housing typologies scaled between single-family homes and mid-rises, there is political pressure to unlock restrictive zoning in single-family neighbourhoods in order to allow gentler density to be integrated throughout the city, rather than concentrating new housing as high-density nodes of towers. While perhaps not as visibly transformative as towers, these smaller-scale interventions could have a huge impact on Toronto’s urban environment in the coming decades.
Finally, a topic that is sure to dominate design discussions in Toronto over the next 20 years is sustainability. Toronto has some of the most ambitious environmental goals in North America, with a target of becoming net-zero by 2040. The City has already taken steps to ensure new construction is more environmentally friendly: the Toronto Green Standard was first introduced in 2010, and is now on Version 4 as of 2022, with each subsequent version introducing more and more stringent requirements for new developments. As well, in 2009, Toronto became the first city in North America to pass a by-law mandating all new large developments to have green roofs. As the climate crisis reaches more critical levels, the sustainability requirements for new construction will only become more demanding over the coming years, and this will certainly have an impact on the architecture and design of Toronto’s buildings.
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UrbanToronto will return tomorrow with another story celebrating 20 YEARS. In the meantime, check back often to our front page and Forum to keep an eye on all the current and emerging trends, and you can always leave your comments in the space below.
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Thank you to the companies joining UrbanToronto to celebrate our 20 years in business.
