Tag Archives: design and construction
Home of the Week
Clever design opens up a once brooding space
Deirdre Kelly – Globe and Mail
60 Woodlawn Avenue West, Toronto – $2.495-million
The back story
Purchased by a professional couple with a child in 2008, this 1970′s house on Woodlawn Avenue, close to Yonge Street on the northern border of Rosedale, had location going for it, but little else.
In seriously run-down condition, a total renovation was deemed necessary to bring the semi-detached four-storey, three-bedroom house up-to-date. Hired to do the deed was Toronto firm Reigo & Bauer, headed by partners Stephen and Merike Bauer, a husband-and-wife team who are graduates of the University of Toronto’s School of Architecture.
“The couple wanted to take advantage of the location and the views, but give the house a contemporary townhouse feeling,” explains Ms. Bauer, adding that a series of demolitions was needed to accomplish this goal. “Before the renovation the house had a decent shell, but the interiors were very dated, not having been altered since the original construction.”
The interior was also overwhelmingly dark as a result of the kitchen and entry being cut off from the rest of the house.
“The dining room was enclosed with partition walls,” Ms. Bauer adds, “resulting in a very broken-up plan.”
She and her husband directed most of their creative energies on the main living space and the master bedroom, while also adding new trim, paint, doors, windows, fixtures – even furniture – throughout the home. The overhaul was extensive but went surprisingly fast: “The actual timeline on the job was really fast for the design and construction portion,” Ms. Bauer says. “We began the design in June of 2007 and ended by the end of the year, which is when the clients moved in.
“We approached the finishing of the interior at a much more relaxed pace, taking our time to select the right furnishings, lighting and wallpaper, a process that took us well into 2008.”
What’s new
Everything on the main floor is new: Built-in cabinetry in the foyer, a powder room with custom Corian sink and silver and black damask wall paper, hardwood floors, invisible in-wall speakers hardwired to a concealed A/V hub, a custom kitchen and sliding doors at the rear of the house which open onto the backyard.
On the second floor, the Bauers left the footprint of the original master bedroom, but took the decor up a notch by raising the entrance doors to seven feet in height and adding high-gloss imported Italian door and trim. They also reconfigured the master ensuite bathroom and dressing room area, adding new fixtures and finishes.
Next, they redesigned the central stairwell, creating a solid sculptural form to echo the curves in the existing second floor hallway. The basement and third floor were also renovated, but not as extensively as the rest of the house. On the third floor, the windows were enlarged to take advantage of the views of downtown Toronto, and a small kitchenette was installed next to a refinished bathroom.
“I think this house shows what can be done to overhaul an interior to make it contemporary but comfortable at the same time,” Ms. Bauer says.
Best feature
The custom-designed drinks cabinet dividing the dining room from the living room separates the interior space, enabling the dining room to be properly defined while at the same time serving as a piece of furniture that that can be pulled away from the wall for more informal entertaining.
“Clad in the same bold black and white composite wood veneer as the kitchen island, and featuring interior lighting and a red back-painted glass base, the floor-to-ceiling unit opens from both sides for drinks to be served in either room. It’s got panache,” says Ms. Bauer says.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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Unobstructed views on display at Exhibit
Ryan Starr – Yourhome.ca
Architect Rosario Varacalli didn’t need to look very far for inspiration when he was designing Exhibit Residences, a 32-storey condo soon to be built directly across from the Royal Ontario Museum.
Daniel Libeskind’s Crystal, the striking 2007 addition to the ROM, was an obvious muse.
Varacalli, director of design and construction for Exhibit builder Bazis International, felt that the north side of Bloor St. should not merely serve as a “background of architecture” for Libeskind’s iconic work. (The Exhibit site is currently home to a McDonald’s and several other businesses).
Instead, Varacalli wanted his tower to have what he describes as an “understated dialogue” with the ROM adjunct.
Accordingly, the Exhibit highrise will comprise four stacked cubes that are offset from one another and jut out in different directions — Crystal-like — making the building seem slightly off-kilter as it climbs into the sky.
The four cubes are covered in frittered glass, which Varacalli says will give the tower an “ethereal sort of quality.”
Exhibit will include 200 residences, ranging from 650 square feet to over 2,000 square feet. Prices start at around $500,000 and go to over $2 million for the penthouses (which are located in a penthouse cube that takes up the building’s top nine floors).
The development team includes Bazis International, Metropia Urban Landscapes and Plazacorp, the same group behind Emerald Park condos at Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave.
Exhibit’s grand opening is planned for the end of the month and construction is slated to begin in fall 2012.
The project is being aimed at a broad portion of the market, as befits a condo located in the heart of the city.
“It’s an urbane site,” Varacalli says. “So you’ll have singles, couples, the elderly — everybody. It’s for people who enjoy the city.”
Exhibit’s interiors and common spaces are designed by Toronto’s Burdifilek, better know for their retail designs, including Holt Renfrew and the Stratus Vineyard in Niagara.
Diego Burdi, one of the firm’s principals, wanted the suites to have a contemporary and simple feel, with a neutral design palette. “The spaces are what I would call modern-classic,” he says. “They’ll stand the test of time.”
The units have hardwood flooring that Burdi says was developed exclusively for the project.
His firm also custom-designed the kitchen cabinetry (which will have hidden hardware, making the cabinets look built-in). Bathrooms will have custom vanities, as well.
Most Exhibit suites will have either a balcony or terrace, both in some cases.
The units are oriented north or south and the vistas are guaranteed. Indeed, with the ROM, Queen’s Park and the University of Toronto to the south, and residential neighbourhoods to the north, Exhibit inhabitants will enjoy unobstructed views for “forever and a day,” Varacalli says.
Exhibit’s name is a nod to the various cultural hotspots located just outside its doors: the ROM, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Gardiner Museum of ceramic arts and Philosopher’s Walk, which connects through to the University of Toronto.
The condo is also steps from Yorkville and a stone’s throw from Canada’s most expensive stretch of retail, Bloor St. W. (aka the Mink Mile), and its who’s who of high-end designer shops, including Prada, Chanel, Tiffany’s and Gucci.
Exhibit will have retail located in the tower’s first two levels, and the first glass cube will cantilever out over Bloor, providing protection from nasty weather.
The TTC subway line runs under the site, so an eight-level above-ground parking garage — the building’s fifth cube — will be built above ground and behind the tower. Residents on Exhibit’s first eight floors will have the convenience of living on the same level as their cars.
The top floor of the parking garage will house the building’s amenity space, an “outdoor oasis” that will include a terrace with sculpture garden and reflecting pool. There’ll be a bar and lounge, party room and private dining areas.
One floor above, overlooking this oasis, will be a fitness centre that includes a yoga studio and fireside lounge.
“It’s a hidden jewel that you’d only know about if you were invited into the space,” Burdi says of the garage-top garden terrace. “For anybody living in the building, it’s like having your own private park.”
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
———————————————————————————————————————
Incoming search terms
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Tribute Communities Celebrates Topping Off of Innovative Queen & Portland Condominium
It has rightly been called one of the most innovative residential projects in the City of Toronto and a vision of what city life should be like the future. Now Queen & Portland, set on the streets of the same name in the city’s Downtown West neighbourhood has completed the first giant step towards move in day.
Developer Tribute communities, its partner RioCan REIT, buyers and the retailers that will occupy lower floor space gathered today to officially top off the amazing mixed-use project.
What makes Queen & Portland so unique is that it is as close as a manageable sized condo can come to being a blended neighbourhood, complete with residences, retail and even green spaces and small terraces in the sky.
Q&P is a 7-storey, mid-rise structure that starts with two and a half levels of retail space and uses that as a base on which to set a modern marvel of terraces, sky gardens, lofts and traditional suites.
That retail space will be home to an urban version of Loblaws, Joe Fresh and Winners among others. The Loblaws will occupy approximately 38,700 sq. ft. over the entire second floor; Joe Fresh, Teopia, Bank of Montreal and one other will be on the street level and Winners will share the third floor with some residential suites that face onto Queen West.
As Tribute president Al Libfeld pointed out to this audience, no other downtown project offers residents their own 20,000-square-foot landscaped mini-park high above Queen West. In fact, it is a mini-park designed by the city’s top Green designer – Andrea Kantelberg. What other condominium can say residents have their own front or backyards – terraces that range from 300 to 1,125 square feet in size, he asked.
“We are enormously proud of Q&P,” he said.”I think we have created something here that brings lasting credit to everyone involved with the project – our partner RioCan, the design and construction teams and our forward thinking retailers.”
Queen and Portland currently offers lofts, one-bedroom as well as three bedroom suites large enough for a family.
The lofts are especially dramatic. There are 9 of them on the third floor facing Queen West. Each has 10-foot ceilings and the dramatic floor-to-ceiling north facing windows open onto those terrific terraces.
Upper floors offer large two-bedroom and two-bedroom and den traditional residences. They can run as much as 1,300 square feet and have their own east-facing terraces, some large enough for a game of croquet.
As for amenities, Tribute knows its market. The Queen and Portland area is the big plus here. The condominium will have a state-of-the-art exercise room and a concierge to man the lobby desk and a banquet of diversions just outside the front door.
If fashion is your thing, you’ll find edgy designer boutiques, classic vintage shops and familiar fare like Winners downstairs and Club Monaco and Le Chateau all within steps of each other. If music is your life, then Q&P is the place to live it. It’s just a matter of finding your favourite amongst the countless record stores in the area, from independents like Rotate This to HMV.
Groove with your favourite bands live at clubs like the legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Rivoli and Reverb. Make your own music by picking up a guitar at Steve’s Music and dance the night away in the nearby club district. If you’re in the mood for something more relaxing, enjoy a local art gallery, find something to read at Queen West Staples, Silver Snail Comics or Pages Books and Magazines, take a stroll in Trinity-Bellwoods Park, or pamper yourself at the Hammam Spa.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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