Tag Archives: Ontario Association of Architects
An industrial designer’s Toronto home
Deirdre Kelly – Globe and Mail
Comment: We have all seen it as we drive along Richmond, the concrete block house next to the wild little garden. Now, this amazing house just east of Portland is for sale. Come, read all about it…
The Back Story
Specializing in product design and development, Richard Brault and Dianne Croteau, founders of Toronto’s Studio Innova, purchased a small parking lot on Richmond St. W. in 1993, hoping eventually to build a modern live/work space providing a physical separation between the design studio and their personal residence.
“When we were at home we wanted to be at home, not in the studio,” says Ms. Croteau, a Canadian-born industrial designer who earned her Masters in design from Milan’s Domus Academy. “The complete separation between the studio and residence proved to be very beneficial. When at home we never felt that the studio was encroaching on our personal space, yet we were only one-level away from work. Our residence remained private. Our studio remained professional.
Working in tandem with her architect-brother, Murray Croteau in Ottawa, the married couple with a grown son worked a year on the modernist building that in 1997 won the Ontario Association of Architects Award of Excellence for residential design.
“At the time, in 1995, the King Street West/Queen Street West and Portland Street area had no similar modernist buildings, and there were no condos,” says Mr. Brault, who graduated with high distinction from the School of Industrial Design, Carleton University, in his native Ottawa, in 1982. “Studio House was one of the first legal live-work buildings in the area, a new concept that required 18 months to obtain City approvals. We like to think of ourselves as pioneers in the area. When at home we never felt that the studio was encroaching on our personal space, yet we were one-level away. Our residence remained private. Our studio remained professional.”
Empty nesters, they are selling now because their lifestyle and business needs have changed.
What’s New
Made of concrete and steel as well as natural materials such as exposed block and solid maple floors, the freehold building is spread over four levels, featuring generous open spaces, high ceilings, extensive natural light from large custom windows.
The two levels of commercial space encompass 1,764 square feet, in addition to 200 square feet of fenced-in private deck space. The two levels of residential space are spread out over another 2,252 square feet of interior living space with an additional 350 square feet of private courtyard.
The property comes with a secure and accessible underground garage with an elevator. Other notable features include a two-storey glass entrance foyer, custom oversized, solid-core doors, custom metal railings and a wood-burning fireplace.
Best Feature
The 19-foot window wall from the kitchen with a view of the vegetated courtyard is not just an architectural detail, it’s an experience,” says Ms. Croteau. “It opens up the space to the outdoors, giving a feeling of expansiveness. You’d never know from being inside the space that you were in downtown Toronto.”
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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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Falling condo glass issue to be considered at committee meeting
Showwei Chu, CityNews.ca
A report reviewing falling glass at several city condos will be considered at a planning and growth management committee meeting on Tuesday morning.
Toronto Building’s chief building official was asked to report on her findings and make recommendations for action relating to the safety of glass-paneled balcony guards.
During the summer, numerous glass panels shattered at condos in downtown Toronto, including ones at the TIFF Bell Lightbox building and Lanterra Developments’ properties on Grosvenor, Grenville and Bedford.
In Lanterra’s case, the company decided to remove all the tempered glass at its three properties and replace them with laminated glass.
The city report provided possible causes for the failure of glass-paneled balconies in the city.
Nickel sulphide inclusions was identified as the most likely cause of failure in the buildings aggravated by other factors such as loading or deflection, according to a technical review by a professional engineer hired by Toronto Building.
Toronto Building is implementing changes to its review of permits where glass panels may be used and is recommending the city share its analysis with condo developers and regulatory authorities.
It’s recommending that several associations — Toronto Building and Land Development Association, TARION, Ontario Association of Architects and Professional Engineers Ontario — update their practices and professional training on the use of glass panels in balcony guards.
Toronto building is also recommending that the city request emergency amendments to building codes at the national and provincial levels so that the minimum standards of construction minimize the potential for future glass balcony failures.
Staff has been asked also to report to the committee early next year to provide an update on the actions of the city in addressing glass paneled balcony guards and public safety.
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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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A building full of art is an inspiring place to live
Deirdre Kelly – Globe and Mail
When Ken Zuckerman, owner of Zinc Construction, completed a new, boutique-hotel-inspired loft conversion in downtown Toronto last year, he decided to keep the best loft for himself. Located at 113-115 Dupont, this old commercial warehouse is now home to seven massive multi-million dollar luxury lofts.
Measuring 4,000 square feet with 12-1/2-foot ceilings, the loft was custom-made to showcase art, a passion of Mr. Zuckerman’s since he was a small boy going to galleries with his art-collecting parents.
Art, in fact, is the hallmark of a converted loft building whose lobby is decorated with original contemporary work by such artists as Canada’s Michael Awad and South Africa’s Brett Murray, and whose residents include Sandra Ainsley, owner of Toronto’s Sandra Ainsley Gallery, and Steven Levy, overseer of the Toronto International Art Fair.
Mr. Zuckerman is no stranger to the art world himself, having created over the years a substantial contemporary collection.
Artists whose work he collects include Radcliffe Bailey, Ke-Sook Lee and Hank Willis Thomas.
Their work is large-scale, but easily accommodated inside Mr. Zuckerman’s loft, which he built with an abundance of wall space and gallery-style track lighting.
Annex Lofts - 113 Dupont
“I built the place for art,” says Mr. Zuckerman, a brash fortysomething who builds shopping malls and award-winning residences in addition to stylish condos.
“I thought that the people who would live here would be big into art, and so far that’s been true of everybody who lives here. All the suites are full of art. It’s an inspiring place to live.”
And no wonder, when the lofts themselves were made to be as much an aesthetic experience as comfortable and convenient places to live.
From the random-sized-plank wood flooring imported from Germany through Toronto’s Floorworks to the sculpted modernist vanities by Italy’s Antonio Lupi bathroom design company, every detail inside the three-storey building was chosen for flair as well as function.
Inside his own loft, Mr. Zuckerman calls the all-white, contemporary Italian kitchen “sculptural” before noting that with two dishwashers, three fridges and a 14-foot-long centre island topped with Carrera marble it’s practical, as well.
Other everyday objects that intersect the subjective world of beauty include the egg-shaped Agape bathtub in the master ensuite, and the large brushed-metal doors that close off the large walk-in closet from a master bedroom so commodious it houses a small home gym in addition to a king-sized bed and library.
While the main living area is open-concept, the loft splinters off into a series of rooms that are smaller – although no less grand in scale – where Mr. Zuckerman has been able to create a sense of seclusion.
One of these rooms is a home office with a walkout to a screened terrace. This is where Mr. Zuckerman conducts most of the affairs of Zinc Construction, recently handed an Ontario Association of Architects award for a private residence on nearby Bishop Street. The table is littered with papers, signs of a mind in full development mode.
“I’m going to build another building, and likely live there,” he says, explaining why he is leaving the one that so fully bears his imprint.
“I seem to like the process more than the end. I like being involved in the creative process.”
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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