I really like what has been put forward for Block 8 in the newly developing West Don Lands neighborhood of Toronto. Here is a rendering looking east from the Distillery District toward the proposed westernmost tower:

It feels like an extension of the Distillery District, which was clearly the intent. The materiality also reminds me of Junction House. Red brick at the base to fit within its context, and a more modern material palette on the upper floors. 

I also like how, in this instance, the building steps out on its south side, as opposed to in. It’s something different. Not every building has to look like a wedding cake, right?

The architecture is by COBE Architects and architectsAlliance. The developers are Dream, Kilmer Group, and Tricon. And the plan is for 756 rental apartments, of which 225 will be affordable and integrated throughout the 3 towers. 

For more information, check out Urban Toronto.

In December of last year, the City of Hamilton launched an RFP process to find a team (from the list of prequalified bidders) to develop a new urban community at Pier 8 along the waterfront. The ambition is somewhere around 1,500 new residential units and approximately 13,000 square meters of commercial and institutional space.

That process has narrowed the pool to 4 teams and 1 will ultimately win the exclusive right to develop the new community. Here are the teams, along with a link to their submission materials, including a short video that I understand was a requirement of the RFP.

- GulfDream (link)

- Tridel (link)

- Urban Capital / Core Urban / Milborne Group (link)

- Waterfront Shores (link)

This is a super exciting project for Hamilton. So I would encourage you to take a look at the presentation materials. At this point, you only have until Tuesday, April 17, 2018 to provide any comments to the City’s evaluators. If you’d like to view the boards in person, you can do that this Monday and Tuesday in the main lobby of City Hall.