After my post about “the great balcony debate”, there was a bit of discussion on Twitter. Ken Wilcox then responded with a video talking about the mixed-use Timmerhuis building in Rotterdam designed by OMA. 

At the 1 minute mark there’s a clip of one of the residents opening a large set of sliding doors. Here’s a screenshot of what that looks like:

I did a bit of digging on the project and found this fact sheet. The sliding doors in the residential units measure 1.8m x 2.6m. They go from floor-to-ceiling (~8′-6″). The windows are also triple-glazed! (3 glass panes + 2 air chambers.)

I think this is a great way to open up a suite to the outdoors. It also looks like the glass balustrades sit inside, which keeps the building’s exterior envelope uninterrupted. Some of the other suites have large terraces where the building steps back.

In case you’re wondering, the construction costs for the entire project was about €100 million and the total gross floor area (including all of the non-residential uses) is about 45,000 m² (~484,200 sf). Unit rate seems reasonable given that triple-glazing is virtually unheard of in Toronto.

P.S. I am having some technical difficulties with Tumblr (my blogging platform) and Mailchimp (my email service provider). They both had problems and a few daily emails didn’t get sent out. Sorry about that. Hopefully it’s resolved now. If you missed the last couple of posts, you can read them online.

One of the most interesting projects being proposed in Toronto right now is 363 Yonge Street, which is located downtown at the southeast corner of Yonge Street and Gerrard Street. See above hero rendering.

The project is a two tower mixed-use development with the following stats (as per their rezoning application dated April 24, 2015):

• 73 storey tower to the north (inclusive of podium)
  

• 62 storey to the south (inclusive of podium)
  

• 9 storey podium containing office and retail 
  

• 887,752 square feet of residential
  

• 101,062 square feet of retail
  

• 186,977 square feet of office
  

• Site area is 42,248 square feet (proposed density on the site works out to be about 27x)
  

• 1,106 residential units – 107 bachelor (9.7%), 648 one-bedroom (58.6%), 241 two-bedroom (21.8%), and 110 three-bedroom (9.9%)
  

• 289 parking spaces – 221 spaces for residents, 23 spaces for visitors, 23 spaces for retail, and 22 for office
  

• 9,790 square feet of outdoor amenity space and 23,809 square feet of indoor amenity space for the residences (the “skybridge” that connects the two towers at the 51st and 52nd floors is amenity space)

• 9,809 square feet of outdoor amenity space for the commercial spaces

The site also contains 2 listed heritage buildings. The Gerrard Building and The Richard S. Williams Block. The project proposes to incorporate 3 of their facades (not the entire buildings) into the base of the new development.

Here are a few images of what that might look like at street level (going from north to south along Yonge Street):

I am also delighted to see that they are planning on adding retail to the rear laneway (O’Keefe Lane) that runs behind the site, east of Yonge Street. If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that I think Toronto’s laneways are a huge missed opportunity. So it’s great to see developers in this city starting to recognize that.

Here’s a photo of what O’Keefe Lane looks like today (courtesy of Google street view):

Since I’ve only done one other “project profile” on this blog, I’d love to get your feedback in the comments on whether or not you find these useful.

For those of us in the industry, it’s always valuable to look at other projects and dissect the square footages, unit mix, density, parking ratios, and so on. But I recognize that this is a particular lens.

I’m also trying not to be so Toronto-centric, so it would be great to hear how this project compares to what you’re seeing in your city.

All project images: Quadrangle Architects

My good friends over at Distl here in Toronto have recently published their first Insight Report. It’s called, Make This City: The State of Urban Manufacturing, and it’s available via free download here. I like the title ;)

The report is 39 pages and is really well put together. There’s research, case studies spanning San Francisco to Toronto, and some great takeaways for city builders.

Since the internet likes listicles, here’s a preview of some of those takeaways – 10 ways that cities can take advantage of the urban manufacturing revival: 

1. Preserve urban industrial areas

2. Focus on the niche

3. Public investment is a good investment

4. Think mixed-use

5. Diversify learning

6. Redefine industrial assets

7. Connect supplier & retailer

8. Leverage your city’s brand

9. Form supportive organizations

10. Leverage partnerships with both the private and public sectors

But it’s definitely worth a complete read and I plan to do exactly that this weekend. Click here to download Make This City.