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Now launching in Downtown Toronto is a condominium on one of the most unique sites in the city: the Sorbara Development Group and Diamondcorp are bringing No. 210 Residences on Simcoe to the market. "No. 210" is a 25-storey condominium with a shape and look that cannot be found anywhere else in Toronto. Sorbara is becoming well known on UrbanToronto now with their 400 Wellington West project, close to completion, garnering lots of attention and glowing reviews. Diamondcorp is a bit more behind the scenes, but they will become well known soon as Five, whom they are building with Mod Developments and Tricon, begins to rise at 5 St. Joseph Street.
"No. 210" will run the full length of its narrow central-city lot, making it quite wide east to west, but shallow north to south. Immediately south of the building runs the Michael Sweet Avenue, named to honour a fallen police constable, a street which was built to connect Simcoe to St. Patrick Street when Simcoe was closed to traffic at Queen. South of Michael Sweet are more buildings with a predominantly east-west orientation. North of "No. 210" is a Bell Canada switching building with a large blank wall, meaning there would be no views to the north. All of these constraints has meant that placing a condominium on the site, currently occupied by a parking garage, would require a creative solution.
Page + Steele Architects have come up with a building that responds to the location in interesting ways. The north wall, seen above, will be 10 feet away from the Bell building's blank south wall. Spandrel panels painted in cool shades of blue will face it. Those walking past the building along either bordering street will see the pattern above, but only at an oblique angle for the moments when they can see between the two buildings.
Units in the building face both Simcoe and St. Patrick streets at east and west ends, but there needed to be a way to bring light and views into the centre of the building, so a lightwell was scooped out mid-block.
At the bottom of the lightwell is a landscaped terrace garden.
Below the garden, the building's southern streetwall will be planted with ivy. Windows cut into the ground floor wall are meant to bring light, but not necessarily views, into garage access and loading areas. While it is still under discussion, they may have an art glass component to them.
Higher up on the southern facade, the building's cool blue spandrels will turn the tower into a work of pixelated art.
Main entry to the building, as its name suggests, will be off Simcoe Street. Lined on its east side by the gardens of Canada Life and the American consulate, Simcoe is quiet on this stretch and pedestrian friendly. Close to two subway stations and with everything Downtown and in Queen West within walking distance, No. 210 will be perfect for those will prefer to set about on foot.
Last week saw the first opening of the project's sales centre, with more events planned in coming weeks. As well as the scale model and many renderings, attendees were able to peruse a decorated model suite, with interior design by Toronto-based and internationally-known II By IV Design Associates.
Outside, the sales centre at 226 Queen Street West at McCaul still has a few finishing touches awaiting. As you can see below the building has been refaced with some of the panels in the same colours that will grace 210 Simcoe. The last panels and the mullion caps are still to be affixed, but it is not difficult to imagine the finished product.
UrbanToronto has updated its dataBase listing with many new renderings of No. 210 Simcoe, which you can peruse by clicking on the link below. The dataBase listing includes hyperlinks to the project's official website, where you may register for the condominium. You will also find links to our forum threads below for those interested in joining in on the discussions on this unique project.
