Three years ago this weekend The Shops at Don Mills opened and remade the former Don Mills Shopping Centre into Toronto's first so-called lifestyle shopping centre. The Cadillac Fairview project turned what was a typical suburban mall into a collection of streets with one and two-floor shops and offices of varied elevations – a modern version of a hundred-year-old main shopping street. The 500,000 square foot complex now features about 70 shops and restaurants surrounding a central pedestrian plaza with outdoor seating, a fountain, and a celebrated commissioned artwork by Douglas Coupland. Celebrity chef Mark McEwan has made the centre his home too with a popular new restuarant and his first grocery store specializing in gourmet goodies. If the complex's parking lot is anything to go by, the remake by archtects Henry Pellow of Pellow + Associates and Ralph Giannone of Giannone Petricone is a success.

Much is still to happen on the site, both with commercial expansion and a significant residential component. Fram Building Group are now working on the first two residential components - Reflections Residences, a new build, and Liv Lofts, the conversion of a 15-storey international style office tower into a loft condominium tower which will feature 10-foot high celiings in the suites. UrbanToronto has recently added a dataBase entry that will allow yuo to get a good look at that unique project.

New to the development is Flaire, the third residential complex, designed with a nod to 1960s expressive modernism to compliment its neighbours, again by Giannone Petricone Associates. This twin 11-storey tower complex features fluid lines providing undulating curved balconies and views in multiple directions for its suites. We have lots of Flaire for you to look at; below in this article you will find many shots of the scale models in the beautiful Munge Leung-designed presentation centre, and also in our hugely expanded dataBase listing for the complex. To get a full picture of this seductive project, you'll need to go through both!

So, we will launch right in with the photos from Flaire's presentation centre in the Shops at Don Mills complex:

Flaire condos presentation centre at the Shops at Don Mills, image by Craig White

The presentation centre itself is very impressive - the marble floor is particularly stunning - and it's built to last: the centre is set up to be home-buying central over the course of following phases at the growing complex. Munge Leung have outfitted the place with an enticing model suite, a studio for purchasers to select finishes (currently set up for phase 1 Reflections Residences), and a movie theatre showing a rather impressive film with tantalizing glimpses of what is planned to rise on the lands here over the next decade. Featuring most promintently in the centre are two scale models: Flaire itself in large scale, and Flaire amongst its neighbouring condominiums and in context to the whole centre. Let's dig into the large scale model first.

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

The building's porte cochere not only provides sheltered entry, but the flying V shaped roof also protects a projecting fireplace lounge, which you can glimpse above and see more fully below. Our dataBase entry features several renderings giving you the full scope of the fun and sophisticated spaces inside.

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

Between the 11-storey towers is "Above4", an outdoor terrace matched with many spaces to relax and look over the area, with an integrated bar separated only by sliding doors. Amenities in the building include another outdoor garden patio, an extensive party room with separate dining area, a movie theatre, and a fitness centre to work out in.

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

All suites have sweeping balconies - some also feature huge terraces.

Flaire condos scale model, image by Craig White

Flaire condos in the Shops at Don Mills scale model, image by Craig White

Flaire will rise to the west side of the extensive shopping centre.

Flaire condos in the Shops at Don Mills scale model, image by Craig White

South of it are Reflections, and then Liv Lofts. Acrylic boxes promise future phases planned for the site.

Flaire condos in the Shops at Don Mills scale model, image by Craig White

Over the coming years surface parking will go underground as more urban infill will eventually revitalize the whole site.

The Shops at Don Mills, image by Craig White

The Shops at Don Mills mixes pedestrian zones with main street shopping. Above, Douglas Coupland's clock tower celebrates the mid-century modern ranch home popularized in Don Mills, Canada's "First Planned Community".

The Shops at Don Mills, image by Craig White

The dataBase listings are linked below, as are associated threads if you want to talk the projects.


Related Companies:  Giannone Petricone Associates, Isotherm Engineering Ltd., McIntosh Perry, Milborne Group, Quest Window Systems