Next summer, the West Don Lands will play host to countries from across North, Central and South America and the Caribbean for the 2015 Pan Am Games. The new mixed-use neighbourhood is still in its infancy, with one batch of buildings within the Pan Am Athletes' village awaiting their guests, while just beyond that area a handful of completed buildings includes the area's first market-condominium development, River City by Urban Capital Property Group. The now occupied first phase is home to pioneers of this fledgling community, and with the second phase under construction, River City Condos Phase 3, or RC3, is gearing up for sales.

River City Phase 3, image courtesy of Urban Capital

Designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architects, the 29-storey tower will be the tallest in the West Don Lands community, with the next closest high-rises located a few blocks to the east in the Distillery District. The building will serve as an avant garde architectural landmark for the neighbourhood, its unique design making use of drawer-like protrusions which create an interesting push/pull effect, as if Moshe Safdie's Habitat '67 in Montreal were being extruded in a single direction.

River City Phase 3 with phases 1 and 2 on the right, image courtesy of Urban Capital

The design of the building's tower brings standout architecture to the area, and to complement that, Urban Capital has brought on Claude Cormier + Associés to handle to landscaping and Graham Hill to design the interiors of 20 exclusive units, to be known as the "Graham Hill Collection." Graham Hill’s visionary Ted Talk on life editing is at 2.5 million hits and climbing, telling people that living with less is a catalyst for a more sustainable and happier future. Hill strongly believes that living large in small spaces is easy to achieve with smart design and technology. The Graham Hill Collection will offer transformable, modular design to those who commission RC3’s extra-large units. “I want to think through residents’ needs before they even occur,” says Hill, “and customize with the same kind of maximizing resourcefulness I’ve brought to my own home.” 

Bedroom at RC3 model suite, image by Jack Landau

RC3 landscape architect Claude Cormier is known for his imaginative public spaces and commitment to creating inviting and innovative outdoor areas. “I decided to reflect and enhance River City’s angles, not fight them,” said Cormier, referring to features like RC3’s planned seventh floor golden lap pool and a staircase slicing into the green roof’s sloping grass lawn. 

Swimming pool as depicted in the RC3 scale model, image by Jack Landau

RC3 will have features and amenities designed to suit all, including a massive, two-storey party room, a contemporary guest suite, and a fully-stocked playroom for kids. Bookworms will have access to a furnished reading room, hobbyists will have a work room, cyclists will have bike storage and electric car drivers will have a charging station. Those who work at home will have access to an office and productivity centre with workstations, a printer/scanner station, kitchenette and boardroom. The development will also have a 2,000 square foot fully-equipped gym with a yoga/aerobics room next door, a pet cleaning station and a product lending library stocked with tools, aids and implements you only use once in a while.

Additional information and renderings can be found in the RC3 dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.