Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“It’s a very rigorous project when it comes to its internal configurations, and the joy and the grandeur and the performance of the facade is really, I think, a clever sleight of hand that is not only feasible in several materials, but also provides a different way of dealing with balconies, which are a perennial issue and debate in architecture in Toronto,” states Alex Josephson, Co-Founder of Partisans.
Rising above Elm Street, in the heart of Toronto, Partisans along with landscape architects STUDIO tla have proposed a new Toronto tower for Fora Developments and Oikoi Living as an undulated and wispy series of sculpted forms inspired by clouds that lengthen as they go up the building.
The mixed-use project, 15-17 Elm, is designed in response to a meteorological term, Cirrocumulus, taken from the Latin word for curl.
The prefix is used to denote the curl-like shapes of building cloud systems, which become the inspiration for the project.
For certain, the new design brings something unique to Toronto’s skyline in an avant-garde/Art Nouveau style reminiscent of legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.
The mass of the 99m-high, 30-story tower is defined by a smooth undulating shape that extends up the tower in flowing vertical sections, creating a dynamic facade.
Designed as a precast concrete element, each section of the facade tapers and widens along smooth curves, creating interesting spaces on the individual level, as well as a greater flowing rhythm that is understood by viewing the building as a whole.
The round, pill-shaped spaces between the precast concrete elements are covered with walkout and Juliet balconies.
The true standout, however, are 300 personal and public balconies.
As the building gets taller, these rooms also lengthen to accommodate up to six balconies compared to three at lower levels.
The building follows the principles of traditional tower design in many ways.
The ground floor is set back from the street and offers a recessed entrance, while the 10th and 21st floors feature recesses of the tower to allow passage of light while breaking up the scale in a pedestrian-friendly manner.
Where it deviates is the removal of orthogonal shapes, a trait that seems ubiquitous in Toronto, in favor of a more curvaceous character.
Aside from a retail component on the P1 and ground floors, almost all of the space would be allocated to residential uses, with 174 units planned in a mix of five studios, 95 one-bedrooms, 51 two-bedrooms, and 23 three-bedroom suites.
Elm Street is home to some of Toronto’s most revered historic buildings, and the Partisans-designed development pushes to exploit the site’s potential both functionally and aesthetically.
“The idea of the cloud is not just three dimensional, it is not just about the natural phenomenon, it’s also an architecture pun, as the revision cloud has such a strong resonance and graphic quality,” continues Josephson.
“It’s also a dream in a certain way, a dream to have this building approved by the city of Toronto and for us to build it.”
Project: 15-17 Elm Street
Architects: Partisans
Landscape Architects: STUDIO tla
Heritage Architects: ERA Architects
Urban Planners: Goldberg Group
Developers: Fora Developments and Oikoi Living
