222 Jarvis Street LEED retrofit (former Sears office building, 9s, WZMH).

[egotrippin]

I never appreciated it until I saw it up close and in person. The detailing with the brick, and the stone-like concrete are very interesting. The building is powerful, and impressive to stand beneath. I think I'd like a lot more brutalist buildings if they used more appealing materials like this building does. Experimentation with form was definitely interesting during the 60s and 70s.

 

[adma]

One thing's for certain, Toronto's way ahead of surprisingly many significant jurisdictions in *the general public* matter-of-factly appreciating this building. I can see it being a harder general-public (as opposed to architectural-critic) sell even in places like New York and London, where it might be seen as a Trelick-loving design elitist conceit...

 

[Komiksulo]

222 Jarvis needs a glass pyramid to the south, like the pyramid in front of the Louvre.

 

[College Park]

Since when in Toronto is a 9 storey building an office tower.

It has vertical challenges in the office tower category, but laterally the Sears building has a serious surface area. Floors were divided up in zones for navigation purposes, similar to Sunnybrook hospital, or airports.

 

[Solaris]

It has vertical challenges in the office tower category, but laterally the Sears building has a serious surface area. Floors were divided up in zones for navigation purposes

just like the Merchanding Building (lofts) abutting the west ~

 

[Towered]

What to do with the huge parking lot immediately to the south of it...

 

[yyzer]

What to do with the huge parking lot immediately to the south of it...

how about something glass in the shape of an upright pyramid?

 

[Automation Gallery]

how about something glass in the shape of an upright pyramid?

What...something like this.

 

[yyzer]

uh, no, not like that....that would be an inverted pyramid... you see, the Sears building has a slight inverted pyramid shape to it, and I thought,...ah, never mind...

just tossing it out there...

 

[interchange42]

It needs something round in front of it. That, and an underground parking garage with a landscaped area above.

42

 

[adma]

It needs something round in front of it.

Funny you should say that come Luminato...

 

[yyzer]

from today's Daily Commercial News...

Ontario Realty Corporation to spend $100 million on green office conversion

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Ontario Realty Corp.(ORC) is poised to start work this fall on a $100 million greening of a 40-year-old building in downtown Toronto. The retrofit is believed to be one of the largest of its kind in North America.

To be undertaken at the former Sears Canada head office on Jarvis Street, the project will create 455,000 square feet of state-of-the art green office space. A construction manager is expected to be hired by the end of this month.

Toronto’s WZMH Architects has been retained to help design the green workplace.

Schematic design is currently under way.

LEED Gold is being targeted. The project is scheduled to be completed by spring 2011.

The retrofit is the first project in the Toronto Accommodation Plan, a provincial initiative to green and retrofit a number of Ontario government buildings in the city. The nine-storey building has 250 sub-grade parking spaces and two surface parking lots.

In a statement, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said the project provides opportunities for various energy-efficient design initiatives such as construction of a green roof, use of solar energy and incorporation of state-of-the-art IT infrastructure.

Other measures could include a reduction in parking spaces and provision of bicycle storage facilities to encourage green commuting, the ministry said.

The project is being undertaken by ORC on behalf of the ministry.

“This project presents a unique opportunity to renovate a 40-year old building and create a greener, more efficient workplace that will be used as a model for retrofits across the province,†said ORC president and CEO Dave Glass.

 

[Solaris]

Daily Commercial News

photo related to above article ~

ONTARIO REALTY CORP.
More than 400,000 square feet of office space will be created when the conversion of the former Sears head office is completed.


http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id34700

 

[kim_chee]

resident issue

I live in the Merchandise Building - the old Sears warehouse - directly across from this monstrosity on its west side, on Mutual Street. It is my view. I accepted that when I chose to buy, to a great extent because that building was quite reliably empty on weekends and by the crack of 5 pm every workday.

Should that building become active beyond typical nine to five working hours, it becomes a portal for an unwanted audience into my home and about a hundred others.

So the exterior aesthetic of the building is less important to me than the usage. Perhaps government offices are the best thing that could happen; certainly after-hours Ryerson labs would not be happy-making.

 

[Tuscani01]

I live in the Merchandise Building - the old Sears warehouse - directly across from this monstrosity on its west side, on Mutual Street. It is my view. I accepted that when I chose to buy, to a great extent because that building was quite reliably empty on weekends and by the crack of 5 pm every workday.

Should that building become active beyond typical nine to five working hours, it becomes a portal for an unwanted audience into my home and about a hundred others.

So the exterior aesthetic of the building is less important to me than the usage. Perhaps government offices are the best thing that could happen; certainly after-hours Ryerson labs would not be happy-making.

You bought downtown, thats something you should expect. I live across the street from some townhomes that can look directly into my apartment, and I can look directly into their homes. Its part of life downtown. Just get some blinds or curtains if you want complete privacy. Sheer curtains can give you good privacy without blocking light.