(London) West 5 (Sifton Properties, ?s, ?)

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T01:03:57-0400

N.B. I am not sure whether the UrbanToronto moderators wish for large multi-phase projects that are well outside of the GTA (but still within the broader coverage area) to be broken down into separate threads per phase, so for now, I am going to create a single thread for this project, and post the individual phases/buildings in subsequent posts. This first post will be an overview/introduction.

West 5 is a large mixed-use greenfield development by Sifton Properties and others located in the Riverbend area in the west of London. The overall site is bounded by Oxford Street, Westdel Bourne, Shore Road, and Kains Road, as seen in the satellite image from Google Maps below:

As you may have guessed from the density of solar panels seen in the above aerial, the West 5 development has a significant focus on sustainability and energy efficiency. From their website:

When people think of sustainable living, first thoughts usually jump to recycling, reusable shopping bags, and energy-efficient light bulbs; however, here at West 5, we believe that sustainability means so much more than simply reducing waste and conserving energy – although that’s certainly part of it!

Sustainability, at its core, means to live in a way that allows our needs to be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs – this is something our West 5 community prides itself on. Praised as one of the most advanced Smart, Net Zero Communities in the world, we are inspired to continue creating a groundbreaking community built for today and tomorrow.

Being a Net Zero community is one of our greatest joys. It means we’re able to produce the same amount of renewable, clean energy as we use! Every office space, home and apartment complex in West 5 is designed with sustainability in mind. So much so, that Hēlio was named the most energy-efficient, high-performance building in Canada! Hēlio’s solar panels can harness enough energy to power 100 homes for one year! That’s a lot of sunshine, and a lot of energy.

Here's the site plan, also from the West 5 website:

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T01:11:39-0400

Let's look at the Sifton Centre and 1305 Riverbend Road first. These two buildings are mixed-use with retail space on the ground level and office space above. They're located on this block (along with a one-storey standalone retail building containing a veterinarian that I didn't really take any photos of):

Looking towards these two on the left, and the Helio apartment building on the right (which will be covered in the next post), from Oxford Street:

From the intersection of Oxford and Riverbend:

From Riverbend:

Finally, one last distance photo from Linkway Boulevard and Logans Run:

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T01:24:10-0400

Now, on to Helio, which is a mixed-use building with retail at grade and rental apartments above. It's located on this block here:

Looking towards this one, on the right, from Oxford:

From Riverbend Road:

Now looking from the corner of Riverbend and Linkway:

A look towards the back (and more solar panels) from Linkway:

One more shot of the back, this time from Westdel Bourne and Linkway:

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T01:33:49-0400

Next, let's have a brief look at the park, known as 'Legacy Square.' Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time to look around, so this one will only have a few pictures. The park is located here:

At the south end of the park, facing onto Oxford, there is a large West Five sign as well as a giant cubic W5 logo:

Looking into the park from the southwest corner:

Looking toward the central pavilion/building (not entirely sure what the programming is here):

As well as a look towards one of the wide pathways crossing the park:

Now looking in to the park from the northwest corner at Riverbend and Linkway:

Finally, a look towards the Little Free Library installed near the north end of the park:

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T01:45:42-0400

Turning our attention now to the Spektra Apartments and Candela Condominiums, which take up most of the block bounded by Linkway, Riverbend, Lumen, and the trail:

Spektra, the apartment, as seen from Oxford:

Spektra, as seen from Legacy Square:

Spektra, this time from the corner of Linkway and Riverbend:

Candela, the condominium, seen also from the intersection of Linkway and Riverbend:

Candela, as seen from Linkway:

One last view of Spektra, as seen from Linkway:

Candela, as seen from a bit of a distance along Westdel Bourne:

Finally, one last look at Candela as seen from outside Eve Park (more info in the next post!) along Shore Road:

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T02:01:45-0400

Moving on now to Eve Park. This is perhaps the most "different" of all the phases constructed at West 5 (at least so far). For one, it's a cylindrical townhouse complex. How often does one see that? For another, "Eve Park" actually stands for "Electric Vehicle Enclave Park" according to the sales brochure (page 2) and has some sort of electric vehicle carshare program. Also important to note that this one was not developed by Sifton, but by s2e Technologies, who I believe bought the land from Sifton, or maybe partnered with them. So far, two of the eventual four cylinders have been built. It's located on this portion of the site:

First, a few angles of the cylinders from Linkway:

As seen from Westdel Bourne:

Some angles of Eve Park from Shore Road:

Lachlan Holmes · 2024-10-15T02:09:27-0400

Lastly, let's have a look at Riverstone, which is a combination retirement residence/retirement apartment building located on the southwest corner of Riverbend and Shore: