It's tougher ... buildings have to be unique'
Fashion House project aims to live up to the ambitious design goals of hip King West strip
May 17, 2008 04:30 AM
Tracy Hanes
Toronto Star
When it comes to raising the design bar in Peter Freed's King West neighbourhood, Charles Gane sometimes has to outdo his own work.
After all, Gane and his company, Core Architects, have worked on seven Freed projects, including the first completed in the area, 66 Portland, and the soon-to-be-launched Fashion House, which Freed envisions as a defining landmark reflecting the hip neighbourhood the former warehouse district has evolved into.
"Peter realized King and Portland had great infrastructure and a great city life. He had a vision this would be one of the exciting areas to live in, as it's close to downtown and has great old heritage buildings," recalls Gane. "Here, you are somewhere. There are a lot of people in their 30s and 40s there, who are like-minded, downtown people. The whole area is on fire."
Gane's firm philosophy lists Context, Exploration, Interplay as key words and Core's portfolio includes some of the city's most distinctive condominium buildings and custom homes.
Freed and Core have pursued a decidedly modernist tone in the area formerly characterized by 19th century industrial buildings. This contemporary approach has "struck the right chord with the buying public," says Gane. "When you come downtown, you have to raise the bar with design."
The Fashion House at 560 King W. presented myriad challenges beyond coming up with a great design. Freed told Gane he was going to hold a design competition because "I want something really good." As it turns out, Core's submission won out over three other architectural responses.
"Sometimes it's hard not to copy ourselves and stay fresh, but this one breaks out of the mould," says Gane. "And it's been well received by the neighbourhood. It's going to have 70 different unit types (361 units in all). It's insane. It's so complex. It's a bit of a crazy design from a massing point of view."
The project includes retail and commercial space, work lofts, regular condo suites and must incorporate the historical 160-year-old Silver Plate Building, one of the oldest surviving factories in the King-Spadina neighbourhood.
The heritage building, which will likely be used for commercial purposes, was a factor in determining the Fashion House's design, because of the setback required by the city. What Gane and Core have created are two huge building sections, which resemble "long, extruded tubes with glazed ends," one stacked on top of the other. The setback of one of these angular planed "tubes" created the opportunity for a large "sky park" on the 10th floor with landscaping and infinity pool "which will get the south sun and have views of the city.
"It should be awesome," says Gane.
Curtains hung in the suites in the ends of the "tubes" that Gane describes will give the project its fashion hook: The draperies will be red and orange facing the street, yet white facing the interior of the units, so not to detract from residents' decor plans.
"We wanted a building that talks about fashion," says Gane. "It's a totally glass building and the colour and details will come from inside."
Special lighting effects will add to the dramatic silhouette after dark.
Gane was also mindful that the Fashion House would affect the views from the adjacent 455 Adelaide, another Freed project.
"We had to be sympathetic to those purchasers," says Gane, and care was taken to preserve most of those residents' views. "It will read like a building across the street."
One of the challenges of the neighbourhood is the restriction on building height.
"In this area, there are so many factors keeping heights down," says Gane. "It's tougher to develop there. Buildings have to be unique."
