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We have an introductory article up for the Draft Building at Lower JCT:

A Site Plan Approval (SPA) has been submitted to the City of Toronto by Castlepoint Numa and Greybrook Capital for the latest element of Toronto's burgeoning Lower Junction. Known as the Draft Building, the mixed-use project will be a southern neighbour to the Tower Automotive Building—itself set to be the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art_Toronto_Canada (MOCA)—adding new uses to a community centered around creative industries.
 
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New Site Plan application. Design by DLR Group out of Chicago:

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Awesome design! And the buildings will be mass timber! Here's an insightful excerpt from the cover letter:

The buildings are proposed as modern mass timber wood buildings. Leveraging recent innovations in timber construction techniques, the buildings will demonstrate the potential for sustainable development within the city, relying on a naturally renewable resource. Timber will feature prominently throughout the design of the buildings, helping to establish a distinct character for the new office space. The building exteriors are proposed to feature a combination of aluminum cladding, fixed aluminum glass window wall, and aluminum curtain wall at the lobby. The proposed architectural strategy – including the use of timber wood materials, a darker colour palette, and exterior glazing which incorporates vertical and horizontal mullions – is highly responsive to the industrial character of the adjacent heritage building and the broader neighbourhood context.
 
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Be still my beating heart.


New Site Plan application. Design by DLR Group out of Chicago:

View attachment 216141View attachment 216142View attachment 216143View attachment 216144View attachment 216145

 
It would be great if some of the space could be used for expanding the museum.
Only the ground, second and third floors were in use on our recent visit. The answer at the front desk was that programming for the balance of the floors was still to be completed. In other words, the current building has much more space than MoCA is able to use at this point.

I do not know what the issue is - could be one of (or likely some combination of) funding, staff resources, and size (or lack thereof) of MoCa's permanent collection of works that could be put on display. But to be looking for expansion before MoCA is able to make more effective use of the space it already has could be a bit of putting the cart before the horse.
 
@condovo @Towered @ten_eighteen @mjl08 @AHK

MoCA only leases five of the ten floors of the Auto BLDG. (They were originally only going to take three.)

Floors 1 through 3 are the main exhibition galleries. Floor 4 is mostly studio space for 30 artists with a small gallery at the south end. Floor 5 is basically administration space for MoCA, which they can programme if they care to, but it would still mostly be offices.

The top five floors in the building are leased by others.

None of that is to say that I'm not underwhelmed by the programming too; what I've seen so far left me cold.

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@condovo @Towered @ten_eighteen @mjl08 @AHK

MoCA only leases five of the ten floors of the Auto BLDG. (They were originally only going to take three.)

Floors 1 through 3 are the main exhibition galleries. Floor 4 is mostly studio space for 30 artists with a small gallery at the south end. Floor 5 is basically administration space for MoCA, which they can programme if they care to, but it would still mostly be offices.

The top five floors in the building are leased by others.

None of that is to say that I'm not underwhelmed by the programming too; what I've seen so far left me cold.

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Should have added the DX collection instead of having it scatter to the wind.

AoD
 
I know they label it like that, but Floor 1 should hardly be considered part of the main gallery space... it's essentially just a gift shop (or gift nook i should say), Forno Cultura and some random 'flex space'. And given that Floor 4 is mainly studio space like you mentioned, it's pretty sad that the MoCA can't properly fill only 2 remaining floors....

Hoping that over time it gets better. There's a lot of potential in this area for Toronto, and it'd be a shame for it to get wasted. At least this Draft building is looking interesting..
 

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