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UrbanToronto visited the presentation centre at The Residences at Central Park, the 12-acre master-planned community that enjoys one of the City’s most unique backyards: the Don Valley. Developed by Amexon Development Corporation, the project will ultimately deliver four residential towers, a residential mid-rise, and two refurbished office buildings designed by Core Architects and constructed through a phased development plan that is already underway.
The presentation centre is a light-filled space located onsite at 1200 Sheppard Avenue East, that will be repurposed into an event venue and gallery once the development is completed. After learning more about the re-cladding project slated for the update of the existing office buildings, we had a chance to speak with Amexon’s Executive Sales Manager, Jason Shiff, to discuss what is on the project’s horizon.
Shiff explained that the first phase of development of the Central Park community will begin with the construction of the 31-storey Tower 1. Referring to the building as his favourite of the project, Shiff walked us through the details of Tower 1 with the help of a laser pointer and two scale models, a miniature of the entire Central Park development, and a larger replica of Tower 1 alone, both on display in the presentation centre.
With Shiff directing our attention to the different highlights of the tower, the first aspect that stood out was the colourization of the balconies to create a visual pattern reminiscent of the surface of a leaf. At its core, the identity of the development is framed around a close relationship with the surrounding natural environment, and the leaf-like image created by the white-toned balconies on the tower’s facades is another way that the development will remind its residents of how close to nature they really are.
Shiff also commented that an important aspect of the design of Tower 1 was to set the tone for the building from the moment you arrive. Looking at the main entrance, this sentiment is clearly expressed through the hotel-style ‘porte cochère’, a covered outdoor space designed for vehicles. The space is framed by two water features and an accent wall of tightly-spaced wood columns, and provides an illuminated canopy that protects residents from the elements while they await transportation.
Looking at the tower’s design more generally, another noteworthy feature is the greenspace that has been added to the already flourishing site. Like all the future buildings on the site, Tower 1 features a green roof, and immediately to the east of the tower, the landscape plans have designed a garden that intends to act as a tranquil space that is separated from the more socially oriented greenspace found in the park area, Central Park Common. At the grade level, a retail unit intended to be occupied by a café has been positioned in the southeast corner of the floor-plate with windows facing out to the garden, and will be the first of many retail spaces found at grade across the development.
Tower 1's unit offerings include one-bedroom, one-bedroom+den, two-bedroom, and two-bedroom+den layouts. Each has several permutations that are named after different types of native tree species, like Oak, Birch, and Magnolia, to name a few. Expanding on why this was his favourite of the different buildings at central park, Shiff pointed his laser to the tower’s western corners. These units, he explained, enjoy two balconies and the unobstructed corner window with west-facing views of the sunset.
Shiff commented that Tower 1 has already seen over 85% of the units sold ahead of groundbreaking, and expressed his excitement to see the project move forward in the coming months.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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