Spadina Building

Location          Toronto, Ontario

Type                  Office Renovation

Size                   256 Sq Ft

Date                  2009

Located in the heart of the vibrant Toronto Downtown West, the existing Spadina Ave. the building already has prominence on the major street, Spadina Ave.

Due to different phases of renovations on the existing building in the past, the existing building lacks visual coherence, especially on the part of the main entrance which faces the major street, Spadina Ave. One can see the example of lacking visual coherence in both building materials, as well as a variation on heights at the main entrance. The existing building is built mostly with brick, however, the “updated” main entrance of the building is built with concrete with a triangular pediment at the top, which does not correspond to the rest of the existing brick building.

Our design concept is to maximize the difference that has already started from the previous renovation, rather than designing something entirely new. This “minimal” approach has strengthened the project both in design, as well as meeting the construction budget and schedule. With unifying the ground floor frontage with the same height concrete work with proportionally located concrete reveals provide the coherence of the building lacks. The new entrance provides a clean and modern look strengthened by the contrast of the traditional look of the rest of the existing building.