Different By Design – Volume 8 – Subway Stations of the World

1 T Centralen Stockholm

In this edition of Different By Design, we survey some of the world’s most interesting subway stations.

Subways and their stations are of course designed as tools of efficiency to keep cities and citizens moving throughout the day.  Most stations in Toronto (with the exception of Museum and Pioneer Village) share the TTC’s 1960’s utilitarian aesthetic that would never be accused of being beautifully designed.  On the other end of the spectrum, stations in Stockolm, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Naples, and even Pyongang burst with art, colour, texture and opulence.

Stockolm T-Centralen (shown above) and Solna (below) highlight a network of stations that are sometimes referred to as the world’s longest art gallery where more than 90 of the network’s 100 stations are eclectically designed with sculptures, rock formations, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs by over 150 different artists.

2 stockholm-metro-DSCF9304 solna

For the most ornate designs, one must visit Russia where both Moscow (Komsomolskaya Station, below first) and St. Petersburg (Avtovo Station, below second) compete for who is home to the most decadent designs.

3 komsomolskaya mnoscoqw 4 Avtovo Metro Station St. Petersburg Russia

Paris is home to the Arts Et Metiers Metro Station (below) at the Musee des Arts et Metiers (Arts and Trades Museum) that was designed in a steam punk style that pays homage to the genius of Jules Verne where one can feel like they are actually inside the machine.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Even the capital of North Korea, the typically dreary and drab Pyongyang is home to a subway network that features ornate designs such as the ironically named Prosperity Station (below).

Pyongyang-Metro-1

For a more modern take, visit Naples and go to the Toledo Station which is one of the newer Metro Art Stations that the city has spearheaded.  Designed around the themes of water and light due to the presence of water in the stratum and the tremendous depth of the station (50 metres) Toledo is awash in blue and white mosaic and makes one forget that they are heading to work!

toledo station napleshj72yvjy4wg21

Lawrence Heights Community Art Collection

We are excited to announce that the amenities areas at the newly completed Yorkdale Condominium will soon feature a curated collection of art from Lawrence Heights resident artists!

time and culture

The permanent collection comes from a diverse field of artists who live within the community and is bound together using the colours blue, gold, black and white

trip

hill painting

The pieces are currently being custom framed and will be installed in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned for more photos once the art has been hung!

framin

The specially commissioned collection is 20 pieces in total and the amazing artists are: Ashna Parbatie, Carla Brooks, Chris Riley, Yuri Malaev, Elena Korniakova, Christina Bonas, Herbie Blain, Kimberlle Mitchell, Leticia Wong, Mansour Faiziandost, Michael Korniakova, and Omar Solarzano.

The New Lawrence Heights Video!
The New Lawrence Heights Sales Office Sneak Preview

We are gearing up for the official launch of The New Lawrence Heights!  Here are a few sneak preview pictures from inside the Sales Office which will be opening this Spring!

model upclose

Above is a detail shot of the model featuring the town homes fronting onto the new community park.

kitchen

The kitchens and baths are luxuriously detailed and feature ample space to entertain and relax.

tub

front wall

art

The finishes reflect  the latest trends and feature a palette for  everyone’s taste.

finishes

For more information or to register now, visit: http://newlawrenceheights.ca/

 

 

Different By Design – Volume 7 – Exterior Cladding

2 banter-snaps-252493-unsplash

When one looks at Toronto’s skyline, the predominant feature (after the CN Tower) is the multitude of glass towers that populate the city.  Historically, the majority of the towers were comprised of office buildings but in recent years, the residential towers, namely condos have drastically increased in number.  The office towers are typically constructed out of steel and feature curtain wall exterior cladding (as shown above in the TD Centre), whereas the condos are usually poured concrete and clad in a product called window wall.1 scott-webb-356748-unsplash

Curtain wall is a glazed wall system hung off a concrete slab using anchors and is self-supporting and gives a building’s exterior the seamless look of top to bottom glass. This often results in a sleek glass silhouette that is enhanced by the lack of balconies often found in residential towers.  Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel (designed by architectsAlliance and seen below) is noticeably clad in curtain wall, thus giving it a smooth and elegant exterior skin.

tfy170

Curtain wall is often a more complex and expensive installation compared to window wall – the most common exterior cladding of Toronto’s condo towers.  Window wall consists of installing glazing between a building’s concrete slabs, using the slabs as structural support and having a break between the glass, with slab covers used to conceal the concrete slab edge. Window walls are the preferred choice due to limited budgets and that they permit for more customization due to condos having operable windows and balcony doors. Installation also usually occurs from within the building itself as it is safer, more efficient and more cost effective.  Our projects Spire and Market Wharf (also designed by architectsAlliance and seen below) are primarily clad using window wall.

mw5j

PLEASE NOTE: These images are web quality images only. Colour may not be accurate on your monitor.

More recently, residential towers are also being clad in precast concrete slabs with smaller windows (due to enhanced green standards that combat energy inefficiency) as well as a newer product called hybrid curtain wall that evokes a similar look to curtain wall without as high of a price tag.  Our recently completed Yorkdale Condos (below) features both precast concrete cladding and window wall.  Stay tuned in 2019 to see what our next Context building is going to be clad in!

YORKDALE CONDO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interior Design Show 2019 Edition

11

The Interior Design Show (IDS) returned to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this past weekend.  Here are a few of our favourite booths!

IMG_3130

IMG_3070

IMG_3079

IMG_3109

IMG_3143

IMG_3169

IMG_3066

If you missed this year, there is always next year!  Stay tuned and check out https://www.interiordesignshow.com/en/home.html for more information.

The New Lawrence Heights
The New Lawrence Heights
By ,   No tags,  

2019 will bring the launch of the townhomes at The New Lawrence Heights!  Building on the success of both phases of The Yorkdale Condominiums, the next phase will be released in the coming months.  In preparation of the release, new marketing renderings have just been completed and are featured below.

Fusion Studio TIFF File

Fusion Studio TIFF File

Fusion Studio TIFF File

Fusion Studio TIFF File

For more information, visit:  http://newlawrenceheights.ca/

 

 

 

 

The Yorkdale Condominiums Construction Update – November 2018

Occupancies have commenced at The Yorkdale Condominiums!  Residents are currently occupying on the 5th floor and things are going smoothly.  The common areas (including lobby, gym, party room and guest suites) will be substantially complete before Christmas.

1 IMG_3994Occupancies are also taking place at the adjacent rental building and a model suite has just been installed for the community to see the new calibre of housing that is starting to come on line.

IMG_3995 IMG_3996 IMG_3997 IMG_3998

The Yorkdale Condominiums Construction Update – September 2018

1

The Yorkdale Condominiums is getting closer to completion!

3

Pre-delivery Inspections (PDI’s) have now commenced and occupancies are scheduled for October!

4

Construction on Phase 2 is ongoing and shoring and excavation is complete.  Form-work will commence shortly and we expect to be at grade in the Spring.

2

5

Stay tuned for more updates!

 

The Hanging Gardens
By ,   No tags,  

1pic new

Today we focus on the upcoming public art project at The Yorkdale Condominiums and The New Lawrence Heights. This new work will be titled “The Hanging Gardens” and is designed by Toronto artist collective Public Studio. Located underneath and alongside the Allen Expressway underpass, The Hanging Gardens will animate an otherwise dark space and prominently greet commuters coming and going from the adjacent TTC Yorkdale subway entrance.

2 picThe Hanging Gardens of Babylon were counted as one of the “seven wonders of the world” but to this day it is uncertain if they were actual or a myth. Regardless, they symbolized a feat of engineering technology brought together with the natural world. Their significance as a utopia and place that hovers between fictitious and real, inspired this new work presented here. The Hanging Gardens is a project that engages the worlds of video gaming and ecology as a way to enter a community in transition. In unstable times, we turn to utopias as daring ways to imagine futures that seem impossible.

Two components make up the work The Hanging Gardens: The first, Chroma Key, is a lenticular video wall sculpture composed of LED screen columns alternating with columns of planted green wall. The video work on the screen will be developed together with youth in the community who will build the content, and the living wall will be planted together with community members of all ages. The plants in the green wall will grow via the LED lights of the screen. The location of the work is in the underpass lighting the way to the TTC.

3 picThe second piece Multiplayer is also a lenticular sculpture composed of mirror columns alternating with columns of planted green wall. Multiplayer, borrows its name from video games in which more than one player plays a game – it is in fact a community that plays together. This work acts as a gateway piece to the new development and is meant to reflect the community around it and respond to how people experience their place in the world. Like a community, the green wall will shift and change with time. The green wall in both works will be planted by the community providing a sense of ownership and place.

For more information on The Hanging Gardens and Public Studio, visit: https://www.publicstudio.ca/