Renderings of 1 Yorkville hint at shimmering modernity
Subtle surface patterns animate the exterior
Main rendering, for 1Yorkville, designed by architect Rosario Varacalli. Like the other tall buildings Mr. Varacalli is doing around Toronto – E Condominiums at Yonge and Eglinton, Exhibit on Bloor West, and others – this one echoes his dissatisfaction with the monotony that characterizes too many glassy Toronto towers. He has used subtle surface patterns (E Condos) and has even rotated the levels of a building (Exhibit) in order to animate his exteriors.
The tower component of 1 Yorkville will be clad with 3,000 vertical ribbons of shiny, silvery, twisted metal (aluminum or titanium). These three-dimensional elements, if everything works out according to plan, will give the structure a shimmering, mercurial appearance – all in sharp contrast, that is, to the stolidity of the concrete and steel skeleton underneath this fabric-like surface. Windows will be tall but not wide, and balconies will be inset behind the metallic pilasters.
1 Yorkville encompasses a $450-million revamping of Victorian shops and raising of a 58-storey tower. The project will contain 622 suites ranging in size from 475 square feet to more than 2,000 square feet and in price from the mid-$300,000s to more than $2-million.
Interior appointments, including three floors of luxury amenities, are by Allen Chan of Toronto-based DesignAgency. Landscape architect Sibylle von Knobloch, of NAK Design Group, will be greening the widened pedestrian lane that will connect Yorkville Avenue and Cumberland Street.