small-lot solutions flexible responses
architecture | mixed uses by john gillanders , sweeney sterling finlayson & co architects
zero-lot line infill sites intensification self-sufficiency waivers
The building is a model of urban intensification that supports and also depends upon its surroundings — public transit and nearby commercial parking lots serve the building residents, and the use of the adjacent public lane for deliveries and garbage collection integrates this building into the city in a way that is generally discouraged by zoning bylaws that require self-sufficient site development. Some reliance on the surrounding city is manageable and successful in this case because of the small scale of the development. The benefit to the city is a revitalised property that contributes to the positive redevelopment of the area. Like the servicing, the internal planning of the building has been simplified in order to make the best use of the available space. Common areas such as lobbies and building circulation have been minimised. The building core is organised in a compact line along the north party wall, maximising space with access to windows. The two-storey residential lofts on single-loaded corridors benefit from a skip-stop design that eliminates the corridor on every other residential floor. This improves efficiency and creates units of greater depth on the narrow property.
The mixed-use building at 294 Richmond Street East by &Co can be seen as both a small building in the city and a large building for its tiny site. Both understandings challenge typical preconceptions of building in the urban context. The common view that bigger is better does not always apply. In the case of the revitalisation of neglected neighbourhoods with infill buildings, small interventions are often the most important. This building embodies that position. Before redevelopment, the 302 m 2 lot at 294 Richmond Street East contained a failed restaurant occupying the original house that was built on the west side of the property before 1909, and a large dilapidated deck that covered the remainder of the site. Although the existing building was not suited to re-use, the redevelopment of the land was challenged because of the physical constraints of the property, both in its limited size and its adjacency to undevelopable land. The typical response to dealing with the development of small lots in the city is to increase their potential for intensification by assembling adjacent properties to form a site large enough to support a development with increased density. In part this is required to provide the infrastructure for larger developments such as underground parking, loading and service areas. Assembling a large site is also desirable for the creation of large floor plates that can be configured to provide a standard saleable response to program spaces in the form of residential units, commercial office space or street related retail. The property at 294 Richmond East is bounded by a heritage building, a public lane and two streets. With no adjacent developable land, there was no opportunity to assemble adjacent properties. A different approach to the development of the property which focuses on providing the necessities of the building and the acceptance of a simpler way to live and work in the city has been embraced by the owners, CTL Group. The owner’s desire to create a new model for the development of small properties in the city and their long-term view of the viability of the project has led to the creation and success of the building. For this project, with the support of the City of Toronto, all extraneous building infrastructures have been eliminated including on-site loading and parking which, if demanded, would have made any development of the property impossible. Instead, the entire site area has been built upon, effectively resulting in a modest mixed-use building with ground floor retail, second- storey office use and ten two-storey loft residential units. Where cumbersome and unnecessary site infrastructure was abandoned, simpler and more appropriate infrastructure has been provided to serve the real needs of the building occupants, such as generous bicycle parking facilities, large personal storage spaces and practical garbage and recycling handling space.
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On Site review 23 Small Things
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