[URBAN NOTE] On the restoration of 1 Spadina Crescent

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO's Chris Bateman and Spacing Toronto's Matthew Blackett and Torontoist's Steve Kupferman have all written about how 1 Spadina Crescent--a University of Toronto building on Spadina north of College--is going to be refurbished. Writes Kupferman:

[A]fter decades of letting the 138-year-old Gothic Revival building slowly turn ramshackle, the university says it will be putting $45 million in contributions—including $19 million from architect John H. Daniels and his wife Myrna—towards turning the property into a new home for its John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. (The total project cost is expected to be $62 million.)

The proposed design—which you can see if you click through the image gallery above—would definitely make a difference at Spadina Crescent, and that’s no trivial thing. If you think about it, the circle is one of Toronto’s most visible addresses. It’s right in the middle of a major thoroughfare. How many cars and streetcars pass it every day? How many pedestrians lay eyes on it as they walk past the intersection of College Street and Spadina Avenue?

The design, by Nader Tehrani of NADAAA and Katie Faulkner, calls for a new addition to the building. The turrets and the south facade are expected to retain their existing appearances, more or less, but the north facade is shown in renderings as a kind of glassy prism. There would be a new roof, which a press release says would “bathe the building’s interior in natural light.”

Inside, there would be new studios, labs, and a public gallery. The area around the building would be newly landscaped, and would have what the university calls “pavilions”—smaller structures that would house some programs, including a new Institute for Architecture and Human Health.

All three blog posts include abundant photos and images, of the building as it exists now and of what it is hoped it will become.