Three skyscrapers proposed on top of heritage art deco building in Toronto

Architecture studios Hariri Pontarini Architects, ERA Architects, and landscape studio Public Work have released plans to renovate the art deco College Park building in Toronto, adding three towers that respect the older building's "architectural DNA".

Developed by GWL Realty Advisors (GWLRA), the project will see the revitalisation of the 1920s building, which once served as a department store for the legacy Canadian brand Eaton's and then as a courthouse, and which has a connection to the city's subway line.

ERA Architects will oversee the renovation of the Ross and Macdonald-designed Tyndall stone-covered art deco building, giving special attention to the interior arcade and seventh-floor event space.

GWLRA said that the renovation will differ from other projects in that it seeks to restore the building and not just maintain the facade.

"GWLRA's ambitious proposal will not only break from the architectural practice known as 'facadism' by retaining the full building, it will also see Ross & Macdonald's original design for the Yonge Street podium completed," said the developer.

ERA Architects principal Scott Weir called the structure "one of the most significant works of architecture in Toronto", adding that the building has "never reached its full potential".

Weir's reference calls back to the original plans for College Park to build an art deco skyscraper similar to the ones seen at Rockefeller Center in New York, which were paused due to the Great Depression.

This potential will be met and expanded, according to the team, by the three proposed skyscrapers that will turn the restored building into a podium.

The Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) designed the skyscrapers to reference the art deco heritage while accommodating 2,334 new housing units and a hotel.

Each tower has a slightly different format with varied setbacks, but a unifying aesthetic with metallic mullions and faceted windows leading up to distinct art deco-informed bulkheads.

"Our starting point for the new College Park architecture was to embrace ERA's heritage work and ideas from the early 1920s," said HPA founding partner David Pontarini.

"We intend to respect the building's architectural DNA and bring that up vertically into modern towers that contribute back to the skyline. If you squint, College Park would look like one development, built at one time."

The intervention will be most obvious on the backside of the building, where two of the skyscrapers terminate in walls of glass at a plaza.

This section forms an atrium for the complex and facilitates, and HPA has designed a "ribbon-like" passageway to connect the entry points to the subway entry.

In the plaza itself, Public Work will add trees and more "topographic" landscaping to connect the atrium to the outdoor space, as well as the other towers flanking the plaza.

It will also oversee rooftop gardens created by the various setbacks.

Currently, the project is awaiting approval, and no construction timeline has been set.

Toronto has seen a flurry of development in recent years. Currently, the city's (and nation's) first supertall skyscraper is nearing completion, with another by HPA close behind it.

The images are courtesy of GWLRA.

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