rdaner
Senior Member
New images of the Diamond and Schmitt building at Brickworks as well as many other updated images.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Lots going on here.
They have a construction blog here:
Construction Journal
And judging by the source above, they're pouring concrete with the forms above ground level.
I also think the title needs to be updated. I'll research the details and post them later.
They have a construction blog here:
Construction Journal
And judging by the source above, they're pouring concrete with the forms above ground level.
I also think the title needs to be updated. I'll research the details and post them later.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
First off, for the title: Diamond and Schmitt Architects, Ferruccio Sardella Landscape Architects and DTAH.
More renders:
Some more things you can do here:
YMCA of Greater Toronto will offer jobs and skills training for at-risk youth.
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art will develop on-site artist studios and offering pottery classes.
Jamie Kennedy will host visiting chefs along with students from various culinary schools, to teach and foster a commitment to local foods and sustainable farming practices.
Outward Bound Canada will create an experiential urban wilderness program that includes rope courses, climbing walls and mini-camps.
Moorelands Community Services will use this unique urban nature venue to provide disadvantaged children with positive experiences that strengthen their confidence and brighten their future.
More renders:
Some more things you can do here:
YMCA of Greater Toronto will offer jobs and skills training for at-risk youth.
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art will develop on-site artist studios and offering pottery classes.
Jamie Kennedy will host visiting chefs along with students from various culinary schools, to teach and foster a commitment to local foods and sustainable farming practices.
Outward Bound Canada will create an experiential urban wilderness program that includes rope courses, climbing walls and mini-camps.
Moorelands Community Services will use this unique urban nature venue to provide disadvantaged children with positive experiences that strengthen their confidence and brighten their future.
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Thanks for putting those up PE!
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Tewder
Senior Member
Another great example of an adaptive reuse of a old (heritage) 'eyesore'. Happy for it.
rdaner
Senior Member
Recent photos of the redevelopment of the Don Valley Brickworks:
http://www.evergreen.ca/rethinkspace/?cat=21
http://www.evergreen.ca/rethinkspace/?cat=21
syn
Senior Member
Looks great. Where are the 50-storey condos?
maestro
Senior Member
Would residential be completely out of the question given the inner valley, flood plain location? What if the first floors were a parkade? Just curious.
adma
Superstar
Consider that (a) it's affluent up above, and (b) the Bayview Ghost once stood up above.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I remember my dad pointing out that apartment building when I was a kid and it always stuck with me, although I didn't know it was called The Bayview Ghost. Some years ago when I recalled that building I questioned whether it was a true memory or something which came from a dream. Memory does play tricks though, I remember it being taller.
That said, the area should continue to be re-naturalized, buildings re-purposed and no residential zoning to screw it all up. I love how this area and project is moving forward.
Asterix
Active Member
I believe that post-Hurricane Hazel the city no longer allows residential (and probably commercial) development within the flood planes of the various rivers (Don, Humber, etc).
Not sure if they are still there, but the metal columns of one of the Brickworks buildings used to be painted orange up to the high water mark of the Hazel flood (about 8 ft at that location).
M II A II R II K
Senior Member
The evergreening of Toronto
The evergreening of Toronto
March 18, 2010
By Mary Teresa Bitti
Read More: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fp/evergreening+Toronto/2695301/story.html
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It started very simply: In 2001, after 11 years of working to help restore and plant trees across Toronto and playing a strong leadership role in the ecological restoration of the city's near-11,000 hectares of ravines, the not-for-profit organization Evergreen decided to fill a gap. "We felt we needed a site, a large-scale nursery and a venue to engage volunteers that would serve as a gateway into Toronto's ravine system," says Geoff Cape, executive director of Evergreen. "[Writer] Robert Fulford once said the ravines are to Toronto what the canals are to Venice. We have the largest ravine system of any city in the world. It distinguishes Toronto internationally and yet so few of its citizens know about it."
- The boarded-up Brick Works produced 43 million bricks a year and played a unique and significant role in building the city. "In many respects, the city of Toronto was born at the Brick Works," Mr. Cape says. "We thought, let's open it back up and give this site, which had a role in building the city, a new role in restoring and rejuvenating the health of the city and as a place where Torontonians can come and find out how to green the city." In effect, it would become a hub for Toronto's green city strategy.
- Now, as it prepares to open the first of its 16 buildings, it has already been celebrated with international acclaim. National Geographic has named Evergreen Brick Works one of the six best geo-tourism destinations in the world. It has also been deemed one of the 100 big ideas that will influence the future of the world by the World Economic Forum's Global Redesign Initiative.
- "Taking the history of city building and translating that into the future is poetic," says Mr. Cape. "You can push an idea or ideas get pulled from you. This project was initially pushed out from us but over the last five or so years, various interests from the city, across Canada and, increasingly, internationally have been pulling us along and asking us to play a role." Most recently the pull has been from the World Economic Forum and the folks in Davos who see the site as representing some of the most outstanding leadership globally around the idea of sustainable cities and creating a facility that can celebrate best practices globally for sustainable green cities.
##########################################
The evergreening of Toronto
March 18, 2010
By Mary Teresa Bitti
Read More: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fp/evergreening+Toronto/2695301/story.html
##########################################
It started very simply: In 2001, after 11 years of working to help restore and plant trees across Toronto and playing a strong leadership role in the ecological restoration of the city's near-11,000 hectares of ravines, the not-for-profit organization Evergreen decided to fill a gap. "We felt we needed a site, a large-scale nursery and a venue to engage volunteers that would serve as a gateway into Toronto's ravine system," says Geoff Cape, executive director of Evergreen. "[Writer] Robert Fulford once said the ravines are to Toronto what the canals are to Venice. We have the largest ravine system of any city in the world. It distinguishes Toronto internationally and yet so few of its citizens know about it."
- The boarded-up Brick Works produced 43 million bricks a year and played a unique and significant role in building the city. "In many respects, the city of Toronto was born at the Brick Works," Mr. Cape says. "We thought, let's open it back up and give this site, which had a role in building the city, a new role in restoring and rejuvenating the health of the city and as a place where Torontonians can come and find out how to green the city." In effect, it would become a hub for Toronto's green city strategy.
- Now, as it prepares to open the first of its 16 buildings, it has already been celebrated with international acclaim. National Geographic has named Evergreen Brick Works one of the six best geo-tourism destinations in the world. It has also been deemed one of the 100 big ideas that will influence the future of the world by the World Economic Forum's Global Redesign Initiative.
- "Taking the history of city building and translating that into the future is poetic," says Mr. Cape. "You can push an idea or ideas get pulled from you. This project was initially pushed out from us but over the last five or so years, various interests from the city, across Canada and, increasingly, internationally have been pulling us along and asking us to play a role." Most recently the pull has been from the World Economic Forum and the folks in Davos who see the site as representing some of the most outstanding leadership globally around the idea of sustainable cities and creating a facility that can celebrate best practices globally for sustainable green cities.
##########################################
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
it's a great and positive article, but it seemed to cut off in the middle of a stream of thought... I want to know much more!
Diamond and Schmitt Architects will host free architectural tours this Saturday (Sept 25, 3-5PM) as part of the opening ceremonies at Evergreen Brick Works.
The new Centre for Green Cities and the Welcome Centre, both designed by Diamond and Schmitt, push the envelope in sustainable design and point the way forward for environmentally aware architecture. The Centre for Green Cities will be the first LEED Platinum heritage site in Canada.
Sustainable design is a game changer and the building scheme employs a variety of innovative initiatives so that it treads lightly on the land.
The thinking behind this project was to incorporate the Evergreen message of sustainable living in its new home. The non-profit environmental group wanted to see their values in the building itself. Much more than being a green building, the centre will eventually have a changeable exterior skin on a track system that allows moveable screens, window boxes and large-scale art installations to be attached to the building's exterior, and act as a community canvas.
It’s also about preserving a part of Toronto’s past. This former brick foundry produced the building blocks for so much of Toronto (Casa Loma, Old City Hall and thousands of houses). The challenge was to preserve as much as possible of the original industrial setting while turning the site into a learning centre for sustainability.
For more information on a weekend full of free programming to launch Evergreen Brick Works, please visit http://ebw.evergreen.ca/whats-on/grand-opening/
The new Centre for Green Cities and the Welcome Centre, both designed by Diamond and Schmitt, push the envelope in sustainable design and point the way forward for environmentally aware architecture. The Centre for Green Cities will be the first LEED Platinum heritage site in Canada.
Sustainable design is a game changer and the building scheme employs a variety of innovative initiatives so that it treads lightly on the land.
The thinking behind this project was to incorporate the Evergreen message of sustainable living in its new home. The non-profit environmental group wanted to see their values in the building itself. Much more than being a green building, the centre will eventually have a changeable exterior skin on a track system that allows moveable screens, window boxes and large-scale art installations to be attached to the building's exterior, and act as a community canvas.
It’s also about preserving a part of Toronto’s past. This former brick foundry produced the building blocks for so much of Toronto (Casa Loma, Old City Hall and thousands of houses). The challenge was to preserve as much as possible of the original industrial setting while turning the site into a learning centre for sustainability.
For more information on a weekend full of free programming to launch Evergreen Brick Works, please visit http://ebw.evergreen.ca/whats-on/grand-opening/
Northern Magus
Active Member
Looks to be fantastic. Hopefully this will provide an impetus for the whole area around the Bloor Viaduct to be tidied up and turned into more of a wilderness park.