Location: Toronto, Canada.

Architect: NEUF.

The design of a new commercial development in the Bloor-Yorkville area of Toronto was inspired by the question of what street-level urban retail should look like in the 21st century. The proposal aimed to add public spaces to the city and merge civic and commercial life. The main design consideration was a diagonal passage, known as the mews, cutting through the site, which restores a key lost connector and expands the pedestrian laneway network of Yorkville Village. The mews provides a “democratic” passage with several commercial units opening up and creating a vibrant environment. The design challenge was focused on a community-centered approach and what defines a three-dimensional public space. The main design feature of the building is nested in the definition and sculpting of the mews walls. The three distinct buildings vary in height with the tallest sitting on the east to maximize the mews sun exposure and quality of light. The project is conceived as a symbiotic merging of future urban retail experience, public realm, iconic, yet deeply contextual architecture. The overall material palette hints at the former residential heritage of Yorkville, while also responding in a contemporary language which reinterprets traditional brick masonry and the architectural character of the neighbouring mansard slate roofs. The mew’s distinctive kinked west wall provides a moment of compression, followed by an open framed view of the sky. The simple palette of three materials – stone, wood and glass is further enriched through their material explorations, cutting, lamination and finish techniques, creating a rich mosaic of color nuances and textures allowing the three materials to find their expression throughout the project in diversity of applications – exterior masonry, paving, slatted screens and a continuous soffit.