The new building for 321 Davenport Road is designed to nestle into the tree-filled Annex neighborhood on three sides, while its frontage along Davenport Road leverages the curving nature of the street. Facing Designers Walk to the north-east, the building embraces the dynamic nature of this context and expresses a sophisticated, design-forward presence in the form of a gentle curving glass volume that defines its unique character and prominent image.
Three Twenty One
One, Two, Three Midrise
The non-conforming Davenport Road, which winds through the city of Toronto’s rigid grid of streets, becomes the contextual starting point for this project. The site offers a unique opportunity to leverage its extraordinary context in order to create a one-of-a-kind midrise building on this main street ripe for redevelopment. New datum lines are defined by the architectural elements of this 8‑storey example of the midrise typology, inviting future development to fill-in the sparse street edge at this fresh scale.
“The taut, curving glass is seemingly stopped in motion by a minimalist, ribbed volume.”
The building massing juxtaposes the taut, curving glass which is seemingly captured by a minimalist volume of dark coloured perforated aluminum which, in turn, is articulated in a vertical pattern. The contrasting columns with their subtle textured finish compliment the high-performance glass sheath which lifts off the ground plane to allow the street-level entrance to respond to the pedestrian scale. It reflects the bespoke character of the building and its inhabitants who are invited to enjoy views across the rich texture of the adjacent neighbourhood, and across the city skyline to the south from the large terraces and generous balconies. The high-performance glass sheath furls and lifts off the ground to allow the street-level entrance to respond to the pedestrian scale at the sidewalk.
Three Twenty One was named the Best Mid Rise Building Design in 2020 by the BILD Awards.
Project Facts
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Client
Alterra Group
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Location
Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario
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Size
9 storeys, 23 units
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Status
Under Construction
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Sub-Consultant Team
Civil — IBI Group
Planner — Bousfields
Structural — Jablonsky Ast & Partners
Mechanical & Electrical — MV Shore Associates Limited
Geotechnical — EXP
Energy Modelling — EQ Building Performance
Building Code — Matteo Gilfillan & Associates
Acoustics & Vibration — HGC Engineering
Hydrogeology — Morrison Environmental
Shoring — Tarra Consultants
Arborist — Canopy Consulting
Survey — Scaeffer Dzaldov Bennet
Traffic — BA Consulting Group
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Renderings
Norm Li
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