PAGE OCR 4 – May 2009 – The Ontario Construction Report
Zeidler Partnership Architects
Overcoming challenges through
innovative design
MATTHEW DESROSIERS – The OCR Construction Report Special Feature
Thanks to a history of excellence in de- vidual and tries to look at the unique con-
sign, Zeidler Partnership Architects have ditions of that project, whether it’s the site,
established themselves as the firm of choice the client, or the program, and comes up
for high-profile projects in Toronto and its with a unique solution,” said Green.
surrounding area. When you think of Zeidler’s dedication
The firm can trace its roots back to 1880 to quality and their ability to overcome
in Peterborough, through a continuity of challenges, two recent projects immedi-
overlapping partners. Eb Zeidler completed ately come to mind. The first of these is the
a number of projects in Peterborough be- German General Consulate project, located
fore opening the Toronto office just over 50 at 2 Bloor Street East, on the 25th floor of
years ago. the Hudson’s Bay Centre.
Today, Zeidler Partnership Architects’ This 1,600 sq.-m. space was designed to
success has led them overseas, with numer- house the German consulate in Toronto.
ous international branches and over 220 Zeidler was commissioned by the Bunde-
professional and support staff members. samt fuer Bauwesen und Raumordnung
Apart from head office in Toronto, their of- (BBR), a division of the German federal
fices are located in Calgary, Vancouver and government responsible for federal build-
Victoria (Canada); Beijing, Shanghai and ings.
Chengdu (China); Berlin (Germany); Lon- “It’s a high-end executive office space
don (United Kingdom); West Palm Beach with some public functions as well,” said
(United States of America); and Abu Dhabi Simone Franke, an associate with the firm.
(United Arab Emirates). “The public only has access to the
Here in Toronto, however, the company visa/passport area.” junction with our Berlin office,” she said. guidelines was increased because the space
averages up to 50 projects per year, from Because the office is essentially German “From the very beginning we had to be does not stand alone. It is part of the rest of
large mixed-use projects to small institu- sovereign ground, the design had to adhere very conscious of fire safety in conjunction the building which is built to the Ontario
tional and office renovations, said Deion to certain guidelines otherwise not required with security issues, and integrate that into Building Code. This meant the firm had to
Green, marketing manager for the firm. in Ontario. our Ontario and Canadian environment.” integrate the two different standards into
“We’re proud that each project is indi- “The design was actually done in con- The challenge of meeting the BBR’s one design.
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16