The Ontario Construction Report – May 2009 – PAGE OCR 5
Zeidler Partnership
form courtyard walls enclosing and unify-
ing the area. Carefully proportioned and de-
Architects
tailed stone and glass openings create a
unique space.
Continued from page OCR4
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The two residential towers house pre-
dominantly one or two bedroom units, with
To achieve this, they worked with a
the top floors containing three bedroom
complete team of consultants, architects
penthouse suites. The North tower has 556
and engineers, as well as a German team
residences, while the South tower has 335.
and part of the German government who
At the street level, Zeidler used Ontario
had their own engineers on hand to ensure
limestone and granite to give an elegant
compliance.
feel to the podium whose 5-storey height is
Once these issues were resolved, the
comfortable to pedestrians walking along
firm looked at how to design the space to
Yonge Street.
best fit the needs of their client.
“I think these towers want to be elegant
“When we went through the design, we
and integrate into the environment and we
wanted it to be simple and elegant,” said
achieved that.”
Franke. “There are some undertone black,
Minto Midtown is the largest multi-res-
reds and golds in the building.”
idential LEED (Leadership in Energy and
They organized the space to capture dy-
Environmental Design) candidate develop-
namic views of the Toronto skyline, which
ment in Canada, and has multiple green
was a key goal of the project. Zeidler also
building features. It utilizes existing infra-
left 350 sq.-m. of space undeveloped and
structure, provides alternative transporta-
available in case of expansion, as per their
tion options, harvests rainwater for
client’s request. onto Yonge Street and houses retail spaces The next challenge for this project was
irrigation and reduces the heat island effect
“They’re extremely happy,” said and cafes. to integrate it into the neighborhood.
by locating all of the parking underground.
Franke. “There’s been nothing but positive The South tower is 38 storeys high, and “We have a podium at street level so that
They have also included innovative high
feedback.” was completed in July 2006, with the 53- it maintains the integrity of the massing at
performance standards which have resulted
The Minto Midtown project is another storey North tower being completed in Jan- street level to the pedestrians,” she said.
in significant energy savings, greater occu-
example of how Zeidler designs high-qual- uary of this year
pant controls for water and energy conser-
. “The towers are set back.”
ity structures in the face of unique chal- The towers’ design first went through “There’s also a transition by having a
vation and improved indoor air quality.
lenges. extensive wind studies, shadow tests and courtyard that separates and connects the
With Minto Midtown now completed
This project is 940,000 sq.-m. of mixed visual impact analyses, where it was con- two towers, so the courtyard allows you to
and nearing full occupancy, Zeidler is con-
use space, located in the centre of the firmed the project would have not have a the move through the site, but also becomes
tinuing work on a series of exciting proj-
Yonge and Eglinton neighborhood. There negative impact on the community
ects, including the new Trump International
. the entry point for the towers.”
are two separate towers, connected in the “They were designed to be slender so The courtyard is without precedent in
Tower being built in downtown Toronto.
middle by a courtyard. The five-storey they would have minimum impact on the Toronto. Three storey-high limestone piers
podium, which is the building’s base, faces surrounding neighborhood,” said Green.
HIDI RAE Consulting Engineers Inc.
1 Yonge Street, Suite 2100
Toronto, ON M5E 1E5
Phone: 416-364-2100, Fax:416-364-2276
SYSTM ELECTRICAL AND
Email: mail@hidi.com, Web: www.hidi.com
COMMUNICATION SERVICES INC.
We are proud to be associated with the
Zeidler Partnership / Architects
Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineers for
and wish you many more years of success.
Zeidler Partnership/Architects
Phone 905 677 1461 Fax 905 677 4353
(German Consulate, Minto Midtown and Trump Tower)
Commercial - Industrial - Institutional
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